JEFF BURTON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 31 AT&T IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and talked about Saturday’s race, looking forward to Dover, Michigan and Pocono, David Ragan’s progress as a driver and much more.

ON SATURDAY’S RACE. “Well I’m excited about it. It’s an honor to be in the race. I’m one of the driver’s that’s been in it a lot and then went through a period of time in my career where I wasn’t in it. That made me recognize the fact that it is special to be in it. I really appreciate the fact that this is an honor to be involved in it. This isn’t necessarily my cup of tea. It’s not where I excel. You know the 15, 20, 30-lap races aren’t typically when I do my best, but I’m excited about this weekend and I think that we’re gonna push the buttons a little bit and see if we can’t find a way to make something happen.”

RCR SEEMS TO BE CARRYING THE BANNER FOR CHEVY THIS YEAR, ONE OF THE TWO DOMINANT TEAMS IN NASCAR. WHAT TO ATTRIBUTE THAT TO? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING AT THE SHOP THAT THE OTHER TEAMS AREN’T DOING? “Well I think that obviously the Hendrick group hasn’t done quite as well this year to this point as they did last year. Although, if you look at most races one of their cars has had a chance to win. The 88 has been probably their best car up to this point and they’ve been very competitive. So we don’t feel like we’re the lone rangers by any means and certainly Mark (Martin) and Martin (Truex, Jr.) had their chances to win races too. We’ve worked really hard to be better organized, to try to make every part of our company to be a little bit better and we have to do that some more. We’re still not where we need to be, but we’re prepared. We’ve worked real hard. We’re a very blue-collar kind of a company. We work very hard, we take pride in that but we’ve got to find a way to work a little smarter as well.”

EVEN THOUGH YOU GUYS ARE SET FINANCIALLY FOR LIFE, IS IT STILL A HUGE DEAL TO GET A CHANCE TO WIN $1,012,975.34 TOMORROW? “Why is it one million, twelve thousand? Where does twelve thousand come, that’s what it is? Well, now I’m gonna race hard now. I didn’t know that. Twelve thousand extra bucks. How do I say this? I’m a rich Republican, Jena (Fryer) said. As long as you don’t raise my taxes I really don’t care. That’s what Jena said my belief was. “The money is so cool after the fact, I’ll be honest with you. You know you’re racing for a million dollars here because everybody makes such a big deal about it but you know when I think about winning in the All-Star race, I know you guys don’t believe me, but I really think about the legacy that’s involved in that and the trophy that’s involved in that. You’re right, we are financially in a position where it’s easier to think like that. If I didn’t have any money, you know that money would seem large obviously and it is large, don’t get me wrong.

“But at this point in my career I’m much more concerned and really I’ve always been that way, much more concerned about the history that’s involved in winning it, the legacy that’s created, the trophy that’s yours. Those things really mean more to me than anything else. The money allows us from a company stand-point to do more. If we go win big races, luckily last year we won big races. If you look what Kevin won and you look what we’ve won, three of the biggest five races of the year money wise and that helped our company. That allowed us to do some things that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do. So that’s kind of how I look at it. Obviously I look at it from a personal standpoint I look at the money, but that’s kind of after the fact. That’s kind of wow we won this and that is cool, but at this point of my life that doesn’t compare to – if it was ten million dollars, I know you don’t believe me, but honestly if it was ten million dollars I still look at the trophy and the legacy that’s created more than the money. I know Jena doesn’t believe me but it’s true. Cause that’s how much money I have she said.

“You know the old saying that, and I’m not trying to be geeky here, money doesn’t buy happiness. Obviously I rather be poor and disappointed, or rather be rich and not happy than poor and unhappy but the reality of it is that being exposed to money the way I’ve been exposed to money and fortunate enough to be, I’m not happier because of that. I’m really not. Don’t get me wrong it allows me to do things that I otherwise wouldn’t do, but when you sit back and you think about what really makes you happy, it’s not being able to buy an airplane, it’s not being able to buy a motor home, it’s not being able to buy a big house, it’s really not. When you’re buying them you think it is, but once you have it for a year or so you realize that’s really not what makes you happy and I know that I sound like, but it’s true. I mean that’s honestly the truth. It creates security for your children, it creates security for the other members of your family and there’s a tremendous amount of comfort in that, there’s no question. Money doesn’t buy you the things that make your life fulfilling. I can honestly tell you that. If it does, you’re probably not living the way you probably could. I’m not trying to preach but that’s just how it is.”

“I’m glad I came today. I’ve learned something today.”

ON THE THREE-RACE STRETCH FOLLOWING CHARLOTTE – DOVER, MICHIGAN AND POCONO. “To be honest I haven’t gotten there yet. I didn’t know what was happening in Dover to be perfectly honest with you until you just said it. We really break the year down in segments and we’re in the midst of what I call their spring segment that goes into the summer break. The one-week break. And all those races to me are clumped together and then we just take them one race at a time. This is the grind part of the year, that’s what I call it. It’s the grind. It’s the time where you got to grind things out. It’s starting to get hot. You got a long way from a break; you got a lot of testing. You’re racing to get in the Chase, which allows you to win the championship. The second long part of the year, is you are either in the Chase or you’re not. If you’re in the Chase, that allows you to focus on trying to win the championship. This is the grind portion of the year and I think it’s the hardest portion of the year because you got to keep in mind of what the goal is. Its months away, but we take one race at a time.”

YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT 20, 25-LAP RUNS TYPICALLY AREN’T YOUR STRENGTH. IS THAT YOU AS A DRIVER OR IS THAT CAR SET-UP? IF ITS YOU AS A DRIVER, HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT I’M GONNA GO OUT HERE AND DRIVE DIFFERENT THAN I’VE EVER DRIVEN, SEE HOW IT WORKS? “If I just go back and look at my entire career, even racing late models, I’ve won my most races on 100, 150, 200-lap races than I did 50 and 75-lap races. I’m more of a thinking racer than I am a gas pedal and steering wheel racer. So these type of weekends simply just don’t work for me as well. I have tried to get out of character for the right opportunity and typically you don’t have success with that. Now if you drop the green with 15 to go at the end of a 500-mile race, I’m ready for that. I’m good with that. I’m just a rhythm guy. I get into a rhythm, that’s my strength. It’s hard to get into a rhythm in this kind of an event. I don’t think it’s so much just about speed, it’s just the rhythm that I get into. It’s the best way I know how to describe it. I can tell you that much of the attitude that this is a special weekend and the only thing that matters is winning, I’m definitely of that mindset.”

