Jeff Gordon Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Jeff Gordon Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS met with members of the media and discussed racing at The Glen (including fuel mileage, the new generation car, two-stop strategies, and how he likes road racing), whether or not the Chase should include a road course race, on his strategy leading into the Chase, on starting the Sonoma road race from the back, Jimmie Johnson's recent performance, how becoming a father has changed his life, Ray Evernham's new business partner, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joining HMS in '08, the threat of Juan Pablo Montoya, and whether or not a single car team can survive with the many recent mergers

Select quotes from driver interview:

DO YOU HAVE THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT WATKINS GLEN IN THE NEW IMPALA SS RACE CAR? "Not necessarily. It's going to be a trial and error. We don't get the chance to test here, so we don't have the exact information that we really truly need. I think a lot of teams tested at either VIR or Road Atlanta but there are definitely some big differences between those tracks and this one that in a short period of time have to tune it in. We definitely weren't where we needed to be in practice for qualifying. So we're going to make the best of it and hopefully get it right tomorrow."

DOES THE COT NEGATE SOME OF THE EXPERIENCE FACTOR? "I think it does a lot of things. With the old car, you had notes and if you had success, you could just go off those notes and build on them trying to make things better. Now, you basically start from scratch. So experience definitely is not going to play as much of a role. I think if you're a good road racer. But I also think that this car really equals out the competition. So, let's say here in the past, I've had some great races with Ron Fellows and Scott Pruett and those guys. In the past, I would say that our cars are probably a little bit better, but in this situation, I think that those guys could possibly really shine because they've got a lot of laps here. They're good here. And the cars don't have as much of an advantage as what maybe we had in the past."

WILL THE SMALLER FUEL CELLS HAVE AN IMPACT ON STRATEGY? "It's just like what we saw at VIR. I think a lot of eyes got opened up at Sonoma as to what the pit strategy can and should be. I would imagine you're going to see a lot of that same thing play out here that you're going to see guys trying to figure out how to do this on a two-stop strategy."

ON RISK VERSUS REWARD GOING INTO THE CHASE, DO YOU CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY? "We've been trying to go for wins ever since the start of the season. It's not that you try to go for wins any harder, you just are in a position to take more risk to maybe get those wins. It's one of those things that its risk versus reward. When you're trying to make it into the Chase, the risk isn't worth it. When you're locked in the Chase, or pretty much into the Chase, they the risk could be worth it. So, yeah, you'll definitely see us, when it comes to pit strategy, taking some bigger risks. Our goal right now is to get our cars working better and faster and just experimenting and doing things that really take our whole team to the next level. And we're just always looking for more speed. So we've got the ability by going out there and trying a few more things, to try and find that speed."

HOW HAS BECOMING A FATHER CHANGED YOUR LIFE? "I've joined the club. I didn't realize that there is no initiation other than going through childbirth and changing diapers and all that stuff. It's been amazing. I definitely look at the world in a different way than I used to and all for the good. Sure, it has a lot of challenges, but I wouldn't change anything. It's been an amazing experience. And I think in a lot of ways it makes me more excited about being here at the track and doing what I do and (being) more passionate about racing. I'll admit there's been times when racing has burned me out a little bit. And while the schedule is a little hectic with the lack of sleep that I'm getting at home, when I get to the race track I'm more into it and I'm more excited and the drive is probably there more than it's ever been."

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE ROBBY GORDON'S INCIDENT AT THE MONTREAL BUSCH RACE AND SUBSEQUENT PENALTIES "In those situations, there is no perfect scenario. It was unfortunate that things didn't get handled a little bit differently from the beginning of that. And then it was even more unfortunate that Robby handled it the way he handled it. And it put NASCAR in a position to have no choice but to lay down that law and that penalty. I think that the real unfortunate thing is that Marcos Ambrose should have won that race. Here's a guys who has been coming along doing a great job. He's a great guy. The way he handled himself through that situation was as classy as I've ever seen anybody handle a situation. Robby is Robby. None of the things he did surprised me. And he's not going to change. It's just unfortunate that that situation happened the way it did. Call it karma. I don't know. You can call it whatever you want to call it. The penalties didn't have anything to do with what originally happened. And you know what? NASCAR makes judgment calls every weekend. And there are judgme nt calls in baseball, basketball, football; you have referees and those are judgment calls. It's unfortunate that sometimes those can change the outcome of an event or a race. But they've got to make them the best they can. And they make mistakes, but they do a pretty good job the majority of the time. And as competitors, we make mistakes sometimes too. I think that NASCAR pays the penalty in the media when they make a mistake; and we pay the penalty through fines and suspensions and things like that when we make mistakes."

