JEFF BURTON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 31 PRILOSEC OTC IMPALA SS, met with media members at Texas Motor Speedway and talked about what to expect in Sunday’s race, his conversation with Michael McDowell, RCR’s announcement this past week, the RCR operation, and more.

ON THIS WEEKEND’S RACE: “Well I think it’s going to be a really interesting race. Yesterday in the Nationwide car I thought the cars made much less grip than what we’re used to seeing here so I think that will certainly be the case with the cup cars too. Good handling car is going to be really important. It’s going to make the difference between winning and finishing 20th, I can tell you that. Big challenge ahead of us this weekend, I think and I’m looking forward to it. If you go back and watch the races from Vegas and California and even Atlanta with the issues we had there, I thought the races were really interesting and I think you will see the same kind of race this weekend.”

HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT TIRES AND IF THERE WILL BE SIDE-BY-SIDE RACING IN SUNDAY’S RACE. “I don’t know. I certainly don’t want to say it’s a tire issue. Race tracks change, every time we come here it’s different. The track changes a lot, which is one of the reasons we’ve only seen one repeat winner is the track changes a lot. I’m not pointing the finger at the tire saying the tire is the problem. I think it is lower grip, probably a little lower grip tire than what we’ve seen in the past, but I think some of that is probably by design. This has been a very difficult race track for tires. This has been a place where tire failure has been fairly common, I don’t want to say common, but it’s happened so they’ve come with a tire that is probably more durable and I support that decision. I don’t want to make an assessment on where we are with tires based on the Nationwide car because they are completely different cars but I do suspect it’s a little less grip.”

ON WHAT HE REMEMBERS ABOUT DALE EARNHARDT, JR’S FIRST WIN AT TEXAS IN 2000 AND WHY HE THINKS IT’S BEEN SO LONG SINCE HE’S WON. “Actually I got in the helicopter leaving and his dad was in there, you know Dale was in there. I’m like what the hell are you doing, you ought to be in Victory Lane and I remember him saying man this is his day not mine and I thought that was cool. I know he came to Victory Lane but he must not have hung around very long because I remember him being in that helicopter. I remember the comment about this was his day, it wasn’t his dad’s day, it was his day. I thought that was pretty cool. I’m surely not going to make an assessment on why one particular driver, one particular team haven’t won other than to tell you it’s very difficult. This is a hard sport, there are a lot of really, really good race teams with great equipment and great crew chiefs, engineers and it’s very competitive. It’s hard. Junior’s run really well this year, he’s been probably the top performing Hendrick car so far as seen by me. Their wins are coming, there’s no question about that.”

ON HIS CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL MCDOWELL AND WHAT HAPPENED IN LAST WEEK’S RACE. “We had a great conversation. I didn’t know whether to feel good about or be mad about him calling me Mr. Burton. I’m like, man I’m not that old (laughs). I wanted to tell him you don’t have to call me Mr. Burton, he’s making me feel bad. We had a great conversation. I told him and I mean this, I should have called him Monday morning rather than expressing my opinion after the race. I probably did that wrong. I think he understands now a little more about etiquette in a cup race late in the race. We had a great conversation, I was real impressed with him, by the way I thought he did a really good job Sunday. I thought he made a mistake at the end of the race but I thought he did a really good job Sunday. It’s a difficult thing, being a Lucky Dog. Racing for the Lucky Dog is a difficult situation and I respect the position he was in. I understand the position he was in racing to try to be the Lucky Dog. I understand that position; at the same time it gave me the opportunity to explain to him that these are long races.

“When there is a race for the lead you have to go out of your way to make sure you’re not in that, if you’re not in it, if you know what I mean. And on that particular day he was not in the race for the lead and I just let him know, as seen by me, it was imperative not to be part of it. To get out of the way and let the leaders go at it and he understands that too. I made a mistake on Sunday after the race and he made a mistake during the race. We both had a conversation about that and I think we both learned from it.”

DID YOU CALL HIM OR DID HE CALL YOU? “He came looking for me Sunday after the race and then he called me again Monday and it was Tuesday some time before I was able to get back to him, so he was the guy who reached his arm out to try to explain his side of the story and also in his words to learn so he could do it better in the future.”

IT’S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE TIRE THIS WEEKEND IS THE SAME TIRE THAT YOU GUYS RAN AT TEXAS LAST YEAR “I don’t know that that’s true. I don’t know that it’s the same. I don’t believe it’s the same left side tire but I’m not 100%. Stop right now, let’s don’t start talking about tires. I made a comment about grip level. I wasn’t saying it was going to be a terrible race, I didn’t say we weren’t going to have any side-by-side racing, I didn’t say any of that. What I said was that the grip level was going to be down from what we’re used to and in addition to that with the Car of Tomorrow we’re gonna have a little less grip so it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be a difficult race. I didn’t start off saying the tires are terrible, I started off saying it had a little less grip. In no way was I comparing this to Atlanta. You can ask your question but I was just wanting to stop the conversation.”

HOW DOES RUNNING DIFFERENT TIRE COMPOUNDS AFFECT YOUR TEAM’S ABILITY TO BUILD FROM WHAT YOU’RE LEARNING ABOUT THE CAR OF TOMORROW WEEK-TO-WEEK? “The fewer tire compounds we could have from a team stand point the better it would be because it would allow us to build a base line, it would allow us to build what I call a center and work off of that depending on what race track we’re on. At the same time, as technology develops and as cars change and as conditions change then Goodyear has to change tires. We can’t run the same tire at Vegas that we run here, I’m just making those race tracks up. We do have to have specific compounds for specific race tracks, but whenever there is an opportunity to overlap that’s what we need to do because it allows Goodyear to produce fewer tires, which I think is a good thing for them, and it allows us to have to do less diagnostic on tires and I think that’s a good thing for us.”

IS THE SAFETY OF THE NEW CAR IS AT A POINT NOW THAT CONCENTRATION CAN BE SHIFTED TO THE HANDLING AND ADJUSTABILITY FOR THE CAR SO THE DRIVERS CAN RACE IT BETTER AND FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE IN IT? “I think that we can do both. I mean I think we can continue to push to make it safer and we can also continue to work to make them so that we can race them better. I have to tell you that I think the racing to this point has been pretty good. I believe it has, maybe somebody can raise their hand and say it wasn’t. I know Atlanta was not the best but everywhere else I think the racing has been really good. My view of it is we can do both. We can continue to look at it for what it is, where we are right now today from a safety standpoint. Continue to try to push to make that better but also continue to look at the car from a development standpoint on what changes we can make to it so that the car itself is better.

“NASCAR has had their feet dug in the sand about making changes to the car, putting it on the teams to make the car drive better which I support. I think that one of the things that’s been difficult for the teams for a long time is that there’s been so many changes that we spend so much money reacting to those changes that we’re better off making less changes. I by no means believe that the car that we’re racing today is the same car that we’re gonna race three years from now. I’m sure that there are changes coming from a safety standpoint and a performance standpoint. I believe we can do both, I also believe we got to continue to look at race tracks. We saw at Vegas that there was a race track problem, there’s other race tracks that have to be fixed too. Pocono has been going on for a long time, the back straightaway at Pocono is ridiculous. Davey Allison got in the grass and flipped on the guard rail 15, 18 years ago. It’s the same guard rail, same grass with the exception the guard rail has dirt behind it. It’s time for them to step up and fix it. We’ve been trying to get it fixed for years. The race track needs to step up and my point in saying that is we need to look at everything, we need to look at all of it. We’ve got to find a way to make this car safer, we’ve got to find a way for the driver’s equipment to be safer, for it to be safer for the fans, pit crew, we can’t stop on that. But I believe on the car we can do both.”