ON HOW HE WOULD WAY IN ON THE PROGRESS OF DAVID RAGAN THIS YEAR FROM LAST SEASON. “David got beat up really badly his first race in Martinsville a few years ago, but honestly he’s come in and I think he’s learned quickly. There’s been some races this year I thought he had the fastest car and for one reason or another they didn’t have the track position when they needed it. David’s done a nice job of maturing, of getting a lot out of his race car. He’s got a great opportunity of working with Jimmy Fenning to help his learning curve. I’ve been really impressed. The Tony Stewart’s, the Jeff Gordon’s those guys have come in like a ball of fire, you kind of know where they are or what they can do. A guy that doesn’t come in with that amount of immediate success it’s hard to judge and I think David’s proven this year that he can do it at this level. He still has to grow. He reminds me a lot of me to be perfectly honest. You know he didn’t come in with just blunt force but he can get it done and he’s been willing to learn. You can see the amount the incidences he’s been this year, the speed that he’s had this year are much, much “I believe coming into the year we had some areas to improve in and those areas are still there. I believe we can get there, I really do. I believe that our team is capable of turning the wick up and when the time is right I believe that we’re capable of getting our business done. But what we do between now and that opportunity is what’s gonna matter. We still have to get in the Chase, that’s number one goal. That’s the first thing we have to do. If we’re able to do that I believe at that point of the year is when we’re gonna be our strongest. We put specific plans together to hopefully be the best and continue to improve throughout the year, because that’s what we didn’t do well enough last year and I think we learned some lessons from that and I believe we’re gonna be able to do that, I really do.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CITIZEN/SOLDIER/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS met with media to discuss Sam Bass, team ownership, the All-Star format, running with teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, and more.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR A DRIVER TO WIN THE ALL-STAR? “I’ve got one (win). So I don’t know how to answer that question. You should maybe ask someone who hasn’t won it.”

HOW DID YOU WIN IT? WERE YOU GOING FOR BROKE AND DOING EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED TO DO TO WIN IT? ”You know when you’ve got the car to win, early in the night. But if you ain’t got the car to win, you’ve just got to do the best you can. You don’t go for broke anymore. But if you know in the first session that you’ve got a chance, you go for broke after that. But if you’re struggling, you just can’t wait to get it over with and go home.”

HOW EXCITING IS IT TO BE IN THE ALL-STAR? “It’s good to be in it. And I’m glad I’m in. And there is only one guy who is going to win and you’ve just got to hope you can show up and you’re really on it and that you’ve really got a good car when you come off the trailer.”

DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ALL THE RULES CHANGES AND FORMAT CHANGES OVER THE YEARS, STRATEGY-WISE? “Not strategy-wise. I’m not very good at making strategy, but I don’t like the way it is. I hate the way it is. I like the last 10-lap shootout deal. How awesome was that? Does everybody not feel that way?”

ON NOT HAVING THE INVERSION AND GUYS SANDBAGGING “Inversion is never fun (laughs) because you don’t know, you think all right, all this work I’m doing in the first couple of segments is all for what, you know. But they need to go back to their original format, the ’87 format. That was the best. It ain’t that fun running 25 laps. You’ve got 20 cars on the track. Odds of having a caution are a lot less than when you have a full field. And you know in the first 15 laps that the race is won unless something falls off of somebody’s car and the caution comes out. But 10 laps, man that was awesome. They need to do that and quit changing it.”

HOW GOOD IS YOU CAR? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR CHANCES ARE? “We’re all right. We’re not bad, bad, and terrible so I think we’ve still got a pretty good chance. It’s hard to tell right now because it’s so different than what it will be like tomorrow night. I want my car to be free right now, which means I’ll run slower than I could probably make it run if we made it run faster, but that’s not going to be the way to go. It will be too tight at night. So I’ve got to get it free and a little bit slower. But it’s hard to explain.”

WHAT DOES SAM BASS MEAN TO YOU AND WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR THE SPORT? “He’s the main guy when it comes to illustrations and capturing a moment with his art and the way he draws. He’s always been that guy for this sport and he probably always will be. I don’t see anybody coming in here and unseating him. His prints are the most popular and the most well done and appreciated and accepted by the fans. He’s just sort of had that stage from the very beginning. There are a lot of other guys out there that I’ve worked with before and worked with today that as talented or more talented and Sam might agree. But he grabbed the market and the demographic when it was there and kind of lucked into it, I guess. But he’s always been constant. He’s a great guy. Aside from him just carrying this sport in his little area, he’s the nicest guy you’d every meet. He’ll do anything for you and he’s done a lot of cool stuff for me and I really appreciate it.”

AS AN OWNER IN JR MOTORSPORTS, ARE YOU PATIENT OR IMPATIENT IN THAT ROLE? “I’m very impatient.”

HOW IS IT TO DEAL WITH ON THAT SIDE? “The problem I run into with Brad Keselowski is that he watches and sees how I act and thinks that’s how he can act. But I’ve earned the ability or the right to be a little bit of jerk every once in a while and the thinks he can come in right off the bat and be one. And so I have to tell him, man, you can’t be like that you know, you got to earn it. People ain’t going to like you just coming in, seven months into the deal, and you’re complaining all the time. You’ve got to suck it up for a little while. It’s no fun. But after about four or five years, you can start kind of being more demanding and calling your shots a whole lot more and saying ‘no’ a whole lot more often. But he wants a PR person that’ll carry his uniform around for him and things like that right now, and he’s got to wait a couple of years before he gets that. I tell him to be patient. And I tell him too that qualifying is overrated. So hopefully he’ll start listening to that.”

HOW FRUSTRATED ARE YOU THAT YOU HAVEN’T GOTTEN A WIN THIS SEASON? “I’m not frustrated. I’m having a good time and making a good living. I’m finishing good and running good and being competitive. It ain’t good enough. I want to win races. But I have a deal because if I say man, I’m happy, and tell you the truth, you’re (media) going to say I don’t have enough drive and determination to go for wins and I don’t run hard enough if I tell you the truth.

