KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)

WHAT KIND OF RACE DO YOU EXPECT TOMORROW? ““We’ve got our work cut out for us starting 43rd. If they started 60 cars, we’d be 60th. It’s been an interesting week for us, having the electrical problem during the 150. That put is in the position to use our champion’s provisional. It feels good to fall back on it; it’s also exciting as far as the challenge that’s ahead of us to work our way toward the font. One lap at a time. One pit stop sequence at a time. The race is 500 miles. It’s a long race. We’re parked way in the back. I didn’t know if any of you guys could find our hauler, so I thought I would come in and see you guys this morning and talk about our week. It’s been a long two weeks so far and our three days of testing, so we’ve changed our setup probably six different times trying to search for the right setup for our Miller Lite Dodge. This new car challenges you in ways that the old car didn’t. With eight years of experience, you have to use that to your advantage, but yet, at the same time, you have to think like a rookie with this car and try different things and try new things and sometimes go against the grain because the tire sheet will show you something different or the car will react different than the changes you’ve made. So, it’s been a challenge. As far as our testing has gone, California and Vegas has been the exact opposite. The car has been very tight at California and Vegas, whereas, it’s been very loose here at Daytona. So, it’s interesting but yet it’s four rubber tires, it’s a racecar and they’re handing out 190 points at the end of tomorrow and that’s what we are after.”

TELL US HOW DRIVERS HAVE TO DEAL WITH INTIMIDATION? “Life has been different since 2001 when the Intimidator (Dale Earnhardt) was out there racing with us. I got a first-hand lesson. My welcome to the big leagues was the No. 1 salute from Dale Sr. when I first got here to Daytona. I thought I was minding my own business in the middle lane, but I think I was in his way. He’s been the only one that I’ve every looked up to and felt the intimidation from. There’s great champions in our sport like Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon is a four-time champion, Tony Stewart is a two-time champion and all those guys have their personalities and their ways about them on the racetrack that makes each one individually unique. Intimidation to me is something where all of us are out here racing and we’ve got a job to do which is to put our car in victory lane.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES ON HANDLING THAT YOU FACE HERE? “It’s frustrating in a way because this car has the ability to go, I think, 45-46 laps on fuel and we’re not getting anywhere near that because the tires aren’t lasting a full fuel run. So, at the same time, you’re starting to take some of that fuel mileage and turning it into power. When you add more fuel to the car, you can run it a little cooler which gives you the ability to run more tape on the front of the car which can help your handling. Handling is key. If you’re a little bit on the tight side, you’re gong to blister a right front. If you’re a little bit on the loose side, you’re going to blister a right rear tire. Happy cars don’t blister tires. It’s very difficult to get your car happy. That’s the challenge all these teams are facing. You don’t want to be the guy that hangs it out there 35, 38 laps when everybody else pitted, and then you risk the chance of popping a hole in one of your tires. It’s a tough race to really get into because you’re sitting there waiting for when you are going to have a tire problem. Hopefully, the tire problem will go away somewhat with the truck race last night, the Nationwide race today and another practice session for the teams to get their cars better. I know at the end once you get your final set of tires and the sun goes down, it’s going to be just like every other year, it’s going to be every man for himself, it’s going to be three wide and it’s going to be intense. So, it’s just a matter of getting into that position.”

ROGER (PENSKE) HAS DOMINATED THE BIGGEST RACE (INDY 500) ON THE OTHER SIDE; HE JUST HASN’T HAND ANY LUCK AT THIS EVENT? “I’m not sure what it stems from and how it has all been drawn up over the years as far as bad luck with Rusty (Wallace) or with (Ryan) Newman or with Bobby Allison driving the car a few times and he’s won this big race. You always hope you built the best car; you always hope that you have the best team behind you. The way that restrictor plate racing is sometimes, a little bit of luck can go a long way. It takes quite a few things to align. I think the quote that Richard Childress had years ago is the best: ‘When opportunity meets preparation, that defines luck.’ So, I hope that we’re prepared the best that we can because we feel we have a great opportunity to win one of these restrictor-plate races shortly. We’ve been in the top five many times. We just have to break through. We have to have a little bit maybe on the power side, maybe a little on the aero side; we just have to keep polishing on it and eventually, we might crack it.