ON SPEAKING OUT ABOUT ISSUES IN THE GARAGE AREA AND IF OTHER DRIVERS SEE HIM AS A LEADER IN THE GARAGE. “I can’t say that drivers ask me to speak on a topic. I won’t say that’s never happened but it doesn’t happen on a consistent basis by any means. I do have conversations with drivers about the condition of whatever we’re talking about and how it can be better. I talk to a lot of people about that. I don’t know if I’m a leader in the garage or not, I mean that’s for those guys to decide but I do like being involved in it. I think that if you’re going to be part of something, you need to be part of it. I feel like I’m part of this sport and I don’t want to be just a driver. I want to be more than that, so I enjoy being involved in it. I enjoy, to a limit, there’s a point where I don’t want to be involved in everything. I want to be involved in the things that I think I can help at. I do enjoy that.”

ON HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT RCR’S ANNOUNCEMENT TO ADD A FOURTH TEAM AND WHAT THAT WILL DO FOR THE RCR OPERATION. “Obviously we believe it’s going to be a positive. To be able to bring in a company like General Mills that is a very well known company across the country into our stable is awesome. To be able to go try to recruit a top driver to drive, it’s going to be a lot of fun. The fact that we’re starting it in early April is, I think, a huge benefit to us to be prepared. It’s going to be very difficult. There’s gonna be a lot of challenges along the way. We have the infrastructure to support a fourth team. We expanded our shops; we did all those things. It was all with the understanding there would be four teams or the hope there would be four teams. But the reality of it is, we don’t have enough engineering staff to do four teams, we don’t have enough staff for chassis build, for body hang for all those. We certainly don’t have a fourth team in place so we have a tremendous amount of hiring we have to do.

“There’s going to be an influx of new people, an influx of new ideas and all those things are going to present challenges. So it’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be hard to do but I believe we can do it. I believe we can do it officially, I believe we can do it well but it’s not going to be easy. It’s gonna present some challenges, it’s gonna be difficult. But with the time that we have I think we can do it and we can do it well.”

ON WHAT TEAMS HAVE BEEN BETTER AND WHAT TEAMS HAVE BEEN WORSE THAN EXPECTED SO FAR THIS SEASON AND IF THERE ARE ANY SURPRISES ON EITHER SIDE. “I’ll be honest there hadn’t been a lot of surprises. I believed on when I looked at the test in Atlanta last fall and I looked at the pre-season testing, I believed that the Gibb’s cars were going to be very strong. I, unlike a lot of people, believed that they wouldn’t struggle with the Toyota thing, that that team was strong. I thought they were going to have some problems and I still think they’re going to have some problems adjusting to the Toyota engine because it’s so different. There’s still some looming things that can happen but their performance I believed would be strong and it has been.

“A lot of people talk about Hendrick being not as good as they were last year and to this point they haven’t been as good as they were at this point last year, but I by no means believe that they aren’t going to be very, very good. I haven’t really seen any surprises. It kind of to this point looks a lot like it did last year. Right now the teams that ran well last year are running well this year. I don’t see any surprises. I thought the 24 and the 48 were better than everybody last year but everybody else you could throw in a hat and they were all very, very, very similar. The Penske cars struggled more last year than you expected them to and they’re gonna run well. They’re gonna be better this year than they were last year. I believe that in my heart, they’re gonna get running better than they did last year and I think that’s the big change. Not a big change, but they’re gonna be a bigger factor this year than they were last year.”

ON WHAT HE BELIEVES MAKES RICHMOND A HARD TRACK TO FIGURE OUT AND WHY SOME DRIVERS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT AND OTHERS HAVEN’T. “It’s a short rack and it takes a lot of different stuff to run well on a short track as it does on a big track. I think things get magnified on a short track. Being off a little bit makes you off a lot more on those tracks. I don’t think it’s unlike Martinsville or Phoenix or New Hampshire. There seem to be some teams that do a better job of being ready and some drivers that do a better job of being ready for that type of racing because it is different than what we’re doing here this weekend. You do drive the cars different, you do set them up different, they are built differently, well not built differently so much more today but they used to be. So there are a lot of factors that go into it. Being prepared for any short track, you prepare differently, you drive differently than you would for Texas or for California and some people that suits better than others and why that is I don’t know. That’s difficult to put your finger on but obviously having cars that drive well, having a driver that does good on those race tracks they’re very important. You can’t deny that some drivers do a better job at that type of race track than others. Kevin (Harvick) is a good example, he always runs well at those race tracks and you can’t deny that it has something to do with driving.”

ON IF HE THINKS THIS YEAR IS SHAPING UP TO BE A CHILDRESS YEAR. “I don’t have that feeling. I don’t have a feeling that it can’t be but I don’t have a feeling that it will be. We’re six races in, there’s still 20 to go to the Chase and then we have 10 after that. A lot happens in this sport in five races much less 20. We’ve gotten off to a good start. All three of our teams have been good, but that doesn’t mean we’re gonna be good two months from now, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to. I think the teams that take what they have today and find a way to make it better are the teams that are gonna be good. You can’t run a season without getting better. If you don’t get better in this sport, you’re gonna fall behind. I by no means feel like this is our year, but by no means do I feel like it can’t be our year. It’s gonna be based on what we do between now and the end of the year. And more importantly right now, what we do between now and the next 20 races. That’s what’s critical for us right now.”

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL IMPALA SS met with media to discuss the recent success of RCR, how the new race car is expected to perform at TMS, adjusting to the new car, adding a fourth team at RCR in ’09, and more.

YOU SEEM TO BE IN A GOOD MOOD COMING INTO FT. WORTH “Oh yeah. This place has been a really good race track for us on the Nationwide and the Cup sides. We’ve run well on these types of race tracks this year and it’s kind of become our hometown for our sponsor, Shell and Pennzoil and everybody on that side. So it’s an important race, but its become even more important as we’ve gone through the transition with our new sponsor.”

THIS HAS BECOME A PRETTY GOOD YEAR FOR RCR. TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THE RESURGENCE? “I don’t know if you can call it a year. We’ve gone through six weeks. We worked hard over the winter but this new car I think you’re going to see a lot of teams coming and going and you just have to stay on top of the R&D side of it and continue doing what we’ve been doing and to try to keep progressing and stay ahead. But I think a lot of people are going to do the same thing and it’s just going to be kind of a cycle of people coming and going.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE START OF THE SEASON? IT’S NOT AS SPECTACULAR AS WINNING THE DAYTONA 500, BUT IT’S BEEN A LOT MORE STEADY THAN A YEAR AGO AND YOU’RE IN A BETTER POINTS POSITION. “Yeah, the only thing we did right at the beginning of last year was to win the Daytona 500. That was about it. This year we’ve been fortunate to run consistently week in and week out, and that’s what you have to have to win the championship and be competitive on a weekly basis. That’s what we all ask for. If we keep doing that, we’ll keep ourselves in contention to win races and eventually that will come.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE NEW RACE CAR WILL PERFORM AT TEXAS? “I don’t think this track will be any different than a lot of places we’ve gone unless there is something we all don’t know about. We’re going to find out about that shortly (upcoming first practice). But the car has driven well. I know they did a tire test here. And it seems like the cars drove really well then. But the conditions are going to be a lot different than what they were at that tire test and we’ll just have to wait and see.”