“So I’ve got to tell you every once in a while you know, man, I really want a couple of wins. They really mean a lot. That’s so you guys won’t bury me. I’m having a great time right now. I’ve got great cars. I’ve got way more confidence in my team and our ability to show up with cars that are in the ballpark and running good all weekend. That’s a good feeling. Running in the top five, and being able to do what I feel like I should be able to do, and I’m able to perform like I feel like I should perform, Kyle (Busch) and those guys have a great handle on their cars. He’s very talented and they’re winning races. The NO. 99 seem to have gotten a little of their magic. The NO. 99 is the same way. Once we figure out what that little extra bit is, we’ll be able to compete for those wins. But we’ll take the top fives if they keep coming.”

HOW MUCH OF A CONFIDENCE BUILDER IS IT THAT YOU’VE BEEN RUNNING EQUAL TO OR BETTER THAN JIMMIE JOHNSON AND JEFF GORDON AND YOU’RE IN THE SAME STUFF EVERY WEEKEND. “Yeah. Those guys feel like they aren’t where they need to be, and they’ve got a little bit more to gain, and we feel the same way. But it feels good to be able to run well and get their respect and it really goes a long weigh toward the relationship as teammates to be able to get that respect as soon as you can. And I’m just trying to be complimentary toward the team and the cars and what they’re providing me. Because you know you hear them in their speeches and their interviews at the beginning of the year and they’re like hey, we think Dale Jr. is good. We’re going to provide him with (good equipment), and you want to be complimentary toward that that they provided me with this opportunity. Hopefully I’ll be able to impress everybody enough to keep the job for a while.”

YOU REALLY AGONIZED OVER MAKING THE MOVE TO HMS LAST YEAR. NOW THAT YOU’RE THERE, DO YOU WONDER WHY YOU WORRIED THAT MUCH AND THAT THIS WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO? “No. I don’t look back and go wow, you know, I shouldn’t have worried so much or shouldn’t have made it so hard on myself. But maybe that’s the way I’ll think in five years, but I still it’s just recently happened. And still, I’m still adjusting to the new and trying to be more comfortable leaving the old. I see (Tony) Gibson walk through the garage and I like the guy. And I enjoyed working with him. And I hate that I ain’t working with him anymore. So those things happen. So I guess I miss the team and I miss the camaraderie we had. They were a great bunch of guys over there on the No. 8 and the No. 1 even. But I’m really enjoying where I’m at and what I’m doing and how good we’re doing. Rick (Hendrick) is an awesome boss. I couldn’t be happier about being in the program I’m in. We’ll build the relationships with those guys and really enjoy that. We’ve got a good team and a good opportunity to become great friends and really enjoy racing together.”

BACK TO THE OWNERSHIP THING, WHEN YOU’RE OUT THERE RACING WITH BRAD KESELOWSKI, ARE THERE THINGS THAT GO THROUGH YOUR MIND AND ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT HIM OR ABOUT THE RACE? “Well, I get mad when he messes up and I see him in a wreck or something. But normally I just hope he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing and running good and having a good night. But his night doesn’t go right or something happens to the car, it’s sort of bums you out a little bit and it’s hard to revert back to concentrating on what you’re trying to do with your car.”

WHAT’S THE ALLURE OF OWNERSHIP FOR A DRIVER? WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO IT? “You tell me (laughs). I don’t know.”

IS THERE ANY CHANCE YOU’LL MOVE UP TO THE CUP LEVEL WITH THAT TEAM ANYTIME? “I used to say no way, no way. But it’s almost as expensive to run in the Nationwide Series. And their going to bring a CoT in and we won’t be able to race in the Nationwide Series with the CoT probably. That’ll just be too expensive to switch all that over.”

WOULD YOU DO IT AS EARLY AS NEXT YEAR? “Yeah, maybe. If the right opportunity comes along with the right sponsorship and driver, we’d love to do it. And it would cost the same amount of money to do that, as it is to run the Nationwide Series. It’s harder to get sponsorships. And the CoT program is going to be too expensive for me to justify creating a whole new program with CoT stuff, so I’d just as soon go into the Cup Series or get out of the Nationwide Series altogether.”

COULD YOU GET MARTIN TRUEX JR. IN THAT CAR? “No. Why would he want to come drive for me? He’s in good stuff now and he’s going to have great opportunities from other people. And I would never do that to him (laughter). For the first year coming out of the box, man we’ll struggle like hell. Come on, man. He’s going to have deals offered to him by these great companies around here and from DEI. I’ll be at the bottom of that list, right there with Haas and a couple of other people (laughter). I don’t know with Tony (Stewart) if he goes over there (Haas), he might be able to talk Martin into it. But I don’t know man. I mean no way would I even do that to Martin, even if he wanted to.”

AT TALLADEGA, YOU SEEMED RELUCTANT TO WORK WITH DAVID RAGAN. LAST WEEK AT DARLINGTON, YOU APPEARED TO CONGRATULATE HIM ON HIS GOOD RUN. IS HE COMING ALONG AND HAS HE IMPROVED SINCE TALLADEGA? “Well, now he drives a Ford and I drive a Chevy. We don’t tend to work with Ford too often. So, nothing personal against David. I think he’s a fine driver and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He cuts you breaks and races you hard. He’s got a nearly perfect amount of determination and will, yet he doesn’t really put himself or yourself in a compromising situation out on the race track. And he just gets better at that. When he first came in he had a lot of crashes and stuff, but who didn’t. Jeff Gordon and them guys wracked up 24 front rear clips in his first season. I’ve tore up a lot of stuff. That just happens. But he’s really coming into his own. I was surprised. I didn’t know whether he would evolve into the driver he is today, but he’s done a great job.”

CLINT BOWYER, DRIVER OF THE NO. 07 JACK DANIELS IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and talked about Saturday’s race, going back to New Hampshire, how his car was in practice and much more.

ON SATURDAY’S RACE. “It’s a fun way of racing. It’s something we don’t get a chance to do very often and I’m excited about it.”

