RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger)

HOW DID THE TEST GO IN DARLINGTON? “Well, the Darlington tire test I thought was fairly good. We came to some decent conclusions in the essence that we’re going to go back one more time and do a final tire test with a different tire and try to hit a middle road with the two options that they had. One felt really good and wasn’t going to last and the other one didn’t feel so good and was going to last too good. We’ll work with Goodyear and the three teams that were there and go back to do another tire test – a short abbreviated test – where we can prove that the tires will be ideal for the track.

“The track is great – I like the old track better. But the track is great. They did an excellent job replicating what was there when they repaved it. It’s super smooth – the transitions are the same – it’s got a ton of grip. It’s really fast. We ran a 28.12 on the ‘controlled tire’ and that I think is three seconds faster than the old race pace in race trim – so it’s super fast. You have to be on your toes. Turn 2 wall is about four-foot taller now when you come off Turn 2 – it just feels like it. The track drives the same – other than the fact that you don’t slip the tire.”

TALK ABOUT RACING AT BRISTOL MOTORSPEEDWAY? “I think they did an excellent job making this a better race track. From my standpoint sitting it the seat, it drives like a three-wide – kind of like a Michigan. It’s a lot of fun to race – you can move around. It takes some time to move up towards the wall – it’s a three groove race track. Any half-mile that is a three groove race track is a heck of a race track in my book.”

ARE YOU SATISIFIED WITH ONLY HAVING ONE TIRE MANUFACUTERE? “I think they (NASCAR) only need one – that’s my final answer. Would it be OK to have two? Yes. Do we only need one? Yes. I think that Goodyear has done a good job – there’s times they could have done a better job. We’ve made them aware of it. And there’s times where they’ve done a good job and haven’t gotten the credit they deserved. It’s OK the way it is.”

HOW DID YOU DAD END UP SPOTTING FOR YOU ON THE CUP LEVEL? “He was threatening to have to get a real job so I gave him a side job. He started spotting in the Busch Series in 2005. When we won the six-out-of nine-races – he was the spotter. My spotter for the time was the guy I went to college with and works with our team there in Oakley. He was spotting on Sunday’s and when he decided to come of the road and be more a family man, he gave my dad the opportunity and he wanted to do it. We started in 2006 with him spotting and it’s been a progression of arguments (laughs) and high-fives since.”

DID YOU GET ANY FEEL FOR HOW THAT RACING WILL BE IN DARLINGTON AFTER THE TIRE TEST? “The abrasiveness and the bumpiness is gone. We’re wearing out tires- don’t get me wrong. It’s so sticky and I literally never slipped the rear tire when I was there – and I didn’t want to. You take a track like that (Darlington) when it’s a repave – if you slip a rear tire - it’s like an Indy car spinning – it’s gone around and there’s no saving it. We were conscious of that going into the test. Racing wise, I‘ve always said Darlington is not the perfect race track. To me, it’s my favorite race track to drive – but racing wise – going three and four wide – you’re not going to see it at Darlington. So it’s going to be difficult – it’s going to have its own set of difficulty as far as passing and working in traffic and things like that. It’s going to be a very important track position race in the essence that if you’re out front – it’s going to be easier to stay out front because it’s difficult to pass there. It’s always been a give and take race track. It’s the give-and-take race track when it comes to passing. We’ll have to adjust our speed and how the cars handle there with this new pavement for sure.”

DO YOU THINK NASCAR SHOULD HAVE A TEST IN TEXAS? “When we tested at Darlington, the Darlington control tire – the one that was our baseline that they wanted with their anticipation maybe being able to use - was the Texas tires. After feeling those tires at a brand new abrasive track, and knowing that Texas has aged – I think that we’ll have a good tire going into Texas. Do I know that? No. But I firmly believe that tire that they’ve chosen – that they adjusted – for this year- the new Texas tire - is going to be a good tire for Texas.”