Kyle Busch Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Kyle Busch Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Kyle Busch, No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg's Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed the status of his plans for next year, a timeframe on when he'll announce his plans, his approach going into the next five races and racing the Impala SS at Watkins Glen.

SO YOU MADE A DECISION? "Well I have a preference for my number one but that's about it. That's about as far as we are so there's nothing to announce. Nothing I guess past that for a couple weeks yet."

ON THE PROCESS HE WENT THROUGH NARROWING DOWN HIS OPTIONS AND IF IT WAS HARDER THAN HE EXPECTED: "Yeah, it is a lot harder than I expected. It has taken some time but for all the options that were out there I mean there's plenty of great chances, plenty of great opportunities but the one that I felt most fit for me is still not done, you know? We're trying to solidify our plans and get everything all squared away so we can have something to talk about."

DO YOU HAVE A TIMEFRAME FOR WHEN YOU'LL MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT? "I'd say in the next two weeks."

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH DENNY HAMLIN: "Denny and I have been great friends and we've been friends on and off the race track since he came into this deal and we even raced each other three years ago in a Craftsman Truck Series race at IRP so we had fun then and it's always been great with Denny. I guess we're still kids so that's probably why we're pretty good friends."

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO CONCENTRATE MORE NOW THAT YOU HAVE MADE THIS DECISION OR WILL THE ANTICIPATION FOR NEXT YEAR HINDER ANY CONCENTRATION? "No, I don't know how you can concentrate any harder. I think we've had our worst finish of 13th at Chicago in the past eight races. Last week we really, really struggled pretty badly and the driver dug in and the team dug in and we somehow salvaged a 12th place out of last week so I don't know how we did that. But it's just been an ongoing thing where I've been concentrating on the race track as much as I can and putting forth my efforts to this year and that's what I'll continue to do until this season's over."

DID YOUR BROTHER GIVE YOU ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO HANDLE THE SITUATION OF SWITCHING TEAMS? "No, I never really talked to Kurt about the whole deal actually. We never discussed anything about how he went about his decision making process or about what I need to do in mine. It was all left to myself and that's it."

ARE YOU PLEASED WITH HOW EVERYTHING TURNED OUT? "I think so and I hope all the owners are as well too. I've sat down and discussed with them and began informing the teams of my preference this week and I want to keep on good terms with everybody and I think that we've done it the right way where we can do that. For myself it's not just to pick a team, it's to actually get to know and get closer to the rest of the team owners. Richard and I, we discussed a lot of things and we're pretty close I feel like. Ray Evernham as well too. I think some places that maybe somewhere near down the road that I might still want to work at."

ON HIS BUSCH SERIES SCHEDULE: "Bristol is our next race and I think we have eight or nine after that so Bristol's the next one."

ON HIS APPROACH GOING INTO THESE LAST FIVE RACES AND HOW MUCH HE'S WILLING TO TAKE A RISK: "You know that question was asked last week and if you can put yourself in the right situation and not try to jeopardize anything then you can try it but you have to make sure that you've got a legitimate enough chance to not jeopardize yourself and also it's just good enough to keep solidifying our chances to be in the Chase. If we were in the spot that Jeff Gordon or Denny Hamlin is we could probably do a lot more but where I feel like we're at if we got a car good enough, capable enough of winning then we'll try to win. If not then we'll just salvage a good finish."