ON THE OVERALL ADJUSTMENT TO THE NEW CAR, HOW IS THAT GOING? “It is a big adjustment from a driver’s standpoint. It’s a big adjustment from the team standpoint. But it’s totally different from a set-up standpoint. You’ve got to have a very open mind as far as what you want to approach and what you don’t want to approach. So we’ve tried to be very open-minded about that and not try anything that we wouldn’t have tried in the past just because it didn’t work. Being the firs time here, you’ve got to have that same open mind to try to use forward thinking to progress and take and hour and a half practice into something worthwhile.”

HISTORY TELLS US THAT THE TOP 12 RIGHT NOW IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME TOP 12 WE’RE GOING TO SEE IN RICHMOND. ARE YOU AWARE OF THAT? DO YOU GO INTO A SEASON THINKING YOU’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THE BOX RIGHT AWAY REALLY HARD AND MAKE SURE WE’RE IN THE TOP 12 AFTER ATLANTA? “I definitely think getting off to a strong start makes things easier. But I don’t want to be that guy who has that plummet and drops out of the top 12 for the first time. But historically the race tracks coming up starting this week and over the next several weeks are really good race tracks for us and kind of where we usually have gotten our season off on the right foot and headed in the right direction. Usually the first part of the season hasn’t been all that great for us, so we’re looking forward to the next stretch and we know we’ve gotten off to a great start. We want to continue trying to stay level-headed about everything and really approach each week the same as we have every other week, no matter how good or bad its been.”

WHO SHOULD BE THE FOURTH DRIVER AT RCR? “The fourth driver should be somebody who can contribute something to the three teams that already get along well and already have good relationships amongst the crew chiefs and teams and drivers. It just doesn’t need to be somebody that drags the other three teams down. It needs to be somebody who can bring something to the table and make the whole organization better.”

WITH YOU AND JEFF BURTON 1-2 IN THE POINTS, IS THIS ABOUT AS GOOD A TIME AS YOU’VE HAD AT RCR? “We were able to be in contention in 2003 going to Homestead and racing for the championship and 2006 was a good year for us as well, winning races and Jeff won one or two. We’ve had good years; we just haven’t been consistent. And the consistency is the part that we have to stay focused on as we go forward. But we’ve had good years in ’03 and ’06; ’07 was mediocre and we were able to make the Chase and win a couple of big races. We just have to stay consistent. That’s the part that we’ve been lacking.”

AS A FULL-TIME OWNER IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES, HOW HAS THAT CHANGED YOU AS A DRIVER IN THE CUP SERIES? “I think from a driver’s standpoint it just helps you focus on the things that you need to focus on as a driver. You know there are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes (like) politics and personnel and sponsors and things that take a long time to make changes on certain things to make them happen. So it’s just a different perspective of thinking from a driver’s standpoint and understanding a lot of things that you really wouldn’t understand just on a normal week-to-week basis as a driver, just jumping in and out of the car.”

HOW PROUD ARE YOU THAT YOUR WIFE, DELANA IS SO SIGNIFICANT IN RACING? “DeLana is a big part of what we do. And she is a huge supporter with me here every week. And to have a wife that understands the sport and who really enjoys being a part of the sport is something that makes my life a lot easier and we both have been able to enjoy a lot of things as a couple that most people don’t get to enjoy. So we’re pretty fortunate and enjoy being here.”

YOU’VE WON A COUPLE OF RACES AT PHOENIX. HOW MUCH DID THE COT CHANGE THE RACING AT PIR? “The pace is a little bit slower. The cars fall off a little bit more. We had a good test there a couple of weeks ago and I’m sure the weather will be different when we go back. But the cars were a little bit faster than they were last time. The races have been different there than what they have been in the past. I think that will kind of come back as we get a better handle on the car every week.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD/AMP ENERGY IMPALA SS, met with media members at Texas Motor Speedway today and talked about racing at Texas, the support he gets from his fans here; the success he has had here; how well the season has started for him and his team; his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports and numerous other topics:

HOW IS YOUR CAR SO FAR TODAY? “I’m real extremely happy with my car and how it’s driving. We learned a lot in this little practice. The car is responding really good. I’m really, really happy.”

HOW DO YOU STAY DIALED INTO THE TRACK WHEN IT CHANGES SO MUCH FROM YEAR TO YEAR AND WHAT ABOUT IT WORKS SO WELL FOR YOU? “It’s about the same every time, every time I come back. It’s sort of you love it and you hate it. We run good here and have some good wins, but we struggled too. We struggled more often of late. We’re concentrating really hard on trying to turn that around with our Impala SS program and how we’re running with it this year, I think is gonna help us as well as our performance will be up to where we’ll be able to get out here this weekend and run really good all weekend. We just want to keep doing such a good job that we have been doing all year and keep good finishes coming our way and good points. This is one of our better markets west of the Mississippi. The fans turn out in big numbers to see our race here and they seem real excited about our sport. They really get it, they really enjoy it. It’s fun to be here, its fun to come here. Eddie Gossage and those guys have some clever ways to bring attention to the race itself. It’s a good time when you come here and I really enjoy it.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE GOOD START SO FAR THIS SEASON? “I’m pretty good, my crew chief is pretty good, my team is great. We got good motors. We just got a really good package.”

ON HOW MUCH ATTENTION HE IS PAYING TO THE FINAL FOUR. “Yeah, I was heartbroken for Davidson. Those guys put a lot into it. At the same time you’re excited and happy for them and the school itself. You know it did a lot for the school. Yeah, I’m watching UNC and hoping they do well. Always pulled for them and tuned in to follow their seasons each year. I think they have a good chance, they have a really strong team.”

WHICH CAR IS HANDLING BETTER HERE? “I like my Cup car the best between the two. My Nationwide car, it drives pretty good. I just got so much focus and concentration on this car and this team and how we need to run and how I can help reach our goals, so that’s really where my heart is and my where my focus is all the time. We’ll have a good time running the Nationwide car this weekend with GoDaddy. I hope I can get a win. I ain’t done too well in that thing the last couple of times. Hopefully I can turn that around because I need to do a little bit better job than I have been doing in that car.”

ON THE TIRE THEY ARE RUNNING THIS WEEKEND. “It’s the same tire as last year, that’s what it feels like. It feels like the same tire as last year. It’s good, it’s a good tire.”

ON HOW BRAD KESELOWSKI IS DOING IN THE NATIONWIDE CAR. “I’m happy with Brad. He’s doing a great job. He’s keeping up and keeping himself grounded and concentrating on his car and all those great things he’s looking for in life will come along with success. He just needs to work with car and work with his team and keep everything in good harmony like he’s doing.

“I was tearing up too many cars and had to find somebody that could not do that and he wasn’t wrecking a lot. So he got in there and finished all the rest of the year with us. We were losing money right and left due to the equipment we were tearing up and he came in there and stopped the bleeding.”

SIX WEEKS IN HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR INVERSION WITH THE HENDRICK TEAM AND HOW THINGS HAVE GONE TO DATE? “Everything’s good man. We got our car running good every week and just trying to realize the situation and understand it and work on the things that are working and fix some things that aren’t working. It’s a great deal though man, I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a good place and got great people around me and I feel real fortunate, really fortunate.”

IS IT JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS GETS BACK ON THE MAP THIS YEAR? “It’s just circumstance. We got good cars, good teams, good drivers and wins will come. I’ve been winless for a long time so I’m excited to be in the position to have that opportunity now. I’ve had a pretty good chance this year to get them wins. I’m happy as hell. I can understand where they’re wanting to get back into the winners circle where they’re used to being, but I’m tickled about being able to run good and run up front every week. I’m happy as heck about that. I ain’t quite as frustrated I guess as they are about that. But I know that they’ll get what they want, they always do. They’re great teams with a great company. Strong man, just strong. That company will always have success.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT YOU GUYS HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE CAR OF TOMORROW ON THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS NOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE GOING INTO YOUR THIRD WEEKEND OF THIS STYLE OF TRACKS? ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE A YEAR AGO? “Yeah, hell yeah. You learn a lot in a period of a year, six months, four months, you learn a lot.”