THERE HAS BEEN A HEALTHY RESPECT FOR THE TOYOTAS SHOWN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS; WHO COULD HURT THE TOYOTAS? “I think they are very good with restrictor-plate engines. With (Joe) Gibbs jumping aboard, they’re become even stronger. It’s just the way the engine package is set up with this gear and Daytona, they’re going to look very strong and they have been very strong for Speedweeks. Can they show the strength once we go to tracks like California, Vegas and Atlanta? That’s when you get back into the regular engine package. We hope that levels out the playing field. Right now, we think Toyota has a distinct advantage. But at the same time, the 88 car is going for the hat track. He has won the Shootout; he’s won his qualifying race. The Dale Jr. and Tony Eury combination over at Hendrick is very powerful right now. They can’t be overlooked either.

YOU DID RECEIVE THE PENALTY; WAS IT A FAIR PENALTY? “It was an on-track deal that happened during practice, it seems like the penalty could have been more severe or it could have been less. NASCAR has allowed us to get together and talk about things. It’s different in the way they are handling it. I like it. You know, six races, we’re in our own little race being 50th in points. We need to gain points each race. We have the mentality to race like we need every single point for the first five or six races, so this won’t affect us all that much. To be able to work our way into the top 35 in points and solidify ourselves once we get toward Martinsville and Texas, that’s what our goal is, so this might even help us do that.”

HOW DO YOU KEEP FOCUSED THIS IS JUST ONE OF 36 RACES? “It’s been real easy with us having our electrical problem in the qualifying race and starting 43rd. It’s just a different mentality when you have to come from behind to catch the rest of the pack. We’ve got 500 miles to do it. If we can cross the start- finish line running 10th or better, we’ll take that as a victory. I hope to be in the top 10 in that last lead draft with our last set of tires on and go for the win. It’s a tough race. You can’t get ahead of yourself; I’ve done that a few times here. There have been a few times where on the last five or six laps, I wish I had done something different. Being in position is the key and this race will be more about survival this time around than it will be about raw speed.

WITH YOUR PROBLEMS, HAVE YOU MANAGED ENOUGH PRACTICE TIME ON THE TRACK? “We ran 45 laps yesterday in practice which was two tires runs for us. We used a set of tires from the 150s; we only had eight laps on them because of the electrical problem and ran 20 laps straight. That was 28 laps on that set of tires. Then we went out ran 25 laps straight through. That was two full tire runs. That was the length of the 150s, so that helped us feel like we got caught back up as far as laps on the track. Today, we’ve got the same thing. We’ve got two sets of tires set aside. We’re going to make two longs runs and see how our car handles in traffic; see how it maneuvers leading and following. We feel like we have adequate time on our car.”

HOW MANY LAPS DO YOU THING WILL BE A TIRE RUN TOMORROW? WILL IT BE A TACTICAL RACE? “The way this race is shaping up, there seems to be more questions going into it than there has been in years past and it’s just due to the new car. The way the tires have been wearing out, you just have to pace yourself and to not have a problem. If you’re going to blister a tire, you want to blister the outside edge of the right front. It will vibrate, but won’t lose air. That what we’ve seen with our car. Will we see guys go 40 laps? They need a gold star if they do. I don’t think we’ll see 40 laps; we might by the last two-thirds of the race with the track as rubbered in as it’s going to be. More power to them if they go 40 laps; I just don’t see it right now. The focus gets back onto tire wear. What can you do to make your car last longer than the next guy, not have a tire problem and still have the handling? You’re still going to have to handle and that’s what will separate the men from the boys once you get down to it.”