DOES YOUR PERFORMANCE HERE LAST YEAR GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE GOING INTO THIS YEAR'S RACE? "A little bit, yeah. We ran really, really good here last year. We qualified top 10, I think. I'm not really sure. We were running third, we drove all the way up to third and we had the fastest car on the track and then we broke a track bar mount and went five laps down fixing it and then got all five lucky dogs back and came back through the field and finished ninth so I felt like we had a great car here last year so hopefully we can do it again."

ON RACING THE IMPALA SS HERE AND HOW IT WILL AFFECT THE RACING: "We ran them at Infineon and everything seemed to be alright with them. They're definitely just a different race car. You can't go through the corners as fast. I think the esses might be a little bit different than what we were used to. I think the innerloop will be a lot different probably. We won't be able to use as much curb. I could be wrong but this is going to be a different race and everybody's going to have to be conscious in practice here knowing what they got and trying to figure it all out."

WHAT WAS THE ULTIMATE FACTOR FOR YOU IN MAKING YOUR DECISION? "I said money from the beginning wasn't it. I said it's competition. I guess the way the rumor has it where I'm going you look at their competition compared to Hendrick Motorsports and they're right there."

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THEY MOVED TO ANOTHER MANUFACTURER? "I think they're going to do everything in their best interest that they feel is right and if they feel like Chevrolet is their manufacturer of choice then more power to 'em. If they feel like Ford, Toyota or Dodge are their best interests then more power to 'em. They've got their own engine program, they've got a lot of great resources but I think that they're still in that decision making process but they're looking at all the cards and laying 'em out just as I would to pick a team, they're doing it for a manufacturer."

DO YOU FEEL IT'S IMPORTANT WHERE YOU PIT ON THIS TRACK? "No, there's no preference where you pit here. I think the pit stops are big enough. There's a little bit of a hill down in turn one so you might want to get on a place where it's a little big flatter so you don't have to worry about holding the brake during the pit stop but you always hold the brake during the pit stop anyway so there's no real big preference in where you're at, just on who's around you sometimes so you can get a clean in or a clean out."

J.J. Yeley Driver Availability Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

J.J. Yeley Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

J.J. Yeley, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed his coming departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, his focus for the rest of the season, where he may end up next year, teams he's been talking to, why MIS is so competitive, what he looks for in an owner, manufacturer preference, on whether or not he will finish the season and on what changes could have been made to give him a better season.

WHAT IS HAPPENING? "Well, right now I'm leaving Joe Gibbs Racing. I have a lot of good opportunities in store for me. I don't have a date set on when I'm going to announce what I'm doing but I have talked to several different teams. I can assure you that all the teams I'm talking to are all top-quality teams that want to make me a championship-caliber driver. They want to put an effort behind me that we can go win races. That's what I'm excited about."

WHY DO YOU THINK THINGS DIDN'T WORK OUT HERE? "I guess if I knew that I'd go buy a lottery ticket and be a rich man. It's difficult to say. Obviously there's excellent equipment here at Joe Gibbs Racing. The engines, the cars, teammates do good. Our problem wasn't the fact that we weren't fast, we were just too inconsistent. We never made huge changes to see if there was going to be something out there that was going to help the program but maybe a little too late. But wherever I go they're going to make sure that we're going to do whatever it takes to win races."

HOW DOES THIS CHANGE YOUR FOCUS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON? "It doesn't change it at all. For the most part it takes a lot of burden off my shoulders and probably the team's shoulders because I know nothing is official yet. I'm sure that something will become official here shortly but I know what my future holds for me. Now I don't have to worry about what's going to happen. I can go out there and drive the race car. The crews can work on the thing. We'll go out there.my goals aren't going to change because of what my future is going to hold for next year. My goal is to win races and try and get this car back up top in points; take care of my sponsor, Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, because these are people that supported me. I love the four years I've been at Joe Gibbs Racing. There's a lot of great people that work there and I'm definitely happy for the opportunities I've been given."

WHEN AND HOW WERE YOU NOTIFIED ABOUT THIS? "I've had a couple discussion with J.D. (Gibbs) and I'm at the end of my contract here so it's not a matter of being replaced or being fired, it's just a matter of we've been in negotiations trying to figure out what it's going to take to make this team run better. Obviously there are some drivers out there that have become available that have shaken up NASCAR. If it was Dale Jr. to Kyle Busch and so on and so forth, I'm sure it's not going to stop now. So it's been a couple weeks and it's just gotten to the point where the timetables needed to be set. I think they're getting closer to what they're going to do. That said I don't have anything but I'm sure we'll announce something here shortly."