YOUR THOUGHTS ON DALE JARRET ON A RACE CAR DRIVER AND FAVORITE MEMORY? “Obviously a great race car driver. A champion of champions - a first-class individual – although he spun me out here on purpose (laughs). We’ve always had a good relationship with the exception for couple times which is tough to do in this business. I think that he’s had a lot of respect for me and I’ve had a lot of respect for him. Going back to my first Daytona 500 and the Gatorade 125 at the time – he came up to me after the race and told me that I did a good job. We finished like 13th or something – but it meant something for me to have somebody that was champion in 1999 – somebody that was a champion in the racing past to come to me and tell me that I did a good job was special for me. It was one of my special moments with him. We share a lot together in the essence that we’ve both won the 500 and our dad’s both called us to Victory Lane. I think a lot of Dale – I wish him the best in his retirement – we’ll see him in Charlotte.”

IS THERE EMPHASIS ON PHYSICAL FITNEES WITH THE HANDLING OF THE NEW CAR? “Yeah, I cut back on the cookies – I cut down to like five a day. It’s definitely more physical – but it’s not to that point – we’re still sitting in the easy chairs if you ask me. There comparable and comfortable – because we have to sit there for four hours sometimes – when we have red flags it’s five hours. You have to be in physical shape, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve not lifted a single piece of iron or pumped any metal or did any push-ups or sit-ups the entire year. I’m not in Mark Martin shape, but I don’t think that I’m giving up anything sitting in the car on lap 499 – I’m just as strong as I am in the beginning.”

WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF A PERFECT RACE TRACK? “I think Atlanta and Michigan – even Charlotte has matured quite a bit with the new asphalt to the point that I think they’re great race tracks. Michigan is an easy track to drive – you don’t have to have a ton of talent to get around there fast. Darlington you have to have a good bit of talent – and that’s the difference. That’s why I like Darlington – I’ve always claimed it as my favorite. Dover is a great race track. You can really make up some time – move your line around – get offline in the corners – it’s very demanding.”

IS IT NICE TO HAVE EASTER WEEK OFF NEXT WEEK? “Like you wouldn’t believe; it’s been a lot of work. I was home one day this week which is kind of rough. I’d prefer three – it’s just kind of a vacation at home with the dogs – with Krissie – fishing and doing stuff outside. I might fire-up the lawn mower for the first time even though the grass doesn’t need to get cut. Just enjoy being around the house.”

WHAT SHOULD BE THE PERFECT BALANCE FOR THE RACE HERE AT BRISTOL? “To me, I’m a race car driver and I want to see a race. I want to see us go door handle-to-door handle and rub sides. I don’t want us to see us bumping and banging and getting mad because one guy spun another guy out. Now in saying that, this new car doesn’t allow us to spin each other out the way we used to, but we can still get it done. I like the race track the way it is – the way it was – it was OK. It’s not like it was a bad race track before. I just think it’s a racier race track now and if fans are here to see a race – then those fans should be happy. If those fans that don’t like it that much, they’re not here to see a race, they’re probably here to see a crashing. Go visit your demolition derby.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR TRIP TO DETROIT THIS TO CELEBRATE THE DAYTONA 500? “We went to Chrysler headquarters and basically gave a ‘thank you’ out to all the people there. I’ve never realized how many people or how big the building was. They said that the Chrysler headquarters is the second largest building under one roof to the Pentagon in the United States. It’s a huge building. They have over 12,000 people that work there and we had about 8,000 that were watching us. It was pretty cool. We were at the bottom-floor level and it’s four or five stories up – they have stairs and mezzanines – all these people looking at us – it was like Wizard of Oz or something.

“Just to have all those people be thankful and sign some autographs for them is great. We sat down and had lunch and to have the head people tell us how important it was – people were smiling that usually weren’t smiling – just because we won that race. It meant a lot. It was nice to sit down with Bob Nardelli and get to know him a little bit better. To give back to people that make a big difference to us. Dodge has helped us out a ton between the wind tunnel testing and everything else they do to help our Alltel Dodge go faster.”

STATISTICS SHOW THAT THE TOP-12 LEAVING THIS RACE AT BRISTOL USUALLY MAKE THE CHASE. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET OFF TO A REAL FAST START? “It might change a little bit. It typically only changes from the bottom – from ninth to 12th. We’re happy to be in our position – we’d like to be first. It’s been a good start to the season and that momentum and those finishes kind of help play out and keep going. You see a guy like Carl Edwards struggle the last couple weeks for various reasons – he’s sitting outside looking in. He’s obviously a great competitor – I think he’ll be in the Chase. It’s much easier to be in the top-five and have a race to give then to know that you can’t afford to screw up or mess up or have a bad pit stop or anything. You may not make it in – it’s easier to work your way down a little bit then to work your way up.”