YOU’VE BEEN CLOSE SEVERAL TIMES; HAS THIS BEEN A PLACE OF FRUSTRATION FOR YOU? “This track will chew you up and spit you out real quick. If you think the track owes you something, you’re mistaken. This is Daytona. It is one of the toughest, most challenging events we have, whether it’s here in July or February. When I finished second on ’03 or ’05, I looked at it just like I do today. I’m young. I’ve had great opportunities. There are still many years ahead of me for a chance to win this great race. I just have to do my job to help position myself to do it whether it’s with the team, whether it’s survival in the race for the first 450 miles or it’s a matter of building more friendships out on the track to have drafting partners. It takes a lot. You can’t just come in and win right away. To watch Dale Sr. almost win this thing in 1990 and have a flat tire in turn three and then have eight years pass of just pure agony, I’m not to that point. I don’t think I’ll ever be near that point. This is a tough race to win and I’ve got some more years ahead of me.”

NO CURSE ON THE 2 CAR? “I hope not. It’s had its share of good days and bad days. I know there are more of those good and bad days ahead. Working for the Captain, Roger Penske, it would be a dream come true to drive into victory lane and share that experience with him. He’s won Indy 14 times. One time over here would definitely tip the scale in the NASCAR direction for him.”

KYLE PETTY (No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge Charger)

ARE HAPPY HOUR TIMES AN INDICATOR OF HOW GOOD YOUR CAR IS? “Our car is a lot better than it was all week long. Our guys worked really, really hard. The Evernham Engines are a lot better here than what we had in the 150s. We struggled there. It’s an indicator that our guys are still pumped up even after a bad week, so this is a great way to end it. But, is this an indicator of how you are going to do in the race? Not by any stretch of the imagination. I think it’s that way at Daytona and Talladega also.”

WERE THINGS CALMED DOWN IN THIS HAPPY HOUR? “I think they were. Everybody dreads the last happy hour. You just want to get out of here with your car. You want to get to the (Daytona) 500 tomorrow with the car that you’ve spent the last 12 or 14 days working on. I think that’s the biggest issue. Everybody was pretty calm and it’ll be a good race tomorrow.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger)

ARE PEOPLE IN COLOMBIA NOW FOLLOWING YOUR NASCAR CAREER? “I think more and more people. It’s amazing to see. It’s pretty exciting to see that people are paying attention and that people are interested in it. It was actually funny because I guess speed showed in December, sometime late December, the Indy race again. They just showed it like it was a live race. I went to a shopping mall that evening and people were like, ‘what are you doing here? You just finished the race.’ And I was like I’ve been done for four weeks. It’s pretty nice to see people paying attention to it. More and more people are paying attention.”

DO YOU SEE PEOPLE WEARING YOUR NASCAR STUFF? “A little. You know where I’ve seen a lot of stickers and stuff like that in cars is in Miami. That amazes me.”

WHY DOES IT AMAZE YOU? “Latin people are paying more and more attention to NASCAR. It’s great to see. You would think that people may have started to watch it a little, but actually they are getting into it. California this year sold a lot of tickets to the Latin community. I think it’s exciting.”

ARE MORE PEOPLE RECOGNIZING YOU FROM NASCAR NOW? “Yeah, just people really notice me. Wherever you go people start to know who you are more and more and more. The other day I called to order something, an off-road thing, and I called to get some wheels. They put in the order and asked my why my name sounded so familiar. The guy was finally like, oh I know why. You here that quite a few times and it shows that what we’re doing is really pretty good.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE MORE REALISTICALLY A CONTENDER TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500 THIS TIME OUT? “Oh yeah. We definitely are. Do I have as much experience as Tony (Stewart) or Jeff (Gordon) or Junior (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) – not yet. Do we have the ability to do it – yes. We are definitely in a competitive position I think. I’m a lot more comfortable driving the car than I was a year ago. I can put the car pretty much anywhere I want on the race track. You know in time you learn the bump drafting and things like that. It keeps rotating. Who leads, who doesn’t. It’s all about timing. If you get the timing right it will be fine. In the 150s it’s not as hard to stay up there, because it’s only half the cars. If you drop four places there in a normal race you would lose eight places. It’ll be interesting to see. There was a lot of single-file running up front in the 150s. I don’t know when you put the 43 cars out there if you are going to see everybody running single-file like they did in Talladega. I really, really doubt it.”

YOU DON’T THINK IT’LL PLAY OUT THAT WAY? “I’ll be surprised if it does.”

ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU THIS SEASON? “I would think so. I worked with a lot of people last year. It’s funny, especially with the Penske cars we get along really well. Guys like Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth. Guys like that I know will work with me. When it comes down to it if you are in the right position to win it then you have a chance. If you don’t you have to make sure that your line goes as far forward as you can. It comes down to two rows, because three rows is going to be a wreck with these cars.”

YOU CAN’T GO THREE WIDE WITH THESE CARS? “You can, but you’re not going to run wide open. Two rows when it comes right down to it can run wide open. Three wide the guy in the middle is either going to slide down or up or they are going to cause something.”

IS IT MORE THE CAR OR THE DRIVER? “This is more like the 400 last year for me where handling was more of an issue. In the (Daytona) 500 here last year it was pretty easy to be wide open and you could run pretty much anywhere. With these cars they move around a lot more.”

IS THAT THE SAME WITH THE CAR OF TOMORROW IN GENERAL? “In general it’s the same thing. You know good teams will have a little bit better setup and they’re going to make the drivers looks better.”

WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL TOMORROW FOR SOME CRAZY STUFF OUT THERE? “Did you watch the truck race yesterday? They couldn’t even run three wide and the trucks normally run four wide here. I think the new guys are pretty smart. They are pretty experienced guys from a background of racing, so that should be pretty good. Most of the wrecks are because somebody lost a car. It’s not like somebody went on top of somebody or somebody got pushed or something. It should be pretty good. There is so much extra that happens in front or behind you that is completely out of your hands and you have to be lucky enough not to be involved.”

IF THE OPEN-WHEEL SERIES UNIFY DO YOU THINK IT WILL CURB THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMING INTO NASCAR? “You tell me who else want to try this? I don’t know. Dario (Franchitti) wanted to do it, and Dario wanted to do it before I did. When I talked to Chip (Ganassi) about it Dario was the guy who was going to sign already. So that was going to happen. I think Roger (Penske) thought that maybe Sam (Hornish Jr.) would be really good here. He did really good in the 150.”

DID YOU HEAR THAT JACQUES VILLENEUVE IS NOT ATTEMPTING CALIFORNIA? “It makes sense if you don’t have the money. I think if he would have made the Daytona 500 it would have been a little bit different. If you miss the Daytona 500 you are out of the top-35 again and even if you made California you probably wouldn’t make enough points to get into the top-35 and you still have to run five races.”

HOW BIG WOULD IT BE FOR BOTH OPEN-WHEEL SERIES TO UNIFY? “I don’t know. Is it too late? Don’t know, don’t care. I raced there many years ago, but when I raced they were split and it was good at the time.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ONE SERIES? “Yes and no. Yes because it’s good for the general sport and maybe for teams to find sponsors for that series. People in America are a lot more interested in NASCAR than they are with open-wheel. Is it going to bring open-wheel back to greatness in America? I really doubt it. I really, really doubt it. All the good teams right now are in IndyCar, apart from Newman/Haas, so is it going to change that much? It’s just they are going to go to places that they were not going. They are going to go to Australia. They are going to go to, I don’t know, Japan. They are going to go to a few places that the traditional open-wheel fan goes to. You know a guy that goes to Long Beach, whether his car is an Indy car is still going to go there.”

Chip Ganassi (Team Owner, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates)

THERE HAS BEEN A PERCEPTION THAT MONTOYA IS A PRIMADONA FROM FORMULA ONE, BUT HE’S THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE ISN’T HE? HE IS A GUY KIND OF LIKE TONY STEWART WHO JUST LOVES TO RACE. “That’s what I’ve been saying all along. That’s what I said the day we announced him in Chicago. I still stand by that. I was just at a sponsor function last evening and they were saying that they couldn’t believe that he was the last one; you know Felix (Sabates) has a boat down there, but he was literally the last one off the boat. I mean, this wasn’t late or anything. It was like 7 p.m. or something and they had a dinner to go to, but he was the last one there. He was the last one there. So, what does that tell you about the guy? It’s not a story that he enjoys NASCAR. He’s enjoying the racing, enjoying the series, enjoying the bus life.”

IS HE ENJOYING THE WRESTLING? “Is it true that he hit someone over the head with a chair?”