WHAT ABOUT BETWEEN VEGAS AND COMING INTO THIS WEEKEND? “Not really. We run about the same package, the same set up as we ran there. It needs different stuff for the load that you get in the corner here.”

HOW DOES THE BUMP FEEL? ARE THERE ANY REMNANTS OF THAT AFTER THEY FIXED IT? “They did a good job fixing that. Every time you ever complain about this race track, Eddie Gossage and those guys get out there and fix it. What more can you ask for, they do a good job.”

DOES IT SURPRISE YOU TO FIND YOURSELF AFTER SIX RACES TO BE THE TOP HENDRICK DRIVER? “Yeah. That’s very surprising to me and I’m surprised that we’re in the top five in points. But I look at the team and the motors and the company, I’m not surprised but I look at how new it is to me and how young me and Tony (Eury) Jr. are compared to when you look at how long we’ve been there, it surprised me. I’m gonna take it man. We’re gonna keep working with it and keep going with it and see how much we can accomplish.

"I have tons to learn and a lot to give, but I’ve got a lot to learn. It’s going to take some time and patience to let it come to me and to understand the ins and outs of the organization. I don’t know for sure that I’ve met everybody that we have there yet. We’ve been busy. It’s hopefully a long, long-term relationship and so there’s plenty of time.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE CHANGE HAS DONE FOR TONY EURY, JR? “It helped him a lot. I think it helped him kind of, hey man these are some of the things that you’ve never worked with that you’re gonna work with. Here’s some new tools that you’re not familiar with and that you need to learn. Definitely.”

ON YOUR SHOW LAST NIGHT, YOU GOT SOME CALLS BECAUSE YOU WERE JOKING AROUND WITH TONY JR., CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THAT WAS ALL ABOUT AND MAYBE YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON IT? “I was surprised that he was as candid as he was. It sort of brings a little more understanding to the temperament in the garage and the mentality in the garage. But I remembered once he recalled that one situation about the oil, I remembered that. And I remember them laughing and joking and bragging about that because it was like there was a team that had this oil and they were qualifying and any time they put it in their car they run half a second faster. And we were like man how do we get a jug of that. And you’re like wait a minute a jug, the whole time you’re thinking how I get a jug of that. You don’t need a jug, if you can get your fingertip in it and get a sample you take it to some guy to make it. That was pretty interesting on how that unfolded.”

SO YOU THINK HE WAS TALKING ABOUT IT LIKE THAT? “Yeah. I mean you’ll have to ask him. Unfortunately last week I said anybody that stole should have their hard card taken so I can’t live up to that now I’m gonna have to back track a little bit.”

I WANT TO SAY YOU’RE NAÏVE, BUT MAYBE YOU’RE NOT NAÏVE AT ALL YOU’RE MAYBE YOU JUST THOUGHT OF IT SO CLEAN CUT YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT WAS GOING ON. “That’s the only thing right now, and everything that happens to me, I give people way too much credit. Whether it’s in this garage or walking down the street, boy that is my biggest fault.”

WHAT WAS THE DECISION PROCESS TO RUN THE NATIONWIDE CAR HERE AT TEXAS?“I think it had something to do with the location of the sponsor. GoDaddy probably had a lot of influence in it. I like the track. They just laid a piece of paper in front of me and said to mark some tracks you think you’d like to run because I wanted to run a half dozen of races or so. A lot of times a sponsor will influence where they want you to run, Michigan or Homestead or places like that, that you technically wouldn’t recommend running or want to run or think about running.”

HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK ABOUT HOW LONG IT HAS BEEN SINCE YOUR FIRST WIN HERE IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES? “The Nationwide car? Well you know, I think about it a lot but I haven’t done a good job in that car the last couple of times. I’m pretty frustrated with myself and my performance in that car. They build good cars and they got a good track history at most places. They always win races and I want to be able to do that in that car.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PROBLEM IS, WHAT DO YOU GUYS HAVE TO WORK ON? “Well that penalty deal hurt us a little bit. The team is working through it and we’ve got some great help. As far as continuity within the team it’s sort of a little bit of a hurdle. It’s something you got to live with. I just got so much focus on this 88 car where I wasn’t keen to that or wasn’t paying attention to that before or aware of it. I am now. My heart’s really with this car and how it does and what happens to it and how every lap is in practice and how to make it better and running the Nationwide car is just purely for the fun of driving a race car and being on the race track in competition. I don’t put the same effort into that car in practice because I just don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt my efforts here. I like running in the Nationwide Series and its fun. I think it’s a fine line between fun and work. Running a handful of races and having a good time with the team and knowing what kind of cars your company is building. Understanding that side of it is one thing but doing it as a job is not interesting to me.

“I like guys like Brad Keselowski to get in my cars and do a good job and keep them in one piece and have a chance to win races. That’s what that company is about. I like to drive the cars every once in a while and have fun with them and do stuff with our sponsors and build new relationships with people like GoDaddy, but for the most part I don’t have an interest in running 15 races a year and things like that.”

WHY DO YOU LIKE THIS TRACK SO MUCH? “I don’t like it more or less than any other track. It just so happens this is where I got my first win in the Nationwide Series and in the Cup series so you never forget it. It’s a cool place. The fans are great. The best thing about this track is the fans, to be honest with you. There’s nuances about the surface of the track and character that the track has but they’re neither good nor bad, they’re just things you deal with. The great thing about it is, this is our best market west of the Mississippi. We struggle in our other areas west of the Mississippi, right? And this is great to be able to come to Texas and get people excited. They really love seeing us come here. If this were like Fontana, I might be a little worried. Since we do so well here in this market it gives me hope that we are just missing the boat with something specific. Because we come here and we do well.”

HISTORY TELLS US THAT THE TOP 12 LEAVING THIS TRACK IS ESSENTIALLY THE TOP 12 LEAVING RICHMOND IN SEPTEMBER. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS ARE AWARE OF? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU THINK ABOUT GETTING A FAST START IN THE SEASON? “I think about getting a fast start. That’s something I definitely think about. I never take anything for granted.”

DOES IT SEEM LIKE 10 YEARS SINCE THAT FIRST WIN? “In the Nationwide car? Yeah. Has it been ten years, yeah it’s been ten, wow. Yeah, it does. Any time you think about things like that you’re reminded how much time has passed. It’s harder to remember specifics about that day. Just little things like words that we said over the radio, what was said in Victory Lane and what was done in Victory Lane. It was a long time ago. I am doing all right. That makes me proud that I’ve been in this sport that long and I’ve added what I’ve added to it whatever that is.”

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, met with member of the media at Texas Motor Speedway and discussed tires, Texas Motor Speedway, the new race car, his crash at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his new teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., and more.

HOW MUCH INPUT SHOULD DRIVERS AND TEAMS HAVE ON TIRE CHOICES? "You have to have faith in your tire manufacturer. Goodyear is a great company and they have put a lot of effort and work in to it. A lot of times, those of us who think we know too much, or everything, can just get ourselves in troubles. I do think that there is input there. That is why we tire test with them. There is input from NASCAR. It is a tough business that they are in to build tires for these race cars. These are not easy race cars to build tires for and I thought we had a very productive tire test in Darlington which is a new repave. I feel like they built a good tire.

"So far here the tire feels pretty good. Atlanta, to me, is the only one that we have had a real issue with this year, other than that, I feel like they have had a good job."