IS THERE MORE PRESSURE BEING ON THE OUTSIDE? “I wouldn’t say there’s pressure from being 15th in points right now would cause you to make mistakes. It’s just that difficult to beat the other guys in the higher positions. You’re going to get to a point where you’re going to finish 10th and not gain any points. This situation like that where you really have to be winning races -15 races into the season – to make up that difference if you’re sitting 15th in points to be able to make it in the Chase. If you’re sitting sixth around 15 races in, you’ve got six races to give and that’s a big difference.”

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE COT NOW THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW LAST TIME WE WERE HERE IN THE SPRING? “The biggest thing is that we don’t have anything to compare it to anymore. The old car is gone. There is no ‘man this thing feels horrible.’ We compare it to going to our Vegas or Charlotte car – you just can’t do that anymore. We don’t have anything to compare it to so there’s no point in complaining. It doesn’t drive as good. It doesn’t feel like the old car did. It’s like that for a reason. That’s the way partially it was designed. We’ve made some big gains with the car. We’ve learned a lot of suspension things – items that have changes because of the way we have to drive the cars – because of the suspension travels. They’re harder to drive – that’s OK. It’s a little job security for us drivers. Other than that – there’s still going to be a winner so we’ll just go out and do what we have do. It’s going to be interesting when go to place like Michigan and Charlotte and get 43 cars on the track. To me, it’s all about the fans. If the fans like the racing in this car – that’s the bottom line. If we’re complaining about the cars - or the tires - or the wing - or the fact that we can’t see out of it- or that it has bigger windshield going into Turn 3 at Phoenix and we can’t see because of the sun – it doesn’t matter.”

KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

TALK ABOUT COMING BACK TO BRISTOL WHERE YOU HAVE DONE VERY WELL? “It’s always exciting to race Bristol again. To be on top of our game - that’s what we want to do and be able to try and put the Miller Lite Dodge into Victory Lane on Sunday. I’ve heard the forecast is for some snow angel weather – so we’ll see what we can get done. It’s always fun these first four or five races off of last year’s points -since we gave up our points, I still haven’t found where my hauler yet….so away we go (laughing).

“We should have some good practices today. I hope that we get qualifying in this evening and tomorrow it’s almost like we have to get some homework in today because tomorrow’s forecast is a little ‘iffy’. There are lights here – the banking will dry quickly – and hopefully we’ll get in all the racing action in we can.”

DO YOU THINK THAT SAM (HORNISH JR.) MAY NEED A GUARDIAN ANGEL THIS WEEKEND TO GET INTO THE TOP-35? “He’s got two excellent races -15th at Daytona and to not run into anything and make every lap he possibly could in Atlanta and finish 25th – that was the bar set - to finish 25th at every race. Those two DNF’s are definitely going to hurt. He’s got to protect his race car here at Bristol which is tough to do. I looked at him yesterday and said ‘that’s right, you’ve never been to Bristol,’ (laughs). I’m like ‘well, there’s not much help here - you have to go learn from yourself’.

“To have a five-time winner try and give him pointers, I think he feels confident enough to know that he can got out there and try to survive. Sam Hornish Jr has a big task ahead of him. He can run anything. He has to protect his radiator. And that means staying off of other cars and makes as many laps as you possibly can. Attrition might help him if he just stays out of trouble – attrition could add up and he could end up with a 25th place finish. That’s what we’re hoping for and that should put him in the top-35.”

TELL US ABOUT GOING UP TO DETROIT AND GETTING YOUR VIPER? “This week has been an excellent week. I went up to Detroit – flew into the old downtown airport – and drove one block to the Conner Ave. Dodge Viper assembly plant. It was a big celebration. All the hands-on workers – men and women who fabricate the Dodge Vipers - it was interesting to see the process. You expected to see all these big machines and welders and come in to zap the quarter panels on or zap the control arms on – this is one of the only assembly’s left that is put together by hand. The Dodge Viper is hand assembled. It’s almost right off of what Henry Ford started back in the early 10’s and 20’s of hand assemble. They take a lot pride and the Dodge Viper plant – the men and women that build the Viper. It reminded me of my mechanics who build my race cars. There is a lot of TLC – a lot of tender loving care put in each and every vehicle. They wanted to set me up with a blue one (Dodge Viper) last October to commemorate the Miller Lite Dodge’s run through the Chase. I said ‘no, I think a Dodge Viper is red. I wanted to wait for a red one.’ They told me they won’t make them until March. It was really exciting to get the 25,000th Viper and the first red one in 2008. Already this car is a star. It already has appearances booked. I have to keep up with where the car is going.”

