DALE JR. - TALK ABOUT YOUR SPECIAL PROGRAM AND THE NEW LOOK ON THE CAR:
“It is a sequel to the original ‘Ride with the No. 88’ program we had last year where the fans went to AMPENERGY.com signed up to either to be one of the lucky ones to get on the car and the overflow went to the banner on pit road. We had over 100,000 fans sign up this year. We are pretty excited about that. It is a great program for AMP and it is a great way to involve our fan base in to what we are doing on the race track. It gives them an opportunity to feel like they are a part of the action and part of the effort to get us here.
“It is a lot of fun for me and I think the fans enjoy it. They can go to the website and see exactly where on the car that their name is. I think that is pretty cool. A lot of great technology out there.”
DALE, JR. - TALK ABOUT LANCE MCGREW BEING NAMES FULL-TIME PERMANENT CREW CHIEF FOR YOU:
“We are happy to announce that Lance (McGrew) is going to be the crew chief for the car so he can get interim tag gone and we can move forward on planning on what changes, if any, we might want to make to the team during the off-season and prepare ourselves for next year. It is something I am really excited about. Lance has done a great job. He is a really good guy. We have a real good friendship that started many years ago and sort of blossomed a lot more once we worked together in the Nationwide Series at Lowe’s (Motor Speedway). Since we’ve worked together on the car (No. 88) we’ve gotten along really great and I enjoy it. He has built a few new cars for us and every time we take a new car to the track, it is really fast.
“I see myself without looking at the statistics and luck that we have had lately, I can see a lot of improvements in the team and I can see the impact that Lance is making. I am really excited about his chance for me and him to understand what our future is and see how we can improve upon that by being given the opportunity to work together and know we are going to work together. I am excited about it and I want to thank Rick (Hendrick) and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for working really hard on trying to put together a good program for our team and give ourselves a great opportunity. “There are doing just that by making decisions like this and we have some great sponsors in AMP Energy and National Guard that have stood beside us throughout such a tough season and we’re all very positive about our outlook going forward.”
LANCE MCGREW – YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT:
“I think that anytime…I have been in this sport professionally for 17 years. Of course, everybody is an overnight success.
“When given this kind this kind of opportunity to work with Junior, to work for the best organization, the best racing organization in my opinion in the world, and there are four crew chiefs that get the opportunity to do that. I am lucky enough to be one of them. We have 550 teammates at Hendrick Motorsports that bleeding sweat to make this No. 88 team run as successfully as it is supposed to be running. We’re heading that direction. This is kind of the time of the year where everybody is looking for direction and hoping you can get a lot of momentum at the end of the season. That is kind of what we are trying to do by setting the record down that I am going to be with the team next year and getting everybody pulling in the same direction.”
DALE, JR. - NOW THAT THIS IS FINALIZED, IS THIS YOUR UNOFFICIAL START TO THE 2010 SEASON?
“Yes, I guess so. I know that Lance has a lot of great ideas and he is very smart about the team and understanding where we can be better. We can start facilitating some of those ideas and some of that thought process within the team. Like I said, every time he has built a car, I have loved it when it hits the race track. We’ve been really working closely with our teammates and specifically with Alan (Gustafson) and the No. 5 guys. I’m pretty excited about it. I really like the relationship that Lance has with everybody in the shop. More specifically, his history with the organization as a whole. He is well respected and well trusted. I think it is a great move and it is one that hopefully now that we as a company and as a team know the future, we can really bank on that and depend on it.”
DALE, JR. – YOU HAVE ALWAYS ANSWERED QUESTIONS OPENLY AND HONESTLY WHEN ASKED, EVEN WHEN THINGS HAVEN’T BEEN AS YOU WOULD LIKE, DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS, SO MUCH OF WHAT IS SAID ABOUT YOU ARE BASICALLY SAID WITHOUT ANYONE EVER ASKING YOU?
“Behind the scenes, behind the doors, I do get asked by the right people what my opinion is. I have a lot…Lance and I have had many heart-to-heart conversations about our future, his future, my future, what we should do, what is best for us, the company….all those things. Me and Rick (Hendrick) have sat down many many times and talked about it. The rights things are being done and being talked about and being discussed with the right people inside the gate at HMS.
“There is always a lot of speculation outside the gates and that is just the way the world is and that is the way it works. I do the same thing with my Redskins wondering how they are going to turn their deal around. So I can kind of relate to everybody’s interest in the topic. The right things are going on within that organization. I mean they have three cars sitting there running for the championship. So I trust in every individual there that they can provide our team with the opportunity to win and I think that putting Lance in this position, first and foremost, was a good opportunity and it has proven to me that it gives us the ability to run well. We just have to change our luck, which is a cheap excuse but we have to change our opportunities and our mentality as a team and build our confidence in our ability to perform.”
DALE, JR. – DID YOU HAVE TO DO ANY CONVINCING TO LANCE TO GET HIM TO TAKE THIS JOB ON A PERMANENT BASIS?
“I didn’t convince Lance. I think Lance sees a good race team in front of him. He tells me sincerely that he believes in my talent as a driver and feels like that with the right situation, that we can have a lot of success. Being a crew chief is a very very tough job and very thankless. Lance understands that as well as anyone. I feel confident that he can handle the pressures of the job and I feel confident with him on the box. I feel like he is going to make the right calls.”
| 
|