Jimmie Johnson Scores Second Consecutive Win in Phoenix

Clint Bowyer Claims Runner-up Spot; Team Chevy Drivers Score Six of Top-10 Finishing Positions in Impala SS Race Cars

Avondale, AZ - April 13, 2008 - Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS, scored his second consecutive victory at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) night's Subway Fresh Fit 500K. It was the first victory in the 2008 season for the defending and two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NSCS) champion and the first win of the year for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS).

Johnson, who started seventh in the 43-car field, won last fall's PIR rave on the way to his second NSCS championship. The victory vaulted Johnson to fourth in the standings, 99 points behind the leader.

Johnson led four times for a total of 120 laps to claim the lap leader award for the 312-lap/313-mile/500K race, number eight of the 36-race season. His margin of victory was 7.002 seconds over fellow Team Chevy driver Clint Bowyer, No. 07 DirecTV Impala SS.

Bowyer started 24th in the field and steadily moved up through the field as the race unwound. The second place finished the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) driver to eighth in the standings.

Mark Martin, No. 8 U.S. Army Impala SS, took the checkered flag in fifth position to capture his first top-five of the year in the limited schedule he is running for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI). Martin led twice for a total of 68 laps.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 AT & T Impala SS, maintained his lead in the NSCS point standings with a sixth place finish in tonight's race. Burton, who started 39th in the field, methodically worked his way through the field to score his sixth top-10 of the season to extend his points lead to 80.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Impala SS, finished seventh and moved to third in the NSCS standings. The HMS driver led three times for a total of 87 laps.

Martin Truex, Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boat Impala SS, finished eighth. The DEI driver now sits 14th in the point standings.

Team Chevy drivers hold five positions in the top-12 in the NSCS point standings with eight events in the record books.

After a weekend off, the NSCS heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the Aaron's 499 on April 27, 2008.

CHAD KNAUS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS – Winner:

ON FUEL MILEAGE, HOW DID YOU PULL IT OFF? “Well, we were getting really good mileage all day, especially on the long run. The mileage was great. We didn’t have the capacity we wanted, but we had the mileage we wanted. And you know we had some problems there. We didn’t pit when we should have. But it was good.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS – Winner:

NICK LACHEY HAS THE T-SHIRT WITH JIMMIE JOHNSON’S HIGH SCHOOL PHOTO ON IT, WHICH HAS BECOME THE LUCKY SHIRT. NOW YOU’VE GOT TO LOOK AT YOURSELF ON THIS T-SHIRT “A friend brought that out for my birthday last year and I never thought I’d see the shirt again and then Nick showed up with it again today (laughs). That’s my senior photo. That’s going to haunt me for a long time (laughs).”

TELL US ABOUT THE DRIVE TONIGHT. IT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE DRIVING ABOUT 55 MPH THERE ON THE LAST FEW LAPS. HOW DIFFICULT WAS THAT? “Chad (Knaus) did a great job of giving me splits of all the guys behind me. And then somebody peeled off and pitted and we had a ton of room so I didn’t have to push it. I’m shocked that I was able to save fuel running that hard up through the field. I restarted in 14th on that last restart and drove to third on my own and then I got to the front and was able to manage some fuel. I just can’t thank everyone at Hendrick for working so hard. Obviously we haven’t had the start to the season that we wanted but these guys on this Lowe’s team worked really hard to give me a great Impala and now we did it tonight.

"I ran out of gas on the back stretch. We are back and we have all been working very hard to get back. I couldn't be more proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports, wish Rick was here. I was just talking to him on the phone. There isn't a group of people that work harder and I am so proud of my guys and everyone associated with the Lowe's team. This car was awesome tonight. We got off cycle and got a little behind there and had to drive to the front and still ended up saving enough gas to make it."

HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO ADJUST ON YOUR CAR TONIGHT? “We adjusted it and then we brought it back to where we started at the finish.”