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO SWITCH THE POINTS BACK AGAIN WITH SAM UP THIS YEAR IF HE FALLS OUT OF THE TOP 35? “I didn’t know that is possibility. I hope that he’s able to race as hard as he can and as smart as he can the next few races to get locked in. It’s just a tough road – an uphill battle when you don’t have points. Not only do you end up getting your tires last – when you’re back there in points trying to qualify with those other guys - it’s an uphill battle. I hope he does the right things this weekend and Martinsville to help his season go a little bit smoother. But there hasn’t been any talk of a points swap.”

WHAT’S YOUR ANALYSIS OF THE TIRE SITUATION RIGHT NOW? “There’s been huge discussion about tires this week. The bottom line is that the COT is heavier. It has less downforce so it doesn’t turn as well – so you’re scrubbing your tires trying to get it to turn. And then you have to run all this built-in camber trying to help the car turn. You use to travel to make the front end go through a motion which would add camber as you travel or take away for the left-front. Now it’s just built-in the whole time. You’re turning the wheel harder. You have all this built-in camber. It’s a recipe for tire issues. Goodyear has to react. The CEO (of Goodyear) can’t get these phone calls from Mom-and-Pops that are watching NASCAR races going ‘why are these tires blowing out? I have Goodyear’s on my SUV that I bought, why are NASCAR race tires blowing out?’ So they have to react. NASCAR and Goodyear came back with a harder tire for Atlanta. Yes – was it a bit too far? I’m sure it was. Is there a compromise to find a middle ground? I’m sure there is now that it’s a problem for the racing action. We want to see the action, the safety and the fans go home saying ‘we bought a ticket to Atlanta, Bristol and say we saw a good race.’ There doing the jobs that they can and they’re giving us the best tire they can to put on a good show as well as put the heat on themselves when there are tire blowouts.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT DALE JARRET’S LAST POINTS RACE HERE THIS WEEKEND AND A FAVORITE MEMORY? “It’s incredible to grow up watching the races and to be rooting for those drivers. When I was growing up there was Ken Schrader, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliot and Dale Jarrett – a guy that won the 1999 championship. A guy that I met for the first time when I won the 1999 Southwest Tour championship – they brought all the champions to Homestead and I got to shake his hand. That was one of the coolest moments – I got to meet a NASCAR champion. That was the first champion I ever met.

“My first start at Dover, he started right behind me. I just pulled out of the way as quickly as I could because those guys wanted to go a lot quicker than I did at the start of the race. To see him win the Daytona 500 a bunch of times – to win at Michigan with the Wood Brothers for his first win - there are so many Dale Jarrett classic moments – he’s a very classy guy. Somebody each and every young driver should look up to him for what he has done for the sport and behind the scenes. A pure champion that has that legacy from his father Ned –it’s a racing family - it’s going to be tough to see him go. It will always be that Dale Jarrett was a champion that I looked up to and try to mock some of his actions.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THAT THE RACING WILL SHAPE UP NOW THAT IS HAS SOME AGE ON IT? “It’s seems like the track is easier. It’s difficult to say because it’s Bristol. Bristol is not easy by no means. It took away some of the old little nuances – like being on in the bottom of Turn 2 or that you didn’t drive into Turn 3 too hard. There was a check list you did every lap at Bristol. Now you can just drive off in there – there is plenty of race track. The raced track helps you get around here now instead of you fighting the race track. And maybe it was right before the Chase last fall – everybody is a bit tentative. This new car – everybody was learning it. Now that we’ve got a race under our belt –it’s early in the season and teams are more experienced with the COT – we’re hoping for much more action around the race track. It’s a track now that you don’t have to move other cars, to move forward and to move up on the grid. So there are not as many crashes as before. A lot of race fans buy tickets to see crashes. It was exciting before – it’s still exciting now – it just has a different element to it. When I watched the Nationwide Series race here last August, there were three-wide for the lead for the last 40 laps. That’s the type of racing action that we need to write about and talk about.”