DOES IT MEAN A LOT TO YOUR CREW AS WELL? “This is a big week. It’s a neat week. It’s obviously coming back home for everybody being close to home. They did the pit crew challenge last night. It puts them guys in the spotlight. People at home they see us drivers all the time, they don’t see those guys, what they go through and I was really glad that we were a part of that. It’s something that they reach out and give a little back to some of those guys. Really a neat week. Obviously the All-Star event, get to bring all the crew out in driver intros and team intros. So everybody gets a little taste of the spotlight this week.”

HAVE YOU GOT NEW HAMPSHIRE CIRCLED? ARE YOU READY TO GET BACK TO THAT PLACE? “I am. I’ve kind of been thinking about it a little bit but there’s no guarantees you’re gonna go back there and even be fast at all. So many things have changed. Everybody’s kind of had a lot more races on this car now to figure things out. Hopefully we will go back and be every bit as dominate as we were that day but none the less it’s always a special track for me to get my first win there.”

ON HOW THE CAR WAS IN PRACTICE. “It was good. We made a lot of changes. We had two different set-ups that Gil (Martin) really wanted to try for this race. Unfortunately it took a long time to put the one in, it didn’t work so we had to go back to what we had and it just took a long time. It took most of practice just kind of bouncing back and forth between set-ups but we got some laps in race trim. The car was fairly consistent. Made an attempt at a qualifying lap and it was okay as well. Qualifying is quite a bit different here tonight, so looking forward to the challenge.”

THIS IS YOUR FIRST ALL-STAR THAT YOU ARE NOT TRYING TO RACE YOUR WAY INTO, IS THAT A COMFORTING FEELING? “That qualifying race is always a wild one and I just assume not be a part of it.”

ON HIS EMOTIONS GOING INTO THE ALL-STAR RACE. “It’s a big deal. It’s a neat week like I was saying just a minute ago. It’s a neat week for everybody. It’s not just the drivers this time. The crew gets in the spotlight with their pit crew challenge last night, they get to go in driver intros. It’s more of a team aspect especially on t.v. and media coverage-wise, they get a little piece of the spot light. A lot of fun this week, obviously a big prize at the end of the day. Hopefully we’ll be on top.”

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF DRIVING ANY DIFFERENT ON SATURDAY NIGHT? “I mean, you know it’s a million to win. That’s a lot of cash.”

WHAT DIFFERENCE OF A DYNAMIC IS IT RACING WITH GUYS LIKE DALE JARRETT AND RUSTY WALLACE? THIS IS DALE JARRETT’S LAST RACE, HOW DIFFERENT IS THE DYNAMIC OF THIS RACE BOTH ON THE TRACK AND IN THE GARAGE? “You know it’s sad to see those guys go. Those are guys that paved the way for younger drivers like myself to have a sport to race in, especially a sport with the magnitude of NASCAR. Without those guys this sport wouldn’t be what it is today. We owe a lot to them and obviously as another fellow driver proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish. It’s been a pleasure and treat to be able to learn from them and race against them.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWES/KOBALT TOOL IMPALA SS met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and discussed the importance of the All-Star race, his success at Lowe’s; Dale Jarrett’s last race, where he feels their 1.5-mile track program is and other topics.

HOW TO YOU KNOW WHEN YOUR PROGRAM ON THE MILE AND A HALF TRACKS IS WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE? HOW DO YOU GAGE THAT? : “It really boils down to how you perform. You might not have the finish that you want, but if you are competitive all day long and if something outside of being competitive takes you out of a good finish, then you sleep well. The biggest thing is going to the track, seeing how you stack up in the race and during the course of the race.”

SO BASED ON HOW YOU RAN AT TEXAS AND ATLANTA DOESN’T FACTOR IN? “Texas was great for us. Darlington, we started off the weekend a little slow, gained some speed. Unfortunately I wiped out some cars in the process. At Darlington we don’t have the result to show for the progress we made. I look back at Darlington and look at the mistake I made during the race and tapped the wall. My teammates ran well, so I think the speeds we saw at Darlington, even though it is a small track, the speeds showed we are making progress on the mile and a half tracks.”

HOW DOES THE ALL-STAR RACE RANK IN IMPORTANCE FOR YOU AS A DRIVER? “It is really high on the list. I think to go to Daytona, Brickyard, the Coke 600, you have three or four big races there, then you have the All-Star event. I have been fortunate to win it a couple of times and I know how special it is. I know that it is an elite group out there to win against. I look forwarding to winning it again. It is a big race. You look at it, focus on it and the payoff of a million bucks is pretty special too.”

HOW DIFFERENTLY DO YOU APPROACH THIS RACE COMPARED TO ALL THE OTHER RACES OF THE SEASON? “We start off saying how we don’t have any pressure, it is just form. We have this approach that is pretty relaxed. The as soon as the track goes green, everybody goes back in to race mode and it turns in to a race weekend for us. It is such a good chance to find out what we need to do for the 600. We need to be on our toes, be smart. If you are in position to win, you throw caution to the wind at that point. Once the track is hot, it turns in to a regular race weekend.”

HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR SEASON SO FAR? “Decent. We have gotten off to a decent start. But there is a lot of room to grow. I think where we are right now, we are decent.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT DALE JARRETT AS HE HEADS IN TO HIS LAST RACE? “It is hard to think it is his last race. Real happy though that he is going to be around in the sport so we can see him. What he and his family have done for this sport is. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for people like the Jarretts, especially Dale. Both as a driver and a representative of our sport, he is a very special man and great guy. I respect him for all that he has done I am excited for him but also disappointed that I am going to be a part of his last event. That is going to be a tough night for him I am sure.”

THAT BEING SAID, IF IT IS YOU AND HIM COMING DOWN TO THE FINISHLINE, ANY DECISIONS THERE? I KNOW YOU WILL GO FOR THE WIN, RIGHT? “I am all about the win. If it is DJ, he is going down (LAUGHS).”

HOW DO YOU TURN “DECENT” IN TO GOOD? “It is just hard work throughout the season to figure it out. The mile and a halves stuff, we haven’t been on some of the faster tracks for a couple of weeks. So, we are sure, but we aren’t exactly sure where we stack up. I think this weekend, the All-Star weekend, will show us where we are at. It really boils down to getting to work. We have been testing, we have tested a lot. On our own and also the NASCAR tests that have come along. Hopefully we are closing the gap faster than people are getting away from us.”

