QUOTES
MARK MARTIN, DRIVER, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM’S AVERAGE CHASE FINISH.): “Going into the Chase, when we were in New York City (speaking with media), I repeatedly said that I didn’t think there was any way that anyone of these guys could have a top-five average finish like Jimmie (Johnson) has done in the past. The competition is just too strong. So far, I’m proving myself wrong. Can this keep up? I don’t know. But I’m not going to judge this year or our performance in the Chase by a top-five average. We’ll go out like we’ve done every weekend and race our guts out. And if we finish like the effort we put in, we’ll have top-fives every weekend. We’ll just see.”
MARTIN (ON HIS CAREER-RECORD SEVEN POLES THIS SEASON.): “Man, every time we’ve sat on the pole this year, I ask myself how my heart can take any more of this. (LAUGHS.) The cars are just so fast. And I go out there with full trust in Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) and the team, and I trust that my car is going to be perfect. So I drive it that way. And there have been times that it was a really, really scary fast lap. It’s been fun. I’ve enjoyed seeing the guys’ faces when we’re on the top of that leader board. That’s what it’s about. Everyone working hard and seeing that hard work pay off.”
MARTIN (ON NOT LETTING THE PRESSURE GET TO HIM.): “Right now, there is no pressure. Everyone is talking about the Chase, and how each winner, each weekend is suddenly the top contender. I’ll say it again; ask me with four races to go. Last week this team could have succumbed to the pressure of not having a perfect race car, but we didn’t do it. I watched my guys dig and scratch and claw to the best finish we could possibly get. And it was enough. It wasn’t a great day, and I know there is not a guy on this team that was happy with a seventh-place finish. But for where we could have finished, it was great.”
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST CHEVROLET (ON THE TEAM’S AVERAGE CHASE FINISH.): “Having an average finish at the end of the Chase inside the top five has been our goal since we knew we were in. That’s what it will take to win the championship with the Chase format. You have to have consistent top-five finishes and at least two wins I think. This team can continue on the same level it has been. If we do, we will win this championship. But we’re going to have to be perfect for that to happen.”
GUSTAFSON (ON KEEPING CALM UNDER PRESSURE.): “One thing that I learned this year, that I used to not be the greatest at, is keeping my emotions out of my job. Being emotional just doesn’t work here. No matter what the situation is, what your team is going through, what just happened on the racetrack, you absolutely cannot let that distract you from your end goal. I learned that this year. I focus on doing my job week in and week out. We get the best finish possible and move on to the next task.”
GUSTAFSON (ON “TOGETHER: THE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS STORY.”): “I went to the premiere of the movie in Charlotte (N.C.) last week. I thought everyone involved did a great job. It’s an emotional movie. The way that Mr. (Rick) Hendrick (team owner) and his family opened up—it was just incredibly personal. They put it all out there. Hopefully it will give everyone in the sport and the fans a better perspective of how hard everyone has worked at Hendrick Motorsports to get it to the championship-winning team it is today. I know that they will have a new appreciation for Mr. Hendrick and what all he has been through and sacrificed in his life.”
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