DO YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR WORKOUT PLAN BECAUSE OF THESE TOUGH HANDLING CARS? “It challenges you heat wise. This car is much warmer to drive. It just doesn’t ventilate itself as easy. It seems like you’re fighting the wheel harder because you’re loose sometimes – tight some other laps. And then with a harder tire they’re mixing in to be safer – you’re working the wheel twice as hard. So it only makes sense to bump-up your regiment to get more cardiovascular in – to hydrate more before hand. (Ryan) Newman – he’s such a buff, burly guy – he’s going to be OK either way.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU CHERISH THE UPCOMING WEEKEND OFF? “With all the snow delays and the coldness, it just seems like the season gets longer and longer every year and we start our season too soon, but I watched the Motocross AMA race in Daytona and they were in a monsoon down there in the middle of March – so it wouldn’t make sense to start the season in March down in Daytona. The season is long and there are only a few off weekends. This one is Easter and is around family. I’ll spend half the time in the Carolina’s and the other half up in Virginia. The Viper hasn’t made its way down from Detroit, so that will be a nice summer time vehicle to cruise around in. But it’s mainly about family this off-weekend and getting caught up with what we have and haven’t done yet around the house.”

WHY DO YOU THINK NASCAR SETTLES ON THE TOP 35 CARS AND NOT A SMALLER NUMBER? “Here’s all I know about the top-35 and who’s in and who’s out. We’ve had four races so far this year. I had a rough race in Vegas – I blew a tire with 12 laps to go and I finished 39th. That means with 12 laps to go, there was still 39 cars running. That means we had the best amount of cars – the top quality of cars running in the race. Sam Hornish Jr. had a bad race in Vegas. Carl Edward’s is leading the race – walking away with it with 80 (laps) to go – has his oil line problem and finishes 42nd. That kills you in points when finish 42nd. And that was only 80 laps from the end. Elliott Sadler just wrecked several laps before and he finished 43rd. That’s 90 laps left to got to the end and there are 43 cars – Elliott Sadler – Carl Edwards – I think we have the top quality cars in these races and that’s what we want to see. We want to see the fastest 43 in the races no matter where they are in the points - or who’s locked in or been around for 20 years - it’s taking care of itself. I’m looking at the competition side – I don’t know the top-35 or why it’s that number. I’m just looking at when you have a bad day and you’re 12 laps from the end and you end up 39th –there’s a lot of competition out there.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)

TALK ABOUT COMING BACK TO BRISTOL? “It’s a fun track. It’s a good track to race at. With the improvements last year made for a more exciting race – especially in the Busch cars. You could run pretty much anywhere on the track. The Cup cars weren’t as racey as the Busch cars were – but still pretty good. We led a lot of laps and had two pretty good cars here. I’m looking forward to it – I always like racing Bristol, it’s been good to us.”

IS IT A DISADVANTAGE TO RUN BOTH THE CUP AND NATIONWIDE SERIES CARS ON THE SAME WEEKEND? “It’s definitely different. They’ve always different with the engines - that’s even a bigger difference now. The cars themselves have felt a bit different, and now it’s even more so. But it was like this at times last year. I think the place where it hits you the most where it makes it a little more difficult – say today when we practice the Nationwide car – and jump into the Budweiser car and qualify it – the first lap has to be your best lap. That makes it tough, but we’ve done it for a while and we’ve kind of learned it and know the feeling. If I was a rookie and just jumping in one and then the other – it would be tough. The way it is now, it’s a little difficult, but you just have to think hard about it and just realize what you’re getting into before you turn those laps. To race them both is just to race. I think the reason most of us do it anymore is just to race. I wouldn’t race 10 races for any other reason because I’m not going for any points – not doing anything other than to race and have a good time.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE WITHOUT RAY (EVERNHAM) THERE ON A DAILY BASIS? “I think as far as the people at the shop and the way the shop is run – it’s not a big difference. You may not see him quite as much - they’re all busy doing their jobs and they have certain priorities and things that they have to do. So it’s not that big of a difference. To me, I’m up there when I get up there. Some weeks not at all – other weeks two or three times. Whether I see Ray or not, is the same now as it was two or three years ago. To me, he’s there – he still helps me with what I need. I talk to him once a week. I run into him – whether it’s seeing him out or he gives me a call – we talk every week and try and go over things. I think the shop side is a little bit different for those guys. They all have jobs and priorities and they’re working on them so I don’t necessarily think it matters a whole lot.”