THIS SLUMP YOU’VE BEEN IN IS GONE. “Yeah, we’re back.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 07 DIRECTV IMPALA SS – Finished 2nd:

YOU’VE GOT TO BE HAPPY WITH THE WAY THAT YOU MANAGED THE FUEL MILEAGE AND PUT THIS CAR IN THE RUNNER UP POSITION: “Yeah, we were. Things just worked out. It was a good call by (crew chief) Gil (Martin) to stay out. But he told me from the get go we were only three laps from making it all the way. I just sort of started saving it and saving my brakes more than anything. And then in turn, it was saving fuel too. So it just worked out for us today.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 8 U.S. ARMY IMPALA – Finished 5th:

YOU’VE ALWAYS ASKED FOR JUST A CHANCE TO WIN. YOU HAD ONE TONIGHT. TALK US THROUGH THE LAST FEW LAPS: “Well, you know, we were saving gas. I thought we were trying to go, so we were real, real slow. I was just putting around out there. We had such an incredible car. I planned that run with 80 (laps) to go when we pitted. I said can we go? And we were just sort of saving the gas and trying to be there. I guess there was some confusion on the figuring and they decided that we were going to have to come (in for a pit stop). I’m just really proud of the team and I want them to keep their chin up because I want to win some of these races. And they can do it. They can do it on pit road. And they gave me a race car to win with tonight. Clearly (it was) one of the better cars out there on the race track, it no the best, you know, at the end. We sort of spent the whole race getting ready for a good run there at the end.

"I am just really really proud to drive for the U.S. Army and give our soldiers something to cheer for. We just about pulled this one off tonight,. We had a great, great car. We changed our strategy right there at the end. I saved a lot of gas, probably a lot more than they knew. We just had such a spectacular car, there at the end of the race, I didn't have to run it hard. There were a lot of laps I didn't get the throttle wide open on the straightaway. You can't stop if somebody else stays out. It is a privilege to drive for these guys, I want them to keep their chins up because we can win some of these races."

JEFF BURTON, NO. 31 AT&T IMPALA SS, Finished 6th:

"It was a good finish for us, but we are missing something at this track, I am missing something at this track. It has been a thorn in our side. We were going to run 11th, 12th or something like that but Scott (Miller) made a great call and got us a sixth. We will certainly take it. I am disappointed in how we ran, I am disappointed in myself. We are just missing something. We had no damage to the car when we spun in the oil from the 12 when it blew up. We were probably pretty lucky there was no damage, we got a little dirt track racing in, but it worked out for us. There was a little bit of luck involved there."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS, Finished 7th:

ARE YOU FRUSTRATED THAT IT CAME DOWN TO FUEL MILEAGE THERE AT THE END? "I am not frustrated. Had a good finish, proud of my team, had a great car. I don't know what our expectations truly were going in to the race. But I don't think they were that good. I don't know if we could have made it. I don't know when we stopped, or how much I was burning a lap. I can't do the math. I just do what I told. We did the right thing. We can't run out and finish out of the top-10. We did the right thing. Not frustrated though.

"Tires, hell, just drove finish. Good finish, proud, happy. Week off. But it was like someone flipped a switch there at the end and the tires were gone, so we sort of lost a little bit there, but I am proud of my guys. Great adjustments, we got another solid finish and Hendrick comes home with a win, so pretty happy. Just ready to recharge our batteries got a lot of racing to go."

WAS IT FUN TO LEAD ALL THOSE LAPS? "Yea, I was surprised, we didn't practice very good. I was surprised that we were as good as we were man. I got to thank Jimmie (Johnson) and his whole team. We used a little bit of their setup and it obviously helped us a lot."

ARE YOU PROUD OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS GETTING THEIR FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON: "Yea, but I am tired man. "First off I have to congratulate Jimmie, he had such a super car. We used some of the things they were liking about their setup, we used it yesterday afternoon, that helped our car a lot. A lot of good information going back and forth. I hope Rick (Hendrick) is happy about the win. I am happy about it. I am glad that we got one. That usually means there is a lot more to come.

"I am so proud of my team. My guys had some great pit stops, we beat some guys off pit road and got to lead some laps.

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOP/TRACKER BOAT IMPALA SS, Finished 8th:

"We struggled with the engine a little bit missing, all day, especially coming off the corners. Then we experienced some problems with some wear on the right tire. We threw everything we had at the car, track bar adjustments, wedge adjustments and everything and I thought we had it pretty good there at the end. Just ran out of laps."

CASEY MEARS, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S / CARQUEST IMPALA SS – Finished 11th:

“We saved a lot there at the end. I just completely was saving a bunch of fuel. So, good job by the engine guys and a good job by the guys who worked on the car. We saved a bunch of fuel and came home with a decent finish.”