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LET ONE OF YOUR DRIVERS ENTER A WRESTLING MATCH? “Yeah, I can’t wait to see the tape or something. He said it was a real learning experience.”

ON CHAMP CAR: “You guys – I know as much as you do believe me. I just hope it happens. There can’t be five people on the planet that don’t want it to happen, so let’s hope it happens.”

DO THEY CONSULT WITH YOU IN ANY FASHION? “The only consultation I had was I got a phone call one day that said if we get this thing back together we might need a car. I said no problem.“

TO WHAT LEVEL WOULD IT HELP? “If they were to get back together I think that’s only when the work would begin. It’s probably like the 1994 baseball strike. The work really begins once you get all of the problems behind you. It would be nice to get all of the issues in one place. Get all of the rules makers in one place. Get all of the promoters in one place. Get everybody at one table instead of two. It would certainly end a lot of confusion in the marketplace.”

IF THEY DID GET TOGETHER HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE FOR THEM TO GET ANY KIND OF MOMENTUM? “Who knows? Good question. I don’t know.”

YOUR DRIVER SAID IT’S ALREADY TOO LATE. “That’s why they call him Juan and me Chip. We’re two different people.”

DO YOU WORRY THAT HE IS SAYING WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE THINKING? “No. It’s like asking Dario about Ashley’s Oscar possibilities – it’s not what he’s here about. You know what I mean? These guys are here to race in NASCAR. To ask them about Michael Schumacher or open-wheel racing – don’t know, don’t care.”

DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE AN AFFINITY FOR OPEN-WHEEL DRIVERS? “I have an affinity for being at the front. That’s my affinity - Being at the front. It doesn’t have anything to do with where drivers come from. I don’t care if they come from Mars.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON WITH REED SORENSON? “What do I think is going on there – we are giving him all of the good shit. No – I think we’ve seen a maturation process in that guy over the winter and he’s stepped up. I think part of that is having Juan as a teammate last year has helped him step up. I think bringing Dario on has helped him step up. He’s stepping up. He’s doing what we’ve asked him and what we want him to do. He’s doing exactly what we want him to do. We couldn’t be happier.”

IS DODGE ON THEIR GAME THIS YEAR? “There are certainly signs that there’s a rejuvenation of interest in NASCAR from the powers that be at Chrysler. Yes.

HOW CAN YOU TELL? “Well, because they invited four of us up there for dinner one night and told us. It was a small dinner. There were six or eight people there total. They just sat around and said, ‘Look, we’re it this. We’re in it to stay. You guys are our guns and what do you need? What can we do to help you?”

ROBERT NARDELLI? “Yes, Nardelli and (Jim) Press.”

WHEN CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE THE NEW ENGINE? “When we get one on our dyno. When we start running it. I don’t know.”

SPRING OR EARLY SUMMER? “I don’t want to be giving that information out. That’s not for me to say. That’s for other people to talk about.”

YOU SAID THEY INVITED FOUR OF YOU TO DETROIT? WAS THAT YOU, ROGER PENSKE, RAY EVENHAM AND SOMEBODY ELSE? “They invited us, Roger, Ray and (George) Gillett.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ALL OF THE HENDRICKS/GIBBS STORIES? “You know I was pretty happy in the 150s when it was Hendrick, Gibbs, Hendrick, Hendrick and us. I can’t speak for other teams in where they are in there program. I just think that we made some moves over the winter and our team has stepped it up a little bit. Whether it’s our drivers, our engine program, our COT program – I think everything can come up a step and I’d like to think that we’ve moved up a notch on the ladder. What that means for other teams I have no idea. Every winter every team works in the off-season. Every team wants to work better. For our team, where we are in the pecking order, we need to work harder. I’m thinking that we’ve made a step or two up the rung. In terms of the other guys I can’t say where they’re at. I wish them well and here we go. It’s just like that Super Bowl – Everybody thought that the Patriots were going to win and wanted the Giants to win right. That’s why they play the game. That’s why they are going to have a race tomorrow. You just can’t hand the trophy out. They have to have a race first. You still have to execute. You still have to do pit stops. You still have to have luck on your side. Your engine still has to get to the finish. You can’t get caught up in a crash. There are a lot of things that can happen. Look at all the talk about the Patriots – they still had to play the game.”