DO YOU GO TO THE TRACK FEELING INVINCIBLE? “I am very fortunate now, regardless of how we show up, by the time the checkered flag falls we are going to be in contention. Typically, we do that. At Las Vegas, it didn’t work out that way. Most tracks, we are in the hunt at some point. Very lucky to have to have an excellent pit crew, they can make a lot of adjustments on stops. Knaus (Chad, crew chief) is willing to try anything to get me up to speed.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON KYLE BUSCH THIS SEASON? “He is doing a great job. I think he has matured a lot. I think the move from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing has helped him in some ways. From working with him the past few years, he is fast, I’ve known it, we have all known it and seen it coming. Now he is just taking advantage of the opportunity, he is doing a great job.”

DO YOU SEE HIM LOSING THAT EDGE WITH A LITTLE MORE AGE, A FAMILY? “I see a lot of things that help mature Kyle from making mistakes, to growing older, experience. Working with him the last couple of years, I know how intense he is and I know how bad he wants to succeed in our sport. That almost gets in his way sometimes. He means well, drives his butt off, it is good to see it all come together for him and finishing like he is and running like he is.”

DID YOU FEEL FOOLISH AT ALL THE SECOND TIME YOU HIT THE WALL AT DARLINGTON? “From impact three through five, I felt foolish. (LAUGHS). Three through five took place in the race.”

I MEAN BEFORE THE RACE IN PRACTICE: “Yes and no. The mindset you have when you unload a backup car is just like you are with the original car. That was what we did. Our first lap out, was as fast as I had gone in the original car. I was committed to going hard. Chad had a $100 bucks on it that I couldn’t go as fast in the backup car, so we were playing in to it. We didn’t want the fact we were going to backup car slow us down. I stayed committed to how I was driving the car.”

YOUR THOUGHTS ON HUMPY (WHEELER) COMPARING YOU TO A GREYHOUND DOG IN HIS PICKS PRESS CONFERENCE THE OTHER DAY. “I didn’t know about that. They are fast, but they have a short life, right? So, I don’t know if I like that. (LAUGHS).”

YOUR THOUGHTS IN GENERAL OF COMING BACK TO A TRACK WHERE PEOPLE SAY ‘THIS IS YOUR HOUSE’. “It has been very good to us for a few years. Last year, we had the speed and I think we finished second. I ran well in both races, but we didn’t have that dominating fashion that we did before. I am glad that people still say that. It means a lot to Hendrick to run well here. Also the No. 48 here at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. We want it, we are going to show up and hopefully have that. But the tricks that used to work here for me, aren’t here anymore. They have resurfaced the track a few times, it is just not the same Charlotte that we had such a good feel for. But, I still think we are going to be in the hunt.”

DOES THE UNIFICATION IN OPEN WHEEL RACING SPARK AN INTEREST FOR YOU TO RUNNING THE INDIANAPOLIS 500? “I think the unification is great, I am really excited to see it. It is going to take the a little time to get the parody between the two divisions before it is fair and equal racing for everyone involved. The road course guys are off to a bit of a slow start, but, I am happy to see it. I am hopeful that within motorsports, we can all get along and make sure that the time frames work out to allow NASCAR drivers to run the 500 if they choose to. I think it is good for everyone. I am happy to see open wheel growing and those race fans getting some satisfaction in watching their cars go around.

“Absolutely, I would love to run the Indianapolis 500. I don’t have anything in play and nothing more than expressing how I would love to do it. But, I would love to have that opportunity to do it.”

ARE THE DRIVER’S GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR DALE JARRETT IN THE DRIVER’S MEETING TOMORROW NIGHT? “There is nothing planned, that I have heard of. There are a lot of people that respect him in this garage area, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a standing ovation or something like.”

DO YOU HAVE A DJ ANECDOTE? “I am not sure if it is an anecdote, but when I think of DJ, I just think of someone that carries himself the right way regardless of the situation and I really respect what he has accomplished, how he has handled himself, he is just a gracious guy. I really respect who and what he is.”

KEVIN HARVICK, DRIVER OF THE NO. 29 PENNZOIL-PLATINUM IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and talked about winning the All-Star last year; owning a team as well as being a driver.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN OWNING YOUR OWN TEAM? “I think for me it’s just the fact that I get to go and really relax and just kind of, I don’t go play golf or anything else like that. Building a foundation for my future when I’m done driving is probably the biggest reason why I do it.”

DO YOU EVER SEE YOURSELF DRIVING FOR YOURSELF ON A FULL-TIME BASIS? “I do that now. I drive my full-time car right now in the Nationwide Series so I do that, pretty much every week.”

IS THERE ANY EXTRA PRESSURE COMING INTO THE ALL-STAR BEING THE CHAMPION FROM LAST YEAR? “I think when you’ve experienced winning you definitely want to go out and try to experience that again. For us it was a really cool night with everybody from Pennzoil and Shell being here. You see a lot of Pennzoil signs all over the track so I guess there’s a little more added pressure this year.”

TALK ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO WIN THE ALL-STAR RACE LAST YEAR. “Well for us this is one of the race tracks that has probably has not produced the best results for us. We put it all together in the All-Star race last year, it came down to one of those moves you wouldn’t make on a normal week. We were able to go on the outside of Burton who was on the pole of the restart there. It’s just cool to win here and win the All-Star race was neat because it’s one of the events that everybody wants to win. And now we’ve been fortunate to win a lot of the big races with the All-Star race and the Brickyard and the Daytona 500. It was a cool night to experience. I got up the next day and went and raced in Iowa.”

TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH THE ENTIRE TEAM IS INVOLVED IN THE ALL-STAR WEEKEND. “This weekend is so different from every other week that we go to. The Pit Crew Challenge is the night for the pit crew guys to shine, my team in particular. They have been the most consistent part of our race team since I have been Cup racing. The pit crew has always been good on the No. 29 Chevrolet and a lot of the guys have been the same for several years now. Those guys are the consistent bunch, our cars might get off or the driver might get off, whatever the case may be, they are always there week in and week out whether we are running good or bad, they have been good. So this whole week, is all about those guys and then the fans all week long. The whole All-Star event, the Pit Crew Challenge, the Pennzoil Burnout Competition, all events are a lot of fun to be a part of.”