AT THE END WITH THE FUEL MILEAGE, HOW DID YOU DO ON THAT? DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE GOING TO BE CLOSE? “Yeah, we knew we were going to be really close. It was a gamble worth taking. We needed the points. I was looking at the flag stand and looking in the tri-oval. Once we committed to it, we just went ahead and let some of those guys go ahead and go. But it’s a good finish for the CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet. I’m excited about where we ended up. I’m not really excited about our performance, but the guys did a great job and it was a good team effort

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT / NICORETTE IMPALA SS – Finished 13th:

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON GETTING THE FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON FOR HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS? “Yeah, that’s great. I’m very happy for them. I’m happy for Hendrick. I hate that Rick (Hendrick) wasn’t here to see that in person. It definitely was a great day for them. They’ve gotten things turned around. They’ve done some testing and done some work and it’s paid off. We’re hoping to go down that same road in the next couple of weeks with some testing we’re doing too.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE TODAY. YOU HAD SOME DIFFICULTIES EARLY ON: ”Yeah, we missed it at the start and we were real loose. And we got caught on pit road, which didn’t do us any favors. But I was very proud of the fact that we were able to fight back and get out lap back and then battle with two tires up there. We were flirting with a top 10. And then of course we didn’t have the fuel mileage that some of those other guys did and so, you know, we didn’t stay out.”

WAS THERE ANY KIND OF A CALCULATION ISSUE ON THE FUEL MILEAGE? “Oh, we were way off. We were six laps short. So there was no way we could make it.”

HOW FRUSTRATING ARE FUEL MILEAGE RACES? “It was frustrating today. I felt like we had a top 10 (car). For some reason, those three extra position seem to mean a lot to you at the end of the day.”

WHEN DALE EARNHARDT JR GOT OUT OF THE CAR, HE WAS EXHAUSTED. HE WAS PHYSICALLY WASTED. DID YOU HAVE ANY OF THOSE AFFECTS? “No, no, I felt pretty good.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 REESE'S IMPALA SS, Finished 19th: "We had a great car and we kept getting it better throughout the race. Todd (Berrier, crew chief) and the guys did a great job in the pits. We just got caught on pit road when we ran out of gas there near the end, lost some time having to refire the car. We should have finished at least in the top-five."

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 07 DIRECTV IMPALA – Finished 2nd
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

Q. Clint, you made a run at it there at the end. What were your thoughts?

CLINT BOWYER: Yeah, we were probably about a 7th- or 10th-place car all night. Never really got any higher than that. But, you know, things worked out. We were kind of conserving brakes there in that last run, backing the corners up, backing the corners up, which in turn saved fuel. About halfway through that run, could you tell it might go all the way that we were strung out that far.

Gil (Martin, crew chief) said to save as much gas as you can. I did. He told me we were only three laps shy of making it before that run started. I don't think I was near as worried about it as he was. I knew how much I was saving out there. I was pretty sure I saved enough.

Q. Were you really sure that you could make it all the way or were you just really kind of sitting there on edge waiting to hear the thing burp and then maybe slow down a little?

CLINT BOWYER: You never know for sure. You know, like I said, he told me we were only three laps shy of making it before that run. We got stretched out there and there really wasn't anybody pressuring from behind. I was able to, you know, conserve, conserve, conserve. It just paid off.

JIMMIE JOHNSON and CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS - WINNER
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

THE MODERATOR: We are pleased now to be joined by our race winner of the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet. This is his 34th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, his second here at Phoenix International Raceway. Jimmie now moves up to fourth in the points standings for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Jimmie, a very, very thrilling, dramatic finish. What were your thoughts there as you were coming in those last couple laps?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Well, before that, we restarted I guess 14th, it was real tough to keep track position at the end of the race. We led a lot at the beginning, and a little off on fuel strategy. Just had to fight back through all those cars. With the lap cars and everything, made it really tough. I can't tell you how good the racecar was and how much fun I had throughout the entire day, one, and then that last run with 80 laps left in the event, restarting 14th with all the lap cars, getting up to the 11 and 8 and be right there on those guys said a lot about the car that we had. The fact that we were able to save fuel, the car was handling really well. The guys peeled off. Once they started peeling off, Chad was reading me splits. I just kind of maintained and tried to keep the thing alive, keep it running, bring it on home.