THERE WERE TIMES WHEN YOU WERE ON THE VERGE OF BEING MORE SUCCESSFUL. WAS THAT FRUSTRATING WHEN IT DIDN'T HAPPEN? "It's definitely frustrating. You look at the three teams of Joe Gibbs Racing. I guess you could call it bad luck but we've always seemed to have the little problems that cost us. We were leading at Bristol and had an exhaust come apart on us. We've had some mechanical failures that the other two teams haven't and it's hard to say exactly why that is but we've had some bad luck that has caused us to fall a little bit in points but like I said, we've been missing something very minute and this is by far the toughest series in the world. One little thing means a tenth, a tenth means ten positions on the race track. So you have to find that perfect chemistry. Some of the teams have made huge changes during the year to find that chemistry. We may have just taken too slow of an approach to find it."

ARE YOU HEADING TO THE WOOD BROTHERS? "I've talked to a lot of different teams and they're one of the teams I've spoken with except I have nothing signed with anybody. I still have a couple teams I have left to talk to so we're just going through the process of trying to weed out what's going to be the best situation for me long term."

WHAT'S THE TIMETABLE? "Right now there's no timetable. Obviously as long as I have something before we go to Daytona testing."

HAVE YOU TALKED TO DEI? "We've had some discussions with them and like I said, we've had some discussions with several of the teams."

WHAT HAS JOE GIBBS RACING DONE FOR YOUR CAREER? "They have definitely given me a shot. In 2003 I was a sprint car driver racing Saturday nights and living a dream. I know because of Tony Stewart I got a lot more of a boost to come to Joe Gibbs Racing. I followed the same footsteps that he took to get here. To be given the opportunities that I've been given, I can't complain about anything. I love the relationship I've built with everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. I have a lot of friends here and it's going to be difficult to leave to go somewhere else but this is still a business. You have to think what's going to be best for the team and myself and we're working that way."

HOW WILL KYLE BUSCH FIT IN WITH TONY STEWART AND DENNY HAMLIN? "I don't know. He hasn't been announced to be the driver yet so we'll just have to wait and see."

HOW WOULD HE FIT IN IF HE WERE COMING HERE? "I don't know. That's difficult to say. He might fit in great, he might not. That's for someone else to figure out and not me since I won't be here anymore."

WHY IS MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY SO COMPETITIVE? "To me, it's because Michigan is so wide, it's got more banking than California (Speedway); it's just a racier track. The groove is five grooves wide; when you go to California you'll always see that. There's still enough bumps in the race track to give it enough character that some drivers prefer the bottom and some guys prefer the top and having that variety makes for good racing."

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN WHATEVER OWNER YOU GO TO NEXT? "Obviously any driver wants a team to be built around them. The teams I've talked to want to do that. To me, something that's very important is that they're a racer. I'm a racer, that's how I came up and I expect that the people that are going to be running the organization come of that same mind frame. It's still a business, yes, but they have business people hired to take care of that stuff. But they're focused on the race cars and what's it going to take to win races."

SO YOU WANT A HANDS-ON OWNER? "I think that would be a better fit. That fits more my personality than an owner that isn't hands on, absolutely."

IS THERE A CHANCE THAT YOU WON'T FINISH THE SEASON THIS YEAR WITH THIS TEAM? "No. We had a meeting with J.D. and Joe Gibbs Racing and nothing has changed for this year. My goal and my plans as well as JGR's is for me to fill out the rest of the year in the Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. Like I said, try to get the best finish we can in points. We're still back a little bit but I think it's realistic when you get back to top-15 pretty easy and try to win some races. Just because I'm going somewhere. these guys have worked their butts off for me and I would love nothing more than to give these guys a victory."

DOES THE MANUFACTURER MATTER AT ALL? "No, it doesn't matter. Just as long as they have a competitive team and they want to go win races."