JEFF GORDON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and talked about what it means to win the All-Star race, his feelings about Dale Jarrett, Sam Bass and much more.

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO WIN THE ALL-STAR RACE. “It means a lot. This is a very special event. We’re all kind of relaxed right now because points aren’t on the line. The pressure is just not there to have this awesome race car for the race in order to get those points but that I can tell you once they put you inside the car and it’s time to go I would say that this race more than any race that I have, I cinch those belts up just a little bit tighter because you just know how far you’re gonna push. You know what an exciting race it’s gonna be and that whoever comes out on top had to work really hard for it and deserves it and had to overcome a lot of things. So in the individual event just because you’re up against the best and them at their best means a lot and then the history of this sport seeing the greats who have won this race and the history of this event and the excitement that it is, especially because it’s for the fans. They just love the fact that we put on a great show for the fans and because of that the fans, it’s going to mean a lot to them too as to who wins this race.”

WHEN YOU WON HERE WITH THE T-REX THAT WAS A WILDLY DIFFERENT CHASSIS SET-UP, MUCH DIFFERENT DESIGNED TO OPTIMIZE SPEED IN A 10-LAP SHOOT OUT. NOW THAT THE FINAL SEGMENT IS 25 LAPS INSTEAD OF 10 LAPS, DO YOU GO WITH MORE CONVENTIONAL SET UPS IN THE CAR? IS THERE LESS DIFFERENCE THAN YOU MIGHT ORDINARILY RUN IF IT WAS 10 LAPS? “I don’t remember what the length of the other segments were in that race but we won all three segments so we were pretty good on all of the runs with that car. I mean what happened with that car was we decided to build a car for a specific event where you couldn’t work on the car. You couldn’t really change the rear end in the car because the fuel cell location was such that you couldn’t pull it off. And so all that was just maximizing the CG and just getting the car light as possible, getting the weight as low as possible. Really looking at the geometry of the car to maximize the grip in the tires and then a great body and of course you always come out with great horsepower.

“You could just throw that all out the window these days, especially even more so with this car. With this car, the only real thing that we could do to experiment, of course all of you guys have been seeing these cars in yaw down the straightaways, that’s one and that’s supposed to give the car side force which feels like down force to us. It has not been proven to me. If you look at my car, it’s probably the one the least yawed out there and my car is driving pretty good. We’ll see if we got the speed at the end of the night, but felt pretty good about my car. And then the other thing is under the hood; the horsepower, pushing the limits of the reliability of the engine.

”That’s about the only thing we can do these days. They’ve got us in such a box there’s very little that we can do to get out there and experiment and bring these exciting things and ingenuity and really get outside of the box and think of what advantages we might be able to gain for this one particular event. Not to mention if we did bring something like that and they didn’t like it I’m still not sure what the fine would be. If it’s anything like it was Sonoma last year, it’s not worth it if it transfers over to other events.”

THIS RACE HAS SUCH A RECKLESS WILD REPUTATION. YOU’VE WON IT THREE TIMES, JIMMIE (JOHNSON) HAS WON IT TWICE, MARK MARTIN HAS WON IT TWICE, YOU THREE ARE PRETTY PATIENT RACERS. DOES THAT MEAN THAT RECKLESSNESS IS OVERFETCHED AND ITS REALLY MORE ABOUT HOW GOOD YOU ARE AND SOMETIMES HOW PATIENT YOU ARE? “I wouldn’t call it reckless. I think anybody whose reckless isn’t around at the end of this race. I think that it’s knowing when to be aggressive and when to be patient. A lot like most races that we do every week and the only difference is when it comes time to be risky you could be more risky because you’re just looking for that win. Anything else is really last place. So you’re going to take more risks because there’s more to gain. You’re not out there for points you’re only out there for the win, for the trophy, the money and to celebrate in victory lane and to give the fans a great show. So you take more risks, but you still have to be patient. You have to look around, you see when guys are maybe pushing too hard and going to crash or something might happen. To set the car up for 25 laps sometimes the car might start out a little loose in order to be fast toward the end of the run. I do think track position is going to be very important. So a car that takes off pretty good is going to be important so you might want to be a little riskier at the beginning and sometimes positioning, if you’re on the outside lane you might want to have to be more aggressive to hold that guy in that inside lane to get position on him so I think it’s just about choosing when to be aggressive and when to be patient. In my mind, that’s I think one of my best qualities. I think that’s one of Mark Martin’s best qualities and I think it’s one of Jimmie’s (Johnson) best qualities too. When I look at the three names that you’re talking about including myself in that, those guys are usually around at the end of most races and have a shot at winning quite a few along the way and that’s what you have to do here. You just have to shorten it up into a 25-lap sprint or a 100-lap race and all.”

WILL YOU GUYS SAY OR DO ANYTHING SPECIAL FOR DJ (DALE JARRETT) TOMORROW NIGHT WITH IT BEING HIS LAST RACE? “I certainly would like to. I’m certainly going to say something to him as well as if I get interviewed I certainly would like to bring it up. I’ve had a real pleasure racing against him, he’s one of my favorites as a driver, as a person and I’ve had the opportunity to race hard against him, race for championships against him and my opinion he stacks up there with the all time best. I did a really special basket if you call it that with a lot of goodies that I hope that he likes that I delivered to him when we got here at the race track so hopefully he likes that.”

ON HIS IMPRESSION OF SAM BASS OVER THE YEARS AND WHAT HE’S DONE TO PROMOTE THE SPORT. “Sam’s great. He’s a really neat guy, fun to work with. He’s played a big role in our paint schemes over the years and some great promotions that we’ve done through different paint schemes over the years as well. My best memories of when I first came to Charlotte and going to the old Sandwich Construction Company restaurant and just looking at all the Sam Bass prints and Gary Hill prints all around the walls there. When you’re new to the sport you just think that’s the coolest place there is, unfortunately it’s not there anymore, but the stuff they had up on the walls was pretty impressive and to meet Sam and have him design a car and do the prints that’s he’s done for us over the years is really been a pleasure.”