THE MODERATOR: Chad Knaus, what were your thoughts there at the end? What were you telling Jimmie?

CHAD KNAUS: I thought that was pretty damn exciting, from where I was sitting anyways. That was cool. I told Jimmie about 40 laps to go that we were going to be in a position to where maybe we could make it on fuel, just to make him aware of what was going on. We really made up a lot of ground on the guys that were running up front.

Jimmie drove a great race. The whole Lowe's team did a phenomenal job. We got there towards the end, they started peeling off, like Jimmie said, our intervals to the positions behind us started to grow. When that started to happen, we were able to back off the pace a little bit, hang on for the win. If we had to stay full song, we potentially would have run out coming off of four.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Would have been close.

CHAD KNAUS: Probably coming off of turn four. Maybe it would be a different story. But fortunately enough everybody behind us pitted.

Q. Jimmie, when he told you you were like 10 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer, could you even just back off even more on the throttle, save more on the last couple laps?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Since I climbed out of the car, I found out he was lying for the better good of the team. First he said like 10. He said, He pitted, you have 20 seconds, let off, two more seconds a lap.

Bowyer I guess didn't pit (laughter).

It worked and he knew what the gap was. I didn't know who was where. There was a lot of cars at full speed trying to get by me. I just tried to stay up in the second lane, be smart with the fuel, and not step on the gas pedal too hard, just kind of coast around.

Q. People have been talking all year about the team maybe being down. How much of a relief is it just to get the first win in the books and not have to answer that question any more?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: You know, in some ways we recognize that we haven't been running how we want. But we finished second at California, second at Texas last week, fourth at Martinsville. I mean, yeah, we haven't won yet, but we're only seven races into this thing.

We know that we haven't been where we wanted to. We kind of knew that when we went to California, Vegas for the test, the mile-and-a-half stuff, we needed to catch up some. We've been working really hard.

We've had some tough races for the team. I think that's made us stronger. The whole organization is rallying together, trying to find what we need on the big tracks. The sport is so tough. Even with the year that we had last year, it's tough to keep that up over the off-season and year after year after year. You know, moments like what we've had, the slow start to the season, make me respect and really appreciate what goes on at Hendrick Motorsports and how good that company is, our company is.

Q. Chad, you said on TV right after the race that you made a mistake leaving Jimmie out there. What were you referring to?

CHAD KNAUS: When the caution came out for -- I don't know what happened with the 12, all that oil was on the racetrack. We had the red flag right there at that point. I wanted to pit. My first instinct was to pit. The longer we sat there and thought about it, I managed to talk myself out of it and decided to stay out at that point.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: 12 laps.

CHAD KNAUS: We had 12 laps on our tires. We had had 10 laps on our tire earlier in the day and ran fine. At that run when we took off, we were fine. We were plenty fast. But unfortunately that caution came out seven laps later. And we really needed to go about 15 laps so everybody would have come back down pit road.

We had to pit. We pitted. Obviously everybody else stayed out. We had to line up I think it was 17th or something like that at that point. We were just kind of trapped in the back for quite a while.

Q. Chad, I wasn't plugged in exactly, but on TV was that you yelling at Jimmie to slow down, slow down?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I don't think he stopped talking for three laps - yelling, talking, whatever it was (laughter).

Q. Jimmie, did you need to hear that?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: My instinct was to step on the gas pedal. That was good. The white lies he was telling me were even more helpful.

When he says something, I might think about it for a split second, but I believe him every time (smiling).

Q. Chad, you were in the box. You were motioning. Was that meaning to tag the crew guys to come back in? Seemed like you were getting ready to call Jimmie in.

CHAD KNAUS: I was saying, Back the hell up, slow down. That's exactly what I was saying. I told him to back up his pace. We had went from 29:20 to a 30:50. I said, Look, slow down another second and a half. He came around again, slowed down to a 31 flat. That's when I said, Look, the next car behind you is 20 seconds back, because obviously 10 seconds back wasn't far enough. He felt like he was going to need to go faster. I was trying to get him to slow down a little bit more.