TALK ABOUT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES: "It is a very challenging race track. That can be good and that can be bad for us. We have been real hit or miss here. We have been good enough to win at times, but we haven't been good enough on a consistent basis to pull off that win. There are bumps, there are transitions, there is a lot of grip, very fast race track. I think facility wise; I think this place is the top. You look at what they have put in the whole entire facility; it is the best that is out there. It is a great purse, all those things are good but the track is definitely a very challenging one.

"It is frustrating that the two times, maybe three times, I feel like we were capable of winning here, that we didn't do it. We have been leading here with less than 50 laps to go and didn't pull off the win and those are frustrating."

DO YOU FEEL HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS HAS FOUND WHAT WAS NEEDED TO BE COMPETITIVE THIS WEEKEND ON ANOTHER 1.5-MILE TRACK? "I feel like we have been competitive every weekend, it doesn't always show up in the results. There are some other teams that have got off to a better start than us. You compare to last year, the type of season we had, yea, looks like things have been pretty rough for us. But it hasn't been. We have been competitive, we have been leading laps, we have been running good and even at the 1.5-mile, we have been extremely good. I think Bristol is about the only track we have struggled at this whole year. Yes, I feel good about it. This year I feel like one of the better teams on the mile and half-tracks. This is a track that we have struggled at in past so you never know exactly how good you are going to be even if you run good at the other ones. "

IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE YOUR TEAMMATES OUT THERE RUNNING WELL TOO? "It is extremely important. If you have your teammates out there who are competitive then it elevates the whole organization. It allows you to have great feedback to bounce ideas off of. If you are struggling, you can look at their setup, their driving styles, share information and vice versa. It is crucial, definitely. It is crucial to share information but it is more crucial to have teammates that are competitive. That have good information to gather and to share, I think that is where we have really stepped it up over the last several years is by having four competitive race teams."

ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH HOW YOUR CAR IS TODAY? "Don't base it on our first lap out. We were pretty far off the first lap out and I was a little nervous. But, after that, we stepped it up, the speed came and the last couple laps that we have made were really good. I was happily surprised at how good it felt.

"I expect to have a really good race, I think this race track we have seen multiple groves the last few times we have been here. We have seen some great races and I don't see that really changing. I think that it is going to pretty much continue to be exciting racing like it always is. I haven't seen where this car, I think some of the first times it been challenged setup wise and speed wise and with the tires, but as far as the racing it has been consistently good racing."

DO YOU THINK IT IS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU WIN HERE AND JUNIOR WINS PERIOD: "I hope so. Certainly from Junior's standpoint, I feel like they have been strong this year and I think if they continue to do that they are going to win eventually. I know they hope sooner than later and I feel confident that they will. I think for us, I feel like we are knocking on the door. We are going to have tracks that we go to that we are going to be strong and have a shot at winning. Like I said, this track has been hit or miss for us and I hope this is a weekend that we are hitting on all eight cylinders and put ourselves in the right position.

YOU ALWAYS SEEM SO CALM, DO YOU EVER GET RILED UP ON THE TRACK: Hmmm, hum. Yup. You just have to be inside the car with me when it happens. (LAUGHS). Oh, yea."

WHAT DO YOU DO TO CALM DOWN? "I think about the consequences. How do we get the best finish. Because in order to get the best finish, you can't get made, you can't let your frustration and your temper take over, it is only going to cost you positions in the points. There are all kinds of situations that cause frustrations and get everybody fired up. Sometimes just because you car is not as good as you want it to be. Sometimes you make a mistake, you are mad at that. Sometimes your competitors, maybe you didn't like something they did. The list just goes on and on. There are a thousand things throughout a race that can happen that will end up upsetting somebody."

DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PRICE OF GAS? "Huh eh. (LAUGHS) I am thankful we get it for free from Sunoco. The price of gas has affected a lot of things. You can look at the fan base we have, how much they have to travel, the motorhomes and wonder how much the economy and the fuel prices are affecting them. Some things are out of your hands and that is one of them that is kind of out of our hands right now.

"I think we all need to be proactive in it. I think they (NASCAR) has a lot on their plate. There is a lot to have to work with and deal with. I think all of us should play a role in being more fuel efficient in looking at future options. I hope that they are. I think they (NASCAR) are thinking about it, but I don't know where we are at with it. I think a lot it kind of goes back to the car manufacturers as well as the manufacturers. I think a lot of it rides in their hands."

WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK DID YOU GET FOLLOWING YOUR COMMENTS AFTER YOUR ACCIDENT AT LAS VEGAS? "I got the most feedback from Bruton (Smith) and Chris Powell and the folks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that they were going to take the steps that need to be taken to fix that area of the race track. I will be honest, I haven't looked on the back straightaway here, I don't think this track as that issue. I just hope it just drew enough attention that it got all the track operators and people thinking about it and looking at it. Hopefully, if they had an issue, they are fixing it.

"I think there are tracks out there that are a little bit behind when it comes to some of the safety features. I think Pocono is one of them, but they have stepped it up over the years, they could go further. But they aren't the only ones. Every track we go to, there is something that can always be better. Usually we are more reactive than proactive. But I hit a way there (Pocono) two years ago really really hard, they had the soft wall. If they hadn't, I would have been in big trouble. In that sense, they have done a good job there.

"But, unless I went around and inspected every single track, honestly I can't pinpoint. It is usually when you go through a wreck, or you see a wreck when you start to recognize those things. It is not our job to go and inspect the race tracks before those races occur. We rely on NASCAR and the race tracks to do those things for us.

“The Vegas thing was a unique and scary thing and it is one of those one in every 500 wrecks over there that you are going to get to that part of the wall. So, it is something that could very easily get overlooked and it probably was and now it won't be. I am sure there are things like that at a lot of tracks. But, we will hope that those tracks, after that wreck, even Pocono, they will look at some things and say hey, even we need to make some improvements. But I can't tell you, I haven't talked to them."

IS IT HARD TO GET OVER A WRECK LIKE THAT? "Well, I had to go test the next two days in Phoenix, so it didn't take me too long. Physically, it was probably about a week to get through it. When you have been racing as long as I have been racing, you get through them; you get past them pretty quick and move on.

"I was sore, but it was a different kind of sore than I have gone through before. It was like sore through my abdomen. I hit my elbow and things like that and my foot. You might have sore ribs or something like that other times, but I went pretty far forward. Everything did its job. The Hans Device, the seatbelts, the seat, and the way the car crushed. Everything did its job except for the wall that was the part of it that took most of it. That was not fun, but you go through those things, I was pretty happy to get through it as good as I did."

WHAT GRADE WOULD YOU GIVE NASCAR ON THEIR SAFETY ADVANCEMENTS? "If you look at the safer barriers, that is huge. I think that while they put everything that was recommended by University of Nebraska and NASCAR, I don't think there should be any spot that a car can possible get to shouldn't be on a race track, inside, outside walls. Mandating the Hans Device, Huge.

"Dr. (John) Melvin, who they have been in association with who does the safety meetings at Daytona and stuff, he is fantastic. That guy, he knows his stuff.

"I feel like we have kind of been ahead of a lot of teams working on our seat technology, sled testing for a number of years. Dr. Melvin has played a big part in making that really come along faster. I look at him as a part of NASCAR. So in that sense, I give them a great grade. But, there are always ways we can be better. I am not criticizing anybody. I just want it to better. I just don't want it to happen again,"

WHERE DO YOU SEE CHILDRESS RACING IN THE GARAGE AREA: "As a whole, I would put them in the top-four, but I wouldn't put them as the top, even they are leading the points right now. I mean, just because, they have been consistent, but they haven't dominated, so, to me, Gibbs has been really strong this year, they have dominated. When you look at the guys to beat, I think they have been there more so than Childress has been. But Childress is strong, they have been stepping it up for the last few years and I always look to them to be a threat when it comes down to certain races and the championship. I felt like, last year Bowyer impressed the heck out of me and that whole team did. They are capable of it."

IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH DALE JUNIOR DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS BEFORE YOUR WERE TEAMMATES? "Yes, it is definitely different. We just didn't see one another or talk a whole lot before, from time to time we would, we always go along good. Raced hard on the race track. Yes. I definitely see each other a lot more and talk a lot more now. We text one another. Back and forth. I flew home with him after Martinsville last week, so we to talk a lot then. I like having him as a teammate, man. He is a lot of fun to have around and knowledgeable and bringing a lot to the table. I feel like both he and Tony Eury, Jr. have done that for Hendrick Motorsports and I like that.

"You know, people think of us as rivals, I think you will get that if you talk to the fans. As competitors out there, every driver out there is my rival because they are a competitor. But, I never looked as him as a rival. I looked at him as a competitor.

"He is always going to be the most popular guy no matter what team he drives for. My souvenir sales are never going to be as good as his. So, it doesn't matter if he is driving for Hendrick or DEI or whoever he went to drive for, that part of it was never going to change. To me, it hasn't been that big of a transition."

TALK ABOUT JEFF BURTON AS A DRIVER: "Jeff is a lot like what he is outside the race car, inside the race car. He doesn't get over emotional. He knows when and how to get it done. He is a smart race car driver.

"I think he is also a guy that has confidence. He knows what has gotten him to where he is. He knows how close he has been to winning a championship in the past, winning races, being competitive. You get knocked down a few notches sometimes your know, but as long as you still have some of that in you, when you get in the right situation, like he is at Childress, then you can start gaining that confidence back. I think that is what happened. Between what Childress has been working on and what Jeff brings to the table from a drivers standpoint has allowed them to build not only himself, but the whole organization."

CAN SPEAK TO KYLE PETTY NOT BEING IN THE NO. 45 THIS WEEKEND? "To me, it is a business and you have to do what is best for the business. I think we all want to see a Petty driving as well as owning. But, I think once that car falls out of the top-35 in points, Kyle has to make a decision that is based on what is going to help them give their sponsors the most benefit and the team. So I think it is smart what they are doing.

"The big challenge and question is do they put their efforts in a young up and coming driver like Chad McCumbee and put our future in him. Or do they get a veteran driver who can get them in the race or a past champions provisional or something like that to make sure we are in the race every weekend. That is the toughest thing."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS, met with members at Texas Motor Speedway and talked about testing over the off weekend, safety at race tracks, weather affects on the track, riding dune buggies and more.

LAST WEEK YOU TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SHORT TRACK RACING AND THAT YOU HAD PRETTY WELL COVERED, YOU TALKED ABOUT INTERMEDIATE TRACKS NEEDED TO BE WHERE YOU GUYS PICKED UP, SO SINCE ATLANTA WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS WORKED ON EITHER TALKING TOGETHER OR WORKING ON THE RACE CARS TO MAKE TEXAS A BETTER SITUATION. “We were happy to go to Martinsville and run like we should there, so we recognized what we did last year was working on the short tracks we just need to spend a little time on the big tracks. I look back to the test sessions with the Car of Tomorrow and we didn’t really anticipate any of the intermediate track stuff. When I did the NASCAR test it was at Talladega and we’ve had great success there so we just haven’t had a lot of time on these intermediate tracks and myself as a driver and our team is suffering a little bit from that. Some of our teammates have run better than us but I still think as a whole we got a little bit of work to do.

“So we’ve done nothing but work hard. We tested a lot over the off weekend that we had and hopefully we’ll get on track this weekend and we’re able to be up front where we want to.”

WHAT WAS THE MOST POSITIVE THING THAT CHAD (KNAUS) TOLD YOU FROM THOSE TESTS? “The thing was we almost felt like we were going to find something big that we were missing and we didn’t. But we found a lot of small things in a lot of areas. Hopefully all that comes together. We tested at some different tracks but none of them were a big track like this so hopefully those things carry over and show up. You just never know with the testing rules like they are it’s hard to find the right tire, it’s impossible to get on the right track. We’re hopeful that all the time, effort and money that we spent to develop the cars and make them a little better pays off.”

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF PEOPLE ROOTING AGAINST HIS TEAM SINCE THEY HAVE BEEN ON TOP AND WON TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW. “I can see that. I watched the Patriots last year and the negativity surrounding them and the Super Bowl and everybody wanted the underdog to win, so I can see how that can take place. I haven’t really experienced much of it. It’s pretty early in the season. If people don’t want to see us succeed and if it makes fans mad, not fans of the 48 mad, I want to make them mad. That’s my job. I need to go out there win races, win championships and I hope we get back to our ways and have a bunch of people mad at us.”

LIKE THE NEW YORK YANKEES AND THE PATRIOTS, AFTER A WHILE THEY BECOME THE TEAM TO ROOT AGAINST. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’VE EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THAT. “Not yet. I do recognize how tough it is to stay on top and when you see guys go on runs like Lance Armstrong won seven Tour de France’s in a row, I watch what the Patriots have done, you look at Jeff Gordon’s four championships in our sport and I look around at other sports organizations and their success, it’s a tough thing to do. And we’re trying to do our part to make this 48 car have a solid footing in the record books. I certainly respect what other sports organizations have done to be there and put themselves there too.”

ON THE REACTION THAT HENDRICK HAS FALLEN OFF THE EDGE OF THE EARTH THIS EARLY IN THE SEASON. “I think there’s a little bit of an overreaction right now. We’re realist and we know as a whole that Hendrick hasn’t been as strong as it was last year, but we still haven’t had horrible cars. I think Jeff (Gordon) has been running the strongest but has had some bad luck and hasn’t shown up. I think Junior is running the second strongest of the Hendrick cars. You look at Jeff, I don’t know where he is in points I think it’s probably ninth or something, I’m tenth, Junior’s fourth or whatever, it’s not terrible.

“We’re off to a good start. I mean it could be better yes, but it’s a long season and we really got to look at our goals which the first goal is to make the chase and then win the championship. Where we are right now we’re certainly on track to make the chase and once we get our foundation built for the season and understand what we need for every type of a track then we can start looking at race wins.”

JEFF BURTON HAS BEEN THE ONLY TWO-TIME WINNER IN THE CUP SERIES HERE AT THIS TRACK, WHY IS THAT AND WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO TRY TO CHANGE THAT SUNDAY? “This track is tough. It’s seems to change a little. The harsh summers and winters effect the track and the same set up won’t work every time you come back here. The track changes a lot and I think that’s a good thing. I think this track really is challenging and challenges the teams and drivers from year to year. I hope I can come back and repeat but I know it’s a tough thing to do here at Texas.”

ON HOW MUCH THE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL CHANGE THE TRACK FROM TODAY TO SUNDAY WHEN IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE AROUND 80 DEGREES AND SUNNY. “Huge change. Big, big change especially if the temperatures go up like that. The track will lose a lot of grip over the course of the weekend.”

WHEN YOU WON HERE LAST YEAR THAT WAS A STREAK OF FOUR INA ROW YOU HAD ON THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A TIME WHERE YOU FELT AS DIALED IN WITH THE TRACK, WITH THE CAR, WITH THE CREW AS YOU WERE DURING THAT STRETCH LAST YEAR? “Can’t say that I have. That was a special period of time and we won races we should. We won Atlanta, which we shouldn’t have, we were a sixth-place car all day long and that’s when strategy worked out and some cautions helped us at the end. We really couldn’t do any wrong over those final few races and it was a great experience.”