ON HOW RICHARD PETTY HAS BEEN ABLE TO KEEP HIS POPULARITY FOR SO MANY YEARS. “I mean he’s the king. If he’s walking through the garage area you know he’s the king. If you look at the stats, he’s the king. He’s won more races, he’s won more championships or ties with Dale Earnhardt and I think that what he did over those years behind the wheel and the way he marketing himself. However he got his nickname, I’m not really sure, as the king, he’s lived up to it and he’s obviously now a car owner with Petty Enterprises. Their presence and that 43 car’s presence is still very strong out there. I still go places where I’ll meet people who have no clue about racing and they’ll say I know Richard Petty or I know Dale Earnhardt, they know that name. I haven’t asked them enough times to why is that, but I just know that’s the case. It stands out, it always has and I think it will for a very long time.”

DALE JARRETT IS SAYING VERY CLEARLY THIS ITS A CUT AND DRY DECISION, HE’S NOT GOING TO BE RACING AGAIN ANY MORE, BUT THERE’S STILL GUYS THAT ARE COMING BACK. WHAT IS IT THAT KEEPS GUYS WHO ARE AT THE END OF THEIR CAREER STILL WANTING TO COME BACK AND COULD YOU EVER ENVISION YOURSELF RETIRING AND THEN SAYING I THINK I’LL COME BACK FOR A LITTLE MORE? “I don’t know unless I get to that point. I love being behind the wheel of a race car. I always said when I retire is when I’m gonna go start driving sprint cars and midgets and dirt cars again. I love the dirt so much and just don’t get an opportunity to do it now or go drive in the 24 hours of LeMans or just do something that I’ve always wanted to do. When you get here, you strive so hard to get here and then you get here and you find out it’s a lot of work and it becomes a job and a business and you do your best at it that you can, but it just doesn’t give you some of the time that you’d like to go do other things.

“When that day comes for me I would look forward to the down time away from all that but I also don’t know if I would miss that competition and being at this level and I wouldn’t know until I stepped away from it. But I think with DJ, he’s able to be in the booth. I think that what he’s doing in the television booth and he’s already to me been very good at it and is only going to get better. So I think that is going to probably take a lot of that desire away because he’s going to put himself into that and I think he’s going to want to excel at it and he’s going to. I don’t think that unless it’s for some little specialty events that may come up for fun, I don’t really see him coming back and that’s kind of the way I would envision myself as well.”

WHAT ABOUT BILL ELLIOTT? “Bill doesn’t do t.v. I’m not sure what Bill does do other than drive dirt cars and drive cup cars from time to time. I mean, he’s a racer. I’ve had more respect of Bill of the last couple years than I ever did racing with him. I always knew he was good race car driver, a great champion and a good guy. To me it’s more impressive to see him go drive these dirt late model cars and then come back just from time to time and qualify the cup cars into the race in an unfamiliar car with an unfamiliar team and to me that’s pretty impressive and then to see Mark Martin jump around the way he has, he’s a true racer as well. (Ken) Schrader, those are racers and you got to respect that. Those are the kind of guys you’re always going to see them in a race car.”

IS KYLE BUSCH’S AGGRESSIVENESS ON THE TRACK REMINISCENT AT ALL OF DALE EARNHARDT’S AGGRESSIVENESS? “In a youthful way, yeah. I think that Dale Earnhardt, he was a little more stubborn (laughs), which I find myself doing as I get older too. That’s how he was. He was aggressive but I never saw Dale out leading the race with the car that could just lap the field, bounce a car off the wall every couple of laps, never saw him do that. If he was trying to make a pass on the guy for the lead, I’ve seen him go in there and get loose underneath the guy and take the guy out and possibly even himself, seen that happen. But to me there’s a big difference between the two and I think that Kyle is an extremely talented driver and we all recognize and know that but I still think that sometimes his aggressiveness and his youthfulness does get the best of him and when he balances that out and if he ever really truly balances that out he’ll be unstoppable. He’s almost unstoppable now, but those times he hits the wall, if he hits it a little bit too hard that car might not be quite that good.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 8 U.S. ARMY IMPALA SS met with media to discuss the All-Star race, the maturity and talent of Kyle Busch, his part-time schedule, and more.

DO YOU APPROACH THE ALL-STAR DIFFERENTLY THAN A REGULAR RACE? “I don’t know if you do or not. To me, the race is so many to go after the first lap. So if it’s a 600-mile race, then it’s 399 to go after the first lap. If it’s a 25 lapper, there are 24 to go, you know, is the way I look at it. I don’t know. You always just try to do whatever you can do to put yourself in position to capitalize and to try to win.”

THIS IS A COOL EVENT FOR THE FANS, THE DRIVERS, AND THE TEAMS. IT’S UNIQUE IN SO MANY ASPECTS ‘Yeah, it’s just awesome. It’s a real privilege to be in it and it’s really, really good that they have it here (Charlotte). This is the right place to have this race. I’m glad that they’ve kept it here.”

WHERE DOES THIS RACE RANK FOR A DRIVER? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO COMPETE IN THE ALL-STAR IN ORDER TO HAVE A COMPLETE RESUME? “I don’t do that. I just feel like I’m lucky if I ever win one. So I’ll take whichever ones I can get, you know. I try to win every one of them and take whichever ones we can get.”

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON HOW KYLE BUSCH HAS CHANGED? “I just think that it’s just very obvious that he is come a long way in a short period of time. People forget how young he is and how talented he is. He’s matured a lot over the past two years.”

WHEN YOU LOOK AT HIS POTENTIAL, WHERE DO YOU SEE HIM GOING IN 5 YEARS FROM NOW? “He’ll be wracking up results, but it would be hard for me to see him get a whole lot better than he already is. He’s an incredible talent. But he will get smarter as he goes forward. And he’ll wrack up a lot more results.”

DO THE FANS NEED SOMEBODY TO BOO WITH KYLE BUSCH? DOES HE FIT THAT ROLE IN THIS SPORT? “That’s a tough thing to say. Thank goodness we’re talking about someone else besides myself (smiles). I think that it makes people’s blood pump. It’s not a bad thing. I’ve seen them move a number of drivers in the past and that seems to get people engaged. So, from that standpoint, I don’t think it’s a bad thing as long as they’re not booing at me.”