Q. Jimmie, did you have your doubts?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: You know, we don't play the fuel mileage game. We race for points year after year. If we can't make it, we're coming to pit road. So the fact that we stayed out and rolled the dice, I figured I would probably run out coming off of four. I had enough to do a little burnout, see the guys. I drove around to the backstretch and ran out.

It was figured out to a T.

Q. Chad, was there any doubt? Jimmie just said there wasn't any doubt in his mind you'd make it. Was there some in yours? Seemed like with seven or eight to go, you discussed it a little bit and said, We're going for it. Seemed like a big risk, a huge gamble. Was there a point where you just weren't sure?

CHAD KNAUS: Yeah, the whole run (laughter). You know, when all those guys around us pitted, I told Jimmie, We're getting ready to pit here in a couple laps. He came on the radio and he said, Can we make it? At that point when he said that, you know, I really took notice of where everybody was at on the racetrack. I was like, Well, yeah, I guess. You know, let's go for it (laughter).

So, you know, it was kind of funny. Ron Malec, our car chief, and I had a long discussion today. We were talking about Phoenix being one of those racetracks where we can potentially do something at the end of a race to take a chance to go for a win. Ron and I felt talking earlier today we had a handle on the car well enough. Right now at the intermediate tracks, the short tracks, the flat tracks, we felt like it was early enough in the season if we wanted to take a chance, try to make something happen, go for a win, we would be okay to eat the points right now and still make it into the top 12 with the remaining races before we get to the Chase.

That kind of set the tone. I didn't think it was going to show up quite like this. I was thinking two tires instead of four, something along those lines. But we were kind of prepared for it.

Q. Jimmie, are you surprised at how much ground Roush Fenway made up on you guys? Chad, do you want to speculate where they made up the ground on you in the off-season?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I saw them coming, but I really saw the 17 coming at the end of last year. The 99's been strong and good. But Matt (Kenseth) won at Homestead. Matt and I had some great races at the end. So I'm not surprised, but I just assumed the 17 would be rocking out of the gate.

They've had some bad races and some bad luck. But Carl (Edwards) does a great job. I think Bob is a very sharp guy. I think the relationship that those two have together is a very strong one. Those guys have got some experience under their belts and are doing a really, really good job.

I'm happy that we're closing that gap. Last week I chased them at the end of the race and he looked like he wasn't pushing as hard as I was to run, so I know we have a little bit more to make up. But we closed the gap on the mile-and-a-half stuff quite a bit. Excited about the races to come here in the near future.

CHAD KNAUS: Yeah, you know, based on what we've seen here in the course of the last few weeks, I think where we've made our ground up as a team, the 48 team, isn't necessarily on where to find the speed in the car, but more so what not to do to the racecar. It's a new book. It's a new thing that we're trying to learn. You know, you have a playbook. Any time that you can take and cross off something that list that says, Okay, you know that's not going to work, well, that's an area that you don't go to. That saves you time in practice. That saves you from mistakes during a race. It saves you a lot of things. I think that's what we're learning at this point.

Q. During the race, could you talk a little bit about how you felt your car was. A lot of times when people see 'fuel mileage win,' they think somebody pulled one out of the hat. Aside from maybe the pit call, you seemed to have a car that was pretty strong and comparable to everybody else leading.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I think there was one run where we were a little too loose. But outside of that, I want to say that it's probably us and the 99 that were probably the fastest cars, because Chad was reading me laps where everybody was. The 88 was real fast, especially two-thirds of a run, then it seemed like his car would kind of fall off at the end.

We had a very, very competitive car. I think the story from us restarting in 14th with 80 to go and being in second or third I guess right there when those guys started pitting says a lot about the type of car we had.

I'm not sure if we led the most laps, but I know we led a ton at the beginning of the race. But we had a very, very competitive car.

THE MODERATOR: You led 120 laps.

CHAD KNAUS: We had a great car. I was real happy with the whole Lowe's team. Everybody really stepped up. You know, I think this race, if I hadn't botched it up, we'd have been up front all day. It was just that one pit call got us relegated to the back.

We didn't win it on fuel mileage. You know, like we could have pitted right there with everybody. Say if everybody came down pit road and took two tires, everybody came down pit road and took four tires, I think we would have been in position to race for the win.