IS IT BETTER TO PROVE SOMETHING ON THE WAY OUT? "Not really. I give 100 percent no matter what I'm doing. It's not going to change the fact that I'm leaving at the end of the year because if that was the talk three months ago that I was racing for my job and I went out and did my job and won races and ran up front, I was going to stay at Joe Gibbs Racing. You can only give 100 percent and I give it every time I get behind the car. If it's a chemistry thing or whatever it's taken for us to get better, we haven't been able to find it. I guess I'm a little sad that I wasn't given the changes that might have made the difference but I can't change the past and I'll just look forward to the future."

WHAT KIND OF CHANGES? "I never asked for a crew chief change, I've never asked for crew changes. Sometimes those changes are necessary. You look at the past with different teams - I think Jamie McMurray went through three or four last year. It's not because these crew chiefs are not qualified or they're not good crew chiefs. It comes down to finding the right personality to the fit of my driving style. We could unload one week and be fantastic. Some weeks we unload and we struggle. Sometimes because it's so tough, you can't make up enough. If you unload bad, you just don't make up enough to be competitive and that has been the burden for me this year - we've been too inconsistent."

DO YOU THINK THERE NEEDED TO BE CHANGES? "I think there was a point where we needed to try something, sure."

Denny Hamlin Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Denny Hamlin Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed the key to winning at this track, if he has tested the Impala SS in preparation for this race, the differences between Watkins Glen and Infineon, on potentially having Kyle Busch as a teammate and how he would fit in in their organization, on the team's current race strategy, his thoughts on NASCAR's new generation race car, Robby Gordon and his reputation as a driver, on weather possibly affecting track time today, if this is a track where he can gain points, how they prepared for this race, on the characteristics of Michigan International Speedway and the competitiveness of racing there and on preparing for three consecutive night races.

Select quotes from driver interview:

WHAT'S THE KEY TO WINNING AT THIS TRACK? "I guess you can either be Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon or one of those guys but I think everyone knows these road course races always seem to come out to fuel mileage races so we're kind of geared towards that this weekend in particular and see if we can't maybe steal a win here."

DID YOU DO ANY TESTING WITH THE IMPALA SS TO PREPARE FOR THIS WEEKEND? "The 20 team did quite a bit at Road Atlanta so we're kind of excited to have their package under our car and I think I've gotten a lot better as far as Cup racing is concerned on road courses. Been good at Busch Series but these Cup cars are a little different. The Car of Tomorrow I feel comfortable in obviously so I'm pretty excited. We had a good run at Sonoma."

ON POTENTIALLY HAVING KYLE BUSCH AS A TEAMMATE: "I think he would bring a lot to the team for sure. I think his talent level.he's definitely one of the four best talents, in my opinion, in the garage. The other one being Tony so if I got two of the best four in the garage I'm pretty excited about having them as teammates. I think it's going to push me to be better and overall in the future I think he's fast and I think he's going to make us have to step up our game to keep up with him."

HOW DO YOU THINK KYLE WOULD MESH WITH YOU AND TONY STEWART? "I know with me very well. We have probably our best relationship of any other driver off the race track. There was a point in this season where me and him would talk about our cars more than me and Tony would and we're teammates so I think if we ever became teammates in the future I think the relationship would be really good between me and Kyle."

Jeff Burton Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Jeff Burton Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Jeff Burton No. 31 AT&T Mobility Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed road-course racing, smaller fuel cells, strategy in this race, fuel mileage, Robby Gordon's penalty, bonus points for wins, motivation for winning, his road course skill, Robby Gordon's driving style, car numbers and what they mean to drivers, and night races vs. day races.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON ROBBY GORDON'S PENALTY: "He put NASCAR in a tough situation of having to respond and it didn't surprise me, the call that they made on Sunday at Pocono. It's an unfortunate situation for all parties - for Robby, for NASCAR for everybody. But I don't think that the garage was surprised with NASCAR's judgment."