KYLE BUSCH SAID HE DIDN’T SPEAK TO HIS BROTHER, KURT, UNTIL CHRISTMAS DINNER ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED AT THE ALL-STAR RACE IN MAY. HOW LONG HAVE YOU HELD A GRUDGE AGAINST ANOTHER DRIVER? “Usually not that long. But there may be a driver or two that I may never forgive.”

ARE YOU FIRMING UP YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT SEASON? “I’m racing next year on a limited schedule.”

BASICALLY THE SAME? ‘Absolutely.”

WHAT MAKES THIS PART TIME SCHEDULE WORK FOR YOU? “Not having to do the whole schedule and being able to drive top-notch equipment for a great team. It’s full-time equipment.”

HOW CHALLENGING IS IT TO KEEP ABREAST OF EVERYTHING WHEN THE SPORT CHANGES SO MUCH? “I would rate my rate of engagement at the top of the list in this garage even though I’m not there every weekend, I’m more engaged with my team and my car than the average driver is, no matter how many days they are at the race track.”

IN THE ALL-STAR, HOW MUCH OF A SKILL IS IT TO GET IN AND OUT OF PIT ROAD WHILE MAINTAINING THE SPEED? “It’s marginally ridiculous, really, they way we do that qualifying. We don’t really do anything like that. I don’t subscribe to that. But it’s made for a lot of tire smoke and a lot of heartbreak. Part of the appeal to the All-Star race is built upon heartbreak. If it wasn’t, then the fastest car would always win. The rules are set up so that the fastest car has the least likely opportunity to win than normal. That’s okay, as long as you’re not the best car. If you’re the best car, that’s tough. I’ve been on both ends of it.”

THE INVERSION IS GONE THIS YEAR “Yeah, but it’s still double file race cars and a bunch of other stuff, you know. But you’re right. The inversion is gone and it depends on where you were. If you didn’t have the best car, the inversion was good. If you had the best car, it wasn’t so good. I’ve been on both ends of it. I was mad as heck when I had the best car and not so disturbed about it when I got to start on the front row.’

THERE IS SOME TALK THAT THE HALL OF FAME WILL BE DONE IN TWO YEARS, AND THAT THE INDUCTION CEREMONY WOULD BE DURING THIS WEEK AND TIED INTO THE ALL-STAR ACTIVITIES. IS THAT AS GOOD A TIME AS ANY? “Yeah, I think it would be appropriate. Yes, I do. I think it would be good.”

WHAT KIND OF A MAN IS DALE JARRETT THAT WE’RE SAYING GOODBYE TO? “We’re only saying goodbye to him as a driver. He’s a really, really fine man and a really great person from a really good family.”

WITH THE MONEY AND SCHEDULE AND DEMANDS, ARE WE NEARING THE ERA WHEN WE WON’T SEE GUYS LIKE YOU AND DJ OUT HERE FOR THIS LONG OF A TIME? “It’s a great challenge to be here at age 50. It’s even a greater challenge to be competitive out here at the age of 50.”

HOW IS THE NEW RACE CAR SHAPING UP ON THE TRACK ON THIS TRACK? “It’s okay. It’s getting better all the time.”

ARE WE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PROCESS OF FINDING OUT WHERE THIS CAR WILL EVENTUALLY BE? “It’s okay. It’s getting better. We already know where it’s going to be. It’s here. That’s it. That’s the end of the story. The car is getting better.”

CASEY MEARS, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and discussed the All-Star Race, defending his Coca Cola 600 title, racing the Indy 500 and Dale Jarrett.

TALK ABOUT EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ALL-STAR RACE AND THEN DEFENDING YOUR COCA COLA 600 VICTORY: “I am really excited about coming back here for the All-Star race, it is obviously a lot of fun, all the drivers enjoy it. This year, more than ever I enjoy coming back because we really earned our way in. Just looking forward to it. It is an all-out race. You don’t have to worry about points, or bringing the car back, you have to go out and try to win the race. I was just on Trackside Live and Darrel (Waltrip) was showing me the winnings and the earnings and the difference between first and second, it definitely pays to win. We are going out there to go have some fun and hopefully get this Kellogg’s CARQUEST Chevrolet up front.

“Going in to the 600, I am just real excited about. To come back and be able to defend a title for the first time at one of the biggest races of year, being the month of May, I think we have a great shot at it and I am looking forward to it. One of the real cool things we are excited about from a team standpoint, coming back to Lowe’s is we are bringing the 500th chassis that Hendrick Motorsports has built. That is a big deal and a big milestone for the team. It would be great to have a victory with that car.”

HOW FAR ARE YOU WILLING TO GO TO WIN A NON-POINTS PAYING RACE? “There is an edge, once you go over it, I don’t gauge a whole lot on how far over the edge. I think obviously, I think this is one of those races either there is a really big crash early or there is one late. You have to be a little bit patient at times, I think, because everybody has the mindset to go, go, go. A lot of times, that gets a lot of people in trouble. It pays to be a little bit patient early on. Obviously you have to drive hard and run hard to make sure you make the right adjustments for the end. This tire it seems like it is hard enough and seems like we are going to be able to go on it for a while. It is going to be interesting to see what happens the last couple of segments of this race but I think you are going to have to find out early what you need and make the right adjustments and be ready to go.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RACE IN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500: “I would love to run the Indy 500, always will. The one thing, over the years, it has gotten diluted. It was diluted a little bit in my eyes just like it was in everybody’s eyes and it is very exciting to see those two series get back together. To see a full field, and to see how many cars are there for the month of May is very exciting. It definitely makes it a lot more appealing. I think that if it was possible to make it happen time wise, I would love to go back and run the 500 and then run the 600 as well.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT DALE JARRETT AND HIS LAST RACE? “Dale Jarrett is an awesome guy first of all. Just a great person. I kind of got in on the tail end of his career and don’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge of racing side-by-side with him, obviously the last couple of years I have gotten to do that. What a great guy! I have a ton of respect for the way that he holds himself, for the things he has accomplished over the course of his career and in my eyes, he is just one of the great guys that has been in this sport, definitely. I look forward to racing with him this one last time.”