WHAT EFFECT HAS IT HAD ON THE TEAM WITH HIS NEW ROLE? “His impact on me is the same. He calls me and works with me a talks to me and says what I have to work on – what I’m doing good and what I’m doing bad and how to go about that. That’s how it’s been since 2004. I think mine and Ray’s relationship is really good and is still the same as it’s always been.”

HOW DIFFERENT IS THE FEELING THIS YEAR VERSUS LAST YEAR? “Going into last weekend’s race, we had a lot of momentum and things were really good. Last week it kind of showed that you can miss it very easy still. A lot of teams did. At the end of the race we were a top-15 car but we were too far behind at that point and finished 28th. It’s definitely not a hole, it’s a great spot to be in. Everybody did a good job and we just have to keep working on where we’re at. I feel like to start the season the way we have is as good or better then what we could have really expected coming off of last year. It’s been a good start and everybody knows it and doing a good job to keep running good run here, Martinsville, Texas and down the line.”

HOW TOUGH IS IT TO PUT A WEEKEND LIKE ATLANTA BEHIND YOU AS A DRIVER? “I had some things that I did this week, so I got over it pretty quick. When you think back to a race, that’s the first one you think to and we didn’t run that well. As far as going into this race, I feel like were just fine. I feel like we’re going and doing great. It’s kind of difficult. We ran well the first three and then to have a race like that (Atlanta) - it was all about the sun. We had practice on Saturday - the speeds were up - the track was green and we were decent. We were going faster and as soon as we started to slow up because of the sun, there was zero grip. And the car starts floating more – it drives completely different – and everybody is in the same boat, some people worse than others.”

WHAT’S IT BEEN LIKE GOING THROUGH THE COT LEARNING CURVE? “As far as myself, I’ve figured how to drive it much better. I think I do a better job with the car. As far as the team, they’ve done an excellent job figuring what that car likes as compared to where we started. We’re still not the best car by any means - but we’ve figured out a lot about what that car likes and how that makes me feel and how I drive it. Finding certain ways that the car goes and that’s where I like to drive it. That’s been the most difficult part. We’ve come along ways and still have a ways to go. I think things are good – there are certain tracks that we were good right off the bat. Tracks that we tested like here (Bristol) – last year - we were good for both races. We tested all three tracks that we’ve raced this year. Atlanta we tested – but we were on a different tire – we were really good at the test and to come back on a different tire and we weren’t as good. I think it just shows that if we can test everywhere, we’re going to be good and we need to figure out to be fast places where we can’t because we can’t test all the tracks.”

YOU’RE THOUGHT ON DALE JARRETT AS A DRIVER AND HIS RETIREMENT? “I was listening to the radio on the way up this morning and it’s kind of cool that Ned Jarrett is going to drop the green flag for Dale’s last point’s race. Same place he started at – he’s had a great career. I’ve known Dale since 2000, but probably in the last year it’s the first year that I really talked to him and have a conversation with him and felt like we’re somewhat friends. He’s a good guy – I like him a lot – the sport is going to miss him.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO HAVE THE FANS SO CLOSE AT BRISTOL? “When you’re racing, you really ever look up there (in the stands). It’s really cool for driver intros – as loud as it gets – whether it’s myself (it’s pretty decent) or Jeff Gordon gets a variety. He gets 70 percent yells and 30 percent boos – Dale Jr. gets the most yells – but not as loud as Gordon’s usually. I think it’s just a small area with as many or more fans at any other race track. It’s all right on top of you – the stands go straight up and the noise stays in there. You have to put up with a lot of noise for the whole race. Last year winning the Busch race here was really cool. To get out of the car with that many fans surrounding you when you win something here – it t would be pretty awesome to win a Cup race here as well.”