ON BONUS POINTS FOR THE CHASE: "A lot has been made about the bonus points situation. A lot has been made about how that affects how we race but the reality of it is that it doesn't change how we race. If it paid 100 more points to win a race, I don't know what we would do differently than what we do today. You do the best you can to win a race. If it paid 100 points or 10 points or 100 million dollars or a million dollars or 10 dollars. You can only do what you can do and it doesn't change the way that we race. The way that it's perceived changes.

"If you look at 10 races, if you start the series off with 10 races 50 or 40 points behind, you can still win it. So winning races is important because that's what we do. Certainly you want as many points as you can going into the Chase, there's no question about that. At the end of the day, you can make up that 15 points. You can make it up by outrunning the guy. If you don't outrun the guy, you're not going to make it up anyway."

ON CAR NUMBERS: "Car numbers mean a great deal to a driver. I look back with great fondness when I ran late model and when I first ran the Busch Series - I ran No. 12 because that was my dad's number. That's the number he wore when he was in high school. That was the number that my brothers raced with. I was No. 11 when I was racing go-karts and that was Cale Yarborough's number. Numbers are a reflection of something for everybody. Everybody looks at a number differently. But without question, a number is a really important thing. That's the amenity. That's how people relate to you."

Jimmie Johnson Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Jimmie Johnson Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed driving the Impala SS at Watkins Glen, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. joining Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Busch's ability to focus after finalizing his plans for next year, where the No. 48 team is at heading into the Chase, the impact of having wins going into the Chase, having different drivers compete at the road course races, Chad Knaus' return after his suspension, comparing competing in the Chase this year versus previous years, Jeff Gordon's chances for another championship, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, teammate dynamics during the Chase, racing at Michigan International Speedway and what their team has done to prepare for the race this weekend.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON RACING THE IMPALA SS AT WATKINS GLEN AND IF HE HAS THE INFORMATION HE NEEDS: "We spent some time testing, getting prepared for this race. I think we did learn a little bit at the race in Sonoma and I think I learned a lot with the couple test sessions that we had leading into this race to understand this car better and I'm coming in with a lot of confidence and probably more excited for a road course race than I am in a long time."

WITH KYLE BUSCH KNOWING WHERE HE IS GOING NEXT YEAR, WILL THAT MAKE IT EASIER FOR HIM TO FOCUS ON HIS CAR THE REST OF THE YEAR OR WILL IT BE MORE OF A DISTRACTION? "I would have to think now that he knows where he's going and his deal is done that it will calm things down, there's no doubt about that. I think it's got to be easy for him knowing where he's going to land, knowing the particulars of his deal. Those things really probably bring a lot of peace to someone in that situation so I would expect him to be just as committed, as fast and as focused as he's ever been."

ON WHERE HIS TEAM IS AT WITH FOUR RACES UNTIL THE CHASE: "We've been performing well until last weekend. We've had some crazy luck and really didn't have the finishes that we wanted through the summer months but the good side of it has been strong performances and where we were running when we had our bad luck so we're certainly not happy in seventh but the way the Chase works this year and the seeding process and all of that, we just got to focus on transferring and then we'll be towards the top if not tied for the top going into the Chase."

ON CHAD KNAUS' RETURN: "We're getting through this weekend and we'll have him back. I know there's been a lot of discussion that since he's been gone we've had poor performances and I don't think that's a fair assessment of the way the team's operated through the summer months. Before Chad's suspension we were having crazy luck with tires and fuel strategy and blew an engine in Texas, so I've been very proud of the team and what we've done. Without Chad here I think we've kept our pace up and we've been less of a team but I still think we've been right on par and where we need to be. We really look forward to having him back next week and getting everything in line and ready for the Chase."

Kevin Harvick Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Kevin Harvick Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, met with media members at Watkins Glen International and discussed previous success at The Glen; strategy as the Chase approaches and strategy in the Chase.

ON THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING BACK AT THE GLEN AS THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER: "It is nice to come back to somewhere where, I enjoy racing. I enjoy racing on the road courses and like coming here, so it is nice to come back. Knowing that we won last year's race here, hopefully we will run good this weekend."