So, you know, I think it was good, yeah. It was exciting for me. I don't know about everybody else. I don't know how it looked on TV, but it was fun from my pit box.

Q. Jimmie, was there a point on that last lap where you figured it could run out right now and I can coast to the win?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, I was watching my fuel pressure gauge. Usually when it bobbles, you get a quarter of a lap or half of a lap where you can coast at a decent speed. With him telling me I had a 20-second lead, I figured if I ran out of gas coming off of four, I'd be okay. When I went into three, I still had great fuel pressure and came off of four and I was still looking at it, I'm like, Heck, yeah, it's a done deal.

Again, we've had fuel mileage bite us a couple times. It wasn't like we were trying to stretch it. Just something went on that run where we consumed more fuel. So for Chad to say, Let's give it a shot, I knew it was going to be right there.

Q. I don't know where you were when Earnhardt was battling Mark Martin and Martin Truex. But was there a period where you thought he could be the guy that could end up winning the race?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Mark? Earnhardt?

Q. Dale.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: He led a bunch today. 87 laps. When we were back restarting 14th and I saw the 88 up front, I thought this could be the race for him. Those guys have been all around it, very fast, had a great car today. I know they had some issues yesterday that they were trying to work through. Earlier in the race today I saw them in the mirror coming. I knew it was going to be a factor.

Happy for their performance. I don't know where they ended up in the end.

THE MODERATOR: Seventh.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Seventh. He's going to be pulling into Victory Lane soon. Those guys have been doing a great job.

Q. Jimmie, in Victory Lane they mentioned you kicked off the weekend with your foundation, then ended up in Victory Lane. A little bit of karma there. With your foundation kicking off on Thursday night, what are your thoughts about that?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, it was cool. I wanted to do a burnout down there in the backstretch, try to get the smoke going for a cool photo of the car and stuff near my banners on the backstretch, but ran out of gas and couldn't do it (laughter).

Really I have to thank PIR for giving me the opportunity. Bryan Sperber and the whole staff came to us with that idea. It's just a great way to get exposure for the foundation. We brought in a bunch of kids and let them enjoy the races and their families.

So, you know, didn't raise a lot of money that we could distribute, but it brought great recognition to the foundation. We were able to have some local kids, actually more than local kids. We had local kids plus kids from Florida, a couple other areas, come in and enjoy the weekend.

Q. In two weeks you go to Talladega. Is it going to be strange to go there and not see it be a sea of red for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.? Now it's going to be a sea of green or blue, whatever color that Amp car is.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I can tell you, it's been an interesting year because at first the Earnhardt nation didn't really make any noise at driver intros. Now I hear them kind of cheering for me. I see guys decked out in 88 wishing me luck, where before they were wishing other things and throwing beer cans at me and other stuff (laughter). There's still a few diehards that refuse to I think be a fan of Hendrick or myself or Jeff. But as a whole, you know, there's some respect there, which is good to see. If we have a clean racecar, it will save hopefully some beer can dents when the race is all over with.

Q. Chad, Dale Jr. thanked you and the 48 crew afterwards. They said they didn't practice well and got some setup information and help. Could you give us a sense of how that came down and was that stuff that he was able to use or you shared with before the final practice or was that today?

CHAD KNAUS: He must have stolen it from us. I don't know where the hell he got it (laughter).

No, we do a very, very good job at Hendrick Motorsports of exchanging information. We have a team debrief. We have a competition meeting every two weeks at Hendrick Motorsports with the crew chiefs, with the competition directors, with the department heads, the chassis and aero department, so on and so forth. We communicate there. Once we get to the racetrack, our line of communication is extremely free. They're able to look at everything that we're doing, dig in as deep as what they want, use it, don't use it, whatever they want. Then after every Happy Hour practice session, all of the crew chiefs and all the drivers and the competition directors get together in a centralized location and we discuss what it was that we went through throughout both practice session, both race practice sessions.

The one thing that I have actually been very, very impressed with Tony Eury, Jr., is the fact that he is very, very receptive to information. He uses tools. He does not sit stagnant and wait for the information to come to him. He goes in, digs, tries to find it. I've been very impressed with that. It's refreshing to see. It's nice to see another crew chief come to Hendrick Motorsports with that kind of ambition and that kind of desire to run up front.