WHY DO YOU THINK REED SORENSON HAS MATURED? “It’s a good question. I don’t have the answer to that. I don’t know what it was, because if I knew what it was I would have done it a lot sooner I can tell you that. Or I would have given it to him a lot sooner whatever it was. Different people are on what I call the performance treadmill. People are just on different angles and different speeds with their treadmill. They all get there eventually, some sooner than others. I’m just happy to see that Reed had a good off-season in that regard.”

WHAT SHOWS THAT ON THE TRACK? “You never know. I was talking to Reed the other day about this and a lot of times you could say that he’s the same guy and our cars have gotten better. You’d be surprised; when you have a good car it’s a hell of a lot easier to look good. When you have a good car and a good engine it could all change next week in California. Good cars make people look good, but I’ve seen just in his driving style I’ve seen some moves that I haven’t seen before. Or a level of, I don’t want to say aggressiveness, but a level of determination that I haven’t seen before.”

ARE YOUR CARS BETTER? ARE THEY WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO BE? “I hope they are. I think we’ve made a couple steps up.”

IT’S A LOT ABOUT THE CAR ISN’T IT? “That’s what they tell me. I haven’t been around this NASCAR too much, but that’s what they tell me.”

WHAT’S IT LIKE FOR YOU TO GET UP ON THE MORNING OF THE DAYTONA 500? “What’s it like to get up on the morning of the Daytona 500? It’s a lot like getting up on the morning of the Indy 500. It's just like any other of the 363 days. I get up and have coffee, read the paper, look at the computer, take a shower."

YOU DON'T TRY TO GET OVER EXCITED. YOU JUST KEEP A GOOD MINDSET. "I'm from the school that if you treat it like it's something too special you're going to nerve-wrack yourself right out of it. In a lot of ways it's just like any other race, but in some ways it's still the biggest race. You have to treat it with that amount of respect and with that approach. If you start getting all woo woo woo then you're going to psych yourself right off the map, or off the dance floor anyway."

THAT'S A GREAT RING YOU’RE WEARING. HOW OFTEN DO YOU WEAR IT? "Actually Juan got me that ring. That's the ring that he got the team in 2000."

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD CAR AT GANASSI AND A GOOD CAR AT HENDRICK? "I don't know because I haven't looked at their cars. I know they have good ones."

EVERYBODY JUST SAYS THAT THEY HAVE THE BEST EQUIPMENT. "Well, hey, someone has to set the standard. Until it can be me it might as well be him."

WEAR ARE YOU GOING TO SIT FOR THE DAYTONA 500? "I'll move around. I always start on the highest qualifying car. I'll start on Reed's box and move around."

THEY EARN THAT IN A WAY. "Yeah."

FELIX SABATES IS PRETTY OUTSPOKEN ABOUT NASCAR FRANCHISING. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT ISSUE? "I'm focused on the Daytona 500 today and tomorrow. I'm sure that in due time NASCAR will do what is best for everybody or what they think is best for everybody. I used to get caught up in all that stuff and I'm happy to do what I do and take care of the team and leave the politics to everyone else. That's why I have a partner that's good at that."

DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE SOME EQUITY FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN AROUND FOR "X" NUMBER OF YEAR? "I think you should be able to grow $100 bills in your garden, but I don't know what that means. I don't know what everybody else thinks of that, but that's what I think."

WHAT MAKES THIS RACE SPECIAL? "I can tell you when I was growing up I can remember sitting on the couch as a little kid looking outside in Pittsburgh watching the snow and watching the Daytona 500. To me it means that spring is just around the corner and this is the kickoff to the racing season. It's what you want to do. It's what you want to be. Having little racing cars in my mom's living room and watching the Daytona 500. You know, that's what you want to do."

YOU HAVE WON CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SEVERAL FORMS OF RACING EXCEPT NASCAR. DO YOU THINK THAT IS A TESTAMENT TO HOW HARD NASCAR CAN BE AND IS IT ONE OF YOUR GOALS TO BE THE FIRST PERSON TO SUCCEED IN ALL FORMS OF RACING? "I certainly see it as a goal. Yes. I certainly want to be the first to do it. Yeah, that's a goal."