ON CHANGES TO TRACK AND RUNNING NEW-GENERATION NASCAR RACE CAR AT THE GLEN: "We have tested this car a lot and have run Sears Point already, we have, hopefully, a good place to start. The biggest thing is just figuring out what the transmission ratios need to be, what is different there. That will be the biggest thing. The second biggest thing will be a change in driving style, where you brake a little bit different that in the Monte Carlo."

ON POCONO TUNNEL TURN: "The Tunnel Turn here is a lot like Indy in all four corners. Indy kind of has the same characteristics as what Turn Two is here. Your car is really on the edge for the most part to be fast. My car has typically been pretty good in Turn Two, the Tunnel Turn. Hopefully, we haven't taken any of that away."

ON BATTLE LAST YEAR WITH TONY STEWART TO GET THE WIN: "Any time you are able to race the guy who has been winning at a particular race track and win the race, that is how you want to do it. It was a lot of fun. His car was a little bit better the first couple of laps then my car would get better as the laps in a run went on. It was a lot of fun."

ON BEING ABLE TO TAKE RISKS LAST FIVE RACES BEFORE CHASE TO GET WINS: "We are going to keep racing. We aren't going to do anything different than what we normally do. We are just going to go out and race as hard as we can. That is it."

ON ENJOYING UPCOMING NIGHT RACES AT BRISTOL, RICHMOND, ETC: "I enjoy the night stuff especially during the summer because it is so much cooler. I don't think there is anything that gets any better than Bristol at night. Hopefully, racing will be as good as it has been before they redid the track. We will just have to wait and see how that shakes out."

ON IF IT WILL BE HARDER TO GET A HANDLE ON NEW CAR IF WEATHER AFFECTS PRACTICE TIME: "I don't think so. I think we have all been here have been here enough. The weather should be fine tomorrow. It is a matter of how much practice we get today, whether we qualify. I think we will get a little bit of practice."

ON IF MONTREAL RACE HELPED TO PREPARE FOR THE GLEN: "None. The cars are so much different, there is just really not anything you can compare."

ON WHAT TEAM HAS DONE TO PREPARE FOR THE GLEN WITH THE NEW CAR: "We have tested at VIR a couple of times. Really, we are still working through the car to totally understand what it wants and what it needs to make it turn and get grip and all the different things that we have to deal with there. It is really hard to test because you don't have the right tires. Obviously you can't go to a race track that you race on. It is just more of a rhythm thing than it is anything else. You just have to take your best guess at it."

ON HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE A LEGITIMATE SHOT AT WIN SUNDAY AT THE GLEN WITH ROAD COURSE SPECIALISTS IN THE FIELD: "I don't think a road racer has ever won this race. I am tired of hearing about road racers."

ON WHEN LOCKED IN CHASE, HOW STRATEGY IS DEVELOPED: "We have had a Chase strategy since the beginning of the year. The most important thing is to position yourself to get in to the Chase. We aren't anywhere close to comfortable at this point. You just have to go out and race as hard as you can. You have guys that have a little momentum on their side right now. We just don't need to make any big mistakes right now."

ON DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GLEN AND SONOMA: "The speed is a lot greater here at the Glen than it is at Sonoma. The braking zones are a lot faster than what you would have there. Two totally different tracks with different driving characteristics. Sonoma was a lot about track position. You go there with that in mind. Here you have to carry a lot of speed and get through the braking zones good. "

ON BEING A GOOD ROAD RACER: "I have always been good at road racing. I have been fortunate to get the finishes that we need lately. We have been on both sides of the fence, unlucky and had bad finishes and lucky and good finishes. We have been competitive every time we have been on road course."

Clint Bowyer Weekly Top-12 Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Clint Bowyer Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniels Impala SS, met with media members at Watkins Glen International and discussed racing at The Glen; strategy as the Chase approaches and Robby Gordon.

Select quotes from driver interview

ON PRACTICE AT THE GLEN: "Not very good, we have a lot of work to do. We didn't get to make a qualifying run so obviously our time is not where it needs to be, but we'll be all right in qualifying trim."