DOES JUNIOR BEING SO STRONG RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX SURPRISE YOU? “No it doesn’t. I can remember points through last season and year’s past where that eight car has been up front and strong and has had some quirky things take place and take him out of shots to win races. I think he’s on par. I think he’s put in the performances that he has been and should and there’s less mistakes being made as a whole and he’s able to capitalize on those strong runs. He’s doing a great job.”

HOW MUCH INFORMATION FLOWS BETWEEN THE 48 AND THE 88? “It’s free flowing between all of them. It’s not out of design, but the fact that the 24 and the 48 are in the same building and the five and 88 are in another building, there’s probably more day-to-day communication that takes place just because of how the cars are positioned in the shops, but with all the meetings and the database and the information, the open-book policy that we have we all know every intimate detail of each other’s cars.”

WITH OTHERS TEAMS SUCCESS THIS YEAR SUCH AS RCR, DOES THAT GIVE YOU GUYS A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TEAMS WERE FEELING LAST YEAR WHEN YOU WERE SO DOMINATING? “I think we’re seeing, like we typically do in motorsports, times change. It’s impossible to stay on top for a long period of time. We saw Childress, we knew Childress was strong last year, we knew Gibbs was going to be strong regardless of make, Roush was maybe a little off last year and it caught a lot of us off guard and as the year wound down those guys were right there, so it’s not surprising us to have the competition as tough as it is. We’re, as the 48 car, a little surprised to be off on the intermediate tracks like we have been and we’re working very hard to correct that and I’m excited to get out there on track and get back to our winning ways.”

ON RIDING DUNE BUGGIES WITH CASEY MEARS. “That’s awesome. I had high expectations. I knew that technology in those off-road buggies evolved and I went in with lots of expectations and driving the cars and feeling the horsepower and what they could do far exceeded the expectations that I set for myself and what those cars can do.

“The coolest thing is, I’ve been telling my wife about the sand dunes and how much fun we had out there, she didn’t know what to think. The first thing we did - I’m in a 1200 horse power sand car, a real light sand car, and we’re doing wheelies at 80 miles per hour uphill, she wasn’t too fond of that at first and that’s her first exposure to sand dunes and then we found some big jumps.

“We’re jumping this thing probably 50 or 60 feet in length and I hit the first jump and I knew I carried a little too much speed into it and when I landed I expected her to look at me like don’t do that again and she looked at me, had this smile on her face and said do it again. So we spent all day trying to find more jumps and launch that buggy around. It was a great experience. It was fun to be out there.”

LAST WEEK YOU GUYS WERE HAVING SOME PROBLEMS WITH EVERYBODY SAYING IS HENDRICK DONE. YOU GUYS PUT FOUR IN THE TOP 10 - DO YOU FEEL LIKE MAYBE THAT’S A SIGN OF WAKING THE GIANT? “I think what we’re looking at is all right last year in the COT races that we won were on the short tracks, as we come back to those tracks are we still competitive? In Bristol I was more competitive than I was there in the fall so we felt like short track program was still there for us. Went to Martinsville and ran like we should so we recognize okay short track stuff we’re good, we’re where we need to be. It’s the intermediate stuff that we just, we’re not up to speed on yet and we spent a lot of time testing over the off-weekend to get prepared. We feel like we have some new direction, new areas to work in and I really look forward to getting on track and hopefully proving that out this weekend with all the hard work we put into it. I think superspeedway stuff we’re good, road course we should be good, short tracks are showing strong, if we can just get our 1.5-mile stuff under control we should be fine.”

WHERE DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR STRUGGLING ON THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS? “We were really hopeful we were going to find something big and through our testing we didn’t find anything big. We threw everything at it, a variety of combinations and ideas and it really came down to massaging a lot of little areas and found a tenth here and a tenth there. We’re optimistic but at the same time we couldn’t test on the right tire or on the right tracks so if we can just bring half of what we learned at the tracks that we tested at and get half of that speed here, we’ll be in the top five and have a very competitive race.”

ON IF THE NEW CAR WILL PRODUCE THE EXCITING SIDE-BY-SIDE RACING THAT HAS HAPPENED AT TEXAS IN THE PAST. “It’s gonna be a while before we see the side-by-side racing on these bigger tracks. The car’s a bigger vehicle, it punches a bigger hole in the air, tires have less and less grip, we have less down force, higher roll centers, I mean everything makes these cars harder to drive. So it’s not as easy to race side-by-side. It may be entertaining to watch because the car’s sliding around on track but it’s more difficult for us to race on these big tracks than what we had last year.”

YOU DON’T EXPECT TOO MANY GUYS IN THE HIGH GROOVE THIS TIME AROUND? “It will sound like I am contradicting myself, but because the car is so tough to drive, you go in the corner and you lose it and you find yourself in the high groove, so the groove will widen out but the real hard side-by-side racing is just tough to do.

”You want as much space around your car, you don’t want any air disturbance around your car because it just takes the car out of the track and you can’t drive it. Hopefully we’ll have a second groove and I think this car will promote more lanes of racing but to really get in there and race with someone, it’s harder than it was in the past.”

ON WHAT TRACKS NEED TO MAKE CHANGES AS FAR AS SAFETY IS CONCERNED. “I think Pocono is certainly a track that needs to be changed around immediately. It’s probably further behind than any other track that’s out there. But still even the tracks that are the most advanced today still need work and unfortunately in our sport everybody responds after something bad takes place and they need to be proactive and they need to look at a lot of different areas. These cut outs, you look at Jeff Gordon’s impact at Vegas, that’s one of the more modern facilities that we have but there’s a problem there. We need to work on that and address that and from what I understand they’re doing that. So those kick outs and cut outs where safety vehicles come onto the race track all need to be revamped and looked at. I don’t see any reason whatsoever to have grass from the inside wall to the outside wall. Grass does not slow the vehicle down, gets the car air born, speeds it up in some cases. The other thing like Pocono has, they still have guardrails. I mean that technology is form the 80’s and it can be better and needs to be better. Hopefully the tracks, I know it’s expensive but it’s not worth losing somebody over and not worth hurting someone. Everybody needs to stay focused and continue to evolve the safety in the sport.”

EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT HENDRICKS STRUGGLES THIS YEAR BUT YOU GUYS HAVE THREE CARS THAT ARE STILL IN THE HUNT, HAS THAT JUST PROVEN HOW GOOD YOU GUYS ARE? “We haven’t had the quick start that we had hoped to have. Unfortunately the five car has had a slow start plus a lot of bad luck. I still think that he can get into the chase. It’s early enough in the season where he can get on a roll and get back into the chase. I really think that another month from now we’ll be where we want to be company-wide and really have the speed across the board on every type of track. Racing is a tough sport. We’ve had a lot of great success but we’ve also known we’ve been on top and it’s tough to stay on top and right now we’re trying to search back and get back to those dominating ways.”

ON HOW THE ECONOMY IS AFFECTING THE TEAMS AND IF IT HAS A BIGGER AFFECT ON THE SMALLER TEAMS. “It is. I don’t think it matters if you’re a big team or a small team, you’re gonna see the affects. The smaller teams certainly see the affects much more. I feel very lucky to work for Hendrick Motorsports and know how Rick commits to sponsors and it really shows on the return of their investment. That’s something that a big team can do and that helps us in these tough times. With Lowe’s, they’re going through a tough time in the housing market and all that’s going on and they look at their NASCAR program they think wow this is an asset and this is helping drive traffic to our stores, those other business-to-business relationships that exist.