DOES ALL OF THE ATTENTION GIVEN TO HENDRICK AND GIBBS EAT AT YOU A LITTLE BIT? "No, I think it's kind of good because it takes the focus off. I'm glad that it takes the focus off of us and you can let us get some work done and not have the scrutiny of you guys. You're over there talking to those guys and you might not be looking at us that close. That's fine. I'm glad. It's fun to work when the spotlight is on you, but it's easier to work when it's on someone else."

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT? IF THE FOCUS IS ON YOU IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE ON TOP. "You'll focus on me at the appropriate time I'm sure."

DOES IT MATTER TO YOU WHEN NASCAR MAKES THE MOVE TO THE COT IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES? "It's going to be interesting this year to see how it pans out. For the last few years it seems like the Nationwide Series was a test for the Cup series because the cars were similar. You're going to see this year that with the cars being so different how that works. Is the Nationwide Series going to be as interesting as it was in the past? Some drivers looked at that like they were here on Saturday already and it was a learning experience for Sunday. Some drivers looked at it as a way to put some extra money in their pocket. Some drivers looked at it as a way to get their own little team started. It's going to be interesting to see if the Nationwide Series is ever going to be more than a Saturday warm up for Sunday. Can it break off on its own? Again, these are questions to ask NASCAR."

CAN YOU CONVERT YOUR FLEET TO A NEW CHASIS BY NEXT YEAR OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT PHASED IN? "We're in a period now where sponsorship is tight, so I don't think the owners are looking for any more projects that they have to swallow like a COT Nationwide. You can't swallow those kinds of things easily. It's no coincidence that the announcement of COT in Cup and the injection of outside money into the sport. That's no coincidence."

WHERE ARE YOU ON SPONSORSHIP FOR THE NO. 40? "We're piecing it together. We are happy where we are and what we've accomplished in a difficult market. We have every intention of being there and running it, so we're probably a third to a half of the way there right now."

WHAT HAS MADE THE MARKET DIFFICULT? "I don't know. The Federal Reserve is telling everyone that we're in a recession. If they tell you we are in a recession that must mean that we're in it right? All of the sudden that shakes the consumer confidence and once you shake the consumer confidence shaken."

IS NASCAR STILL A GOOD BUY? "One of the things that my sales people are telling me is the difference is we are not losing sponsors to other teams. We are losing them to them not being in the sport. We're not losing them to Hendick or Roush or anybody. I'm not the sales guy so it's hard for me to talk about that, but I can tell you that it's a difficult sales market right now."

WHERE ARE YOU WITH BRINGING IN INTERNATIONAL SPONSORS INTO THE SPORT? "It's a building block process. Any time you are talking about the kinds of numbers that we're talking about in Cup these days - you're talking about big numbers. The bigger the numbers the longer the time it takes to put a deal together. That's just a fact of life. You know, we're not talking about $500,000 sponsorships."

IS IT EXPLAINING TO PEOPLE WHAT THEY GET IN NASCAR COMPARED TO OTHER FORMS OF RACING? "It's everything. It's all and everything. It depends who you're talking to and what they know about everything."

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU WITH YOUR DRIVER LINEUP AS IT STANDS NOW? "You're always tweaking it a little bit. Am I happy with what I have now? Sure. I was happy with what I had last year."

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR REED THIS YEAR? "He can be there as well. I think when you look at Dario I think we are looking for a season that would parallel Juan's season from last season. I think when you look at Reed and Juan you say okay it's time for those guys to take the next step up. Get to the next rung up the ladder. It's either close or damn close to the Chase."

TOP 15 AT LEAST? "I would have been in the Chase twice if they would have been in the top 12 before that, right? Or if they hadn't taken 25 points from me at Bristol."

IF JUAN IS THE PRIMADONA HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR OTHER GUYS? "I don't know. How would you describe the other guys? Ones Hollywood and one is the real deal. Look at Dario - he's got Hollywood looks doesn't he."