ON NEXT WEEK AT MICHIGAN: "There are some good tracks coming up for us. I'll be happy to get out of here and get on to Michigan and California. Bristol has always been a fun place for me. Looking forward to getting to those race tracks. "

ON BEING CLOSE TO BUBBLE FOR CHASE AND CONCERN ABOUT POSSIBLE POINTS SITUATION COMING OUT OF THE GLEN WITH ALL THE ROAD COURSE SPECIALISTS: "Those are the guys you want to get out in front of you, you just don't want the guys running for points in front of you. We are going to concentrate on what we are doing. We have to focus on what we can control."

ON BEING ABLE TO TAKE ANY RISKS IN FIVE RACE REMAINING BEFORE CHASE: "I don't think you want to take risks right now. You want to be conservative and solid. That is going to be the thing that is going to get you in the Chase."

ON DIFFERENCE AT THE GLEN IN NEW GENERATION VERSUS OLD CAR LAST YEAR: "The are a lot different. You can't get in as deep, it doesn't seem like they turn as good, but it is still four wheels and a steering wheel. You have got to make the best of it."

ON ROBBY GORDON AS A DRIVER: "He is Robby, I don't know any other way to put it. You just never know what to expect with him."

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

Martin Truex, Jr. Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed his chances for Watkins Glen, his chances for getting into the Chase, the tracks in the Chase, taking risks, Kyle Busch going to Joe Gibbs Racing, who he would have as a teammate, the DEI/Ginn Racing merger, preparation for this race, Robby Gordon, what it takes to be competitive, the new car at road courses, his approach to the Chase and having accidents during practice.

Select quotes from driver interview:

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO KYLE BUSCH JOINING JOE GIBBS RACING NEXT YEAR? "It's the decision he had to make. I'm not sure what his feelings were about what DEI was or what it could be but I think it can be and will be. That's his decision and it's something he's got to live with. We'll be happy either way."

ARE YOU OKAY WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED WITH THE DEI/GINN RACING MERGER? "Absolutely. I'm real happy with the way everything's went so far. Everything looks really promising as far as helping the team for the future and that's what it's all about. I'm looking forward to being around here for a long time."

IS NASCAR BECOMING A SPORT WHERE IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE? "Well, obviously you've got to have the money. To be competitive on a consistent basis you've got to be, I think, one of the bigger teams. It's just what it's come to, I think. We've put so much effort into building speed away from the race track - engines, cars, engineering. Without that stuff it's just hard to compete with the big teams."

Ron Fellows Media Availability Hauler Chat at Watkins Glen

Ron Fellows Watkins Glen Hauler Chat Audio File

Ron Fellows, No. 96 DLP HDTV Impala SS, met with members of the media and discussed the difference between the Impala SS and the Monte Carlo SS, how the new car may help, single-car teams, plans for the rest of the season, and celebrating a victory with the late Dale Earnhardt.

Select quotes from driver interview:

ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OLD RACE CAR AND NEW ONE: "I always felt that the longer wheelbase vehicles in the Craftsman Truck Series was more valuable experience for a Cup car. The biggest difference with the new car is it just rolls around more and feels heavier. It's just not quite as nimble and a little more difficult to drive. But it's the same for everybody and it's just a matter of figuring out how to get control of the balance of the car and then communicate to the guys what you need the car to do for you and go from there. They're not short on power, I can tell you that."

ON THE REMAINDER OF THE RACE SEASON: "We've still got some sports car races. We go to Mosport in two weeks for an American Le Mans Series race. That's my home track other than this place. Going to race the Corvette and also a Cadillac in SPEED GT. So we're staying plenty busy and we've got Petit Le Mans in October. That's a bit event for us with the Corvette. We're chasing a manufacturer title with Cadillac in SPEED GT. That's my part-time role there too."

ON CELEBRATING WITH DALE EARNHARDT: "That was Daytona in 2001 in Victory Lane when we won overall with the Corvette at the Rolex 24. It was very cool. Jackie Stewart was the grand marshal; he's a hero of mine too. He presented us with the Rolex watches and then (Dale) Senior came into that victory circle there and I don't think he was any less happy than I was. It was very cool. It was a very cool moment and I have a picture of it. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. It was awesome."