“We’re not going to cut this, we’re gonna cut something else. I think that’s where the big teams can show a return to the sponsors and continue to keep the doors open and have the funding there and continue to run well. But there’s no doubt it has everyone nervous. Not only from the sponsorship side, but when you look at the discretionary money that families have to come to race tracks, buy souvenirs, every revenue stream in motorsports is affected by the economy and a down economy. Right now it’s tough for everyone, nationwide, doesn’t matter if its sports, not sports related, it’s just a tough time for everyone right now.”

TALK ABOUT PHOENIX: “I’m ready to go back. I think Martinsville was a great race for us and our short track program. We tested out there and felt like we got a good idea and good direction to go with things. I’m excited we have the Jimmie Johnson Foundation race on Thursday evening that’s gonna take place for the Winston West race. A great opportunity PIR came to us about, and we’re gonna have the foundation kind of hosting the event out there. I’m excited about that. Just fired up to get out there. We were able to win out there last fall and we want to get another trophy out in Phoenix.”

WHOSE GONNA WIN THE FINAL FOUR? “I’ll say two things, one is my publicist, I obviously know who she wants to root for, but the other side of it is I don’t know any other team that’s in the final four. I have not been paying attention, I’ve been completely out of the basketball loop, and I’m totally serious. I’ve been focused on driving race cars. I’ve been testing my butt off, we tested five or six days in the last ten so I’ve been thoroughly committed to motorsports and listening to my publicist tell me how Kansas is gonna win.”

SO YOU WON’T HAVE ANY INTEREST IN WATCHING THE GAME ON MONDAY NIGHT? “I’ll watch it. Hopefully I’m not testing Monday night or Monday. We’ve been so busy at the track, but I love any playoffs. It doesn’t matter what the sport is, a certainly want to check it out. And she’s gonna tell me about it anyways.”

ON WHAT HE LEARNED FROM TESTING THAT GIVE HIM HOPE FOR THIS WEEKEND? “We tried to do some intermediate testing in Kentucky but the weather was bad. Cancelled two opportunities that we were going to go to Kentucky and test and then we had an open day to go and the track was weeping water out and we couldn’t test so we packed up the truck relocated the crew and repositioned the cars to Nashville and I think it’s a mile and a third right around a mile size race track and we spent a couple days there. We didn’t get on a big track or the high speeds but we saw some gains and I think directionally we learned some things at Nashville. We’re optimistic, but it still wasn’t a big track and that’s where we’re frustrated with all the attempts to go test and hopefully it shows up here.”

ON HOW IT FELT TO FINALLY FIGURE OUT RICHMOND LAST YEAR. “It’s so frustrating when you can’t figure out the rhythm of the track and after you’ve been there so many times and tried every combination of set up, driver’s techniques and all those things and you don’t hit it, it’s really frustrating. So to get it right last year was rewarding. I was fearful it was a fluke after the first race and luckily we came back the second race and had a similar performance.”

WHAT MAKES IT SO TOUGH FOR REPEAT WINNERS HERE AT TEXAS? “The track changes so much year to year. It’s early in the season too, at least the first race and the way it’s been the start of the racing here. So much changes over the off season, new rules, new packages and the track changes a lot. Bumps develop here, the asphalt’s aging because of the weather patterns we see here in Texas. Those are all good things and as drivers we all love the rougher tracks and tracks that age and have some characteristics to them.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT THESE DAYS TO HAVE GOOD TEAMMATES WITH YOU, WORKING TOGETHER? “It really is everything to have good teammates. We’re so limited with our testing and how we’re able to collect data that if you have multiple teammates and guys that know what they’re feeling and know how to develop the car you cover a lot more ground that other teams.”

ON IF HE HAS HAD ANYONE THAT HE SEEMS TO TANGLE WITH A LOT. “I haven’t had any this year luckily. There’s usually guys for whatever reason the cars have magnets on them and you run into each other time and time again. Luckily I haven’t had that this year. I’m sure it will happen though.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 07 JACK DANIELS IMPALA SS met with media and discussed, practice, what he expects for the race on Sunday, adding a fourth team at RCR, the new race car on the 1.5-mile track, and more.

HOW WAS PRACTICE? “Good, good. I’m looking forward to the race. I think we’ve got a good Jack Daniels Chevrolet. Our draw was not the best for qualifying but we’re going to put a good lap down and try our best and start wherever we land.”

WILL THE CONDITIONS AT THE 1.5-MILE TRACK HERE AT TEXAS BE BETTER THAN THEY WERE AT ATLANTA A COUPLE WEEKS AGO? “I think a lot of things are different. Obviously the track is the number one thing that’s different. I’m looking forward to it. I think we’ll be just fine and put on a good race for the fans.”

DO YOU ANTICIPATE ANY TIRE ISSUES ON SUNDAY? “No, we came here and did the tire test and we’ve got all the confidence in the world in Goodyear and the tire they’ve brought and we’re going to be just fine.”

GOING BACK TO THE FLAT ONE-MILER AT PHOENIX WITH THE NEW CAR, A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY IT’S THE PERFECT ONE-MILE TRACK. DO YOU AGREE? “I love the place. We won a Busch race there and I’m looking forward to going back there and seeing what we’ve got. I love racing there. It’s awesome. You kind of control your destiny at a place like Phoenix.”

HOW WILL THIS TRACK BE ON SUNDAY IF IT’S 80 DEGREES AND SUNNY? “It’ll be hot and slick and a handful and it’ll be everything you want as a race car driver.”

ON RCR TEAMMATES JEFF BURTON AND KEVIN HARVICK BEING ONE-TWO IN THE POINTS “We got off to a little more of a rocky start than Kevin and Jeff. But, I think the last few races we’ve kind of caught our stride. So, I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.

ON HAVING A FOURTH TEAM AT RCR NEXT YEAR, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE HEALTH AND WEALTH OF THE ORGANIZATION? “Yeah, I’m looking forward to that. I think we’ve got to do our homework. It’s going to be beneficial financially to us and resource-wise having an extra team. A lot of good things are going to come out of that. We’ve got to use our heads and get a good driver/crew chief combination that will fit in well with the program we’ve got going on. I’m looking forward to it.”

WITH HENDRICK HAVING FOUR TEAMS ALREADY AND ROUSH HAVING FIVE, HAVE YOU FELT THE NEED TO HAVE THAT FOURTH TEAM TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH? “Yeah, that’s certainly the case. It’s just more resources to pull from and that’s got to be a good thing.”

DURING PRACTICE, DID YOU DO A LOT OF WORK IN RACE TRIM? “No, we were in qualifying trim the whole time.”

DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE A STEP BACK BEFORE WE SEE A STEP UP WITH THE NEW RACE CAR ON THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS? “Only time will tell. I think that could possibly be something. That’s something that was definitely different. You know with Atlanta, it’s a race track where you race all over the place and we were stuck on the bottom all day long. Some of us want to blame it on the tire but I feel like the car has a little bit of responsibility there as well. So, only time will tell. By the end of the race, we’ll know for sure.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RCR ADDING A FOURTH TEAM? “I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be a good thing. It’s obviously a wonderful sponsor and it’s smart financial help to support our cause and resources and everything else to pull from. It’s definitely a good thing.”

ANY SPECULATION ON WHO IS GOING TO DRIVE IT? “I don’t know.”

IS THERE ANY DISTRACTION FOR YOU TOMORROW WITH KANSAS IN THE FINAL FOUR? “No (laughs). Hopefully we’ll be racing fast so we can get out there and watch them boys.”