HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES TO CATCH JIMMIE JOHNSON? A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE PICKED YOU AS THE SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE, DO YOU TAKE THAT AS AN HONOR?
“That’s an incredible honor. And it’s also a little bit of pressure. It means so much to me that they feel that way that I desperately don’t want to disappoint them. That is that. It means a lot to me. I said that we would have a clearer picture of this championship after six races. This will be number six. As I analyze it a little closer, I think it’ll be very clear after seven (races). I think it will be clearer after this race, but it’s really going to require Talladega to clean it out and shuffle it; see if it shuffles. I have a feeling that I’m going to have a great Talladega race. I don’t know if our competition will or not. But I wrecked on lap 5 last time there. I’ve got a feeling that this just isn’t going to happen this time. The law of averages is going to get you sooner or later and I think I’ve got some good karma going in there so I’m very optimistic. It could be a great equalizer.”
ON THESE BEING THE BIGGEST RACES OF THE YEAR AND ARE YOU GOING TO BE AN ANIMAL ON THE TRACK AND GET AFTER IT OR ARE YOU GOING TO SIT BACK AND SEE IF JIMMIE FALTERS?
“I’m going to race him for it. I am not giving up, not one bit. I’m going to race him for it. Mike, it might make for good writing but if I go out there and get ugly here Sunday, then it might COST me that championship Mike. Now be smart about it. I know that it sounds all cool, and with drama but what I need to do is race him for it. And I am racing with everything I got and if I could find a way to be better, I would. And I will continue to look and search for anyway I can, going forward, to find a way to be better yet, but all I can do is put it out there. That’s all I can do. I will put it out there and race with every bit of fire and because I don’t cause a lot of stink on the race track doesn’t mean I don’t race without a lot of fire. You ask somebody that’s raced me this year. I race with everything that I got.”
ON HOW NASCAR HANDLES THINGS AS OPPOSED TO F1 AND CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW IT WOULD BE TO BE IN THAT OTHER WORLD?
“I understand why Juan is over here if that is what you mean. It doesn’t seem like it would be fun. This environment in NASCAR is very similar to the environment that I started racing dirt tracks on and graduated into asphalt late models and to ASA and all the way up through the ranks. So this is all I know. You know, it’s not that much different now than when I was racing ASA, or even before, so certainly it’s my passion and I love it and I have heard different stories about F1 and it doesn’t sound like something that is enjoyable. It certainly would be enjoyable if you were in the best stuff and winning everything, but you can’t always be in that and your stuff isn’t always the best so I like what we have got going on here. I like what I have done for 35 years.”
SO TO BE CLEAR YOU ARE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT GOING TO TALLADEGA. DID WE HEAR YOU RIGHT? IT HASN’T BEEN ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES.
“No, it’s not. But that is why it’s time for it to pay. It’s my turn. Why not go there? To me it’s my opportunity to really get back into the running for it. So I plan on going there and driving like I know I am not going to wreck. And last time I went there I was concerned about it because we didn’t need to, and we were struggling to get from the bottom of the barrel to the Chase and we got in a wreck on lap five. And I wasn’t mad when it was over with. It just happens and that is how I will leave Talladega this time. If I am in a wreck on lap one, it is what it is and I am going to go there and not worry about it. I’m going to go there and race and I am going to race like I am not concerned about getting in an accident.
“And sometimes accidents are all around you and you don’t get tangled up and I am going to race like I am expecting it to happen around me and not catch me. I’ve thought about it and that is how I feel. If we wreck, then I am not going to worry about it. If we wreck, we don’t have a chance to win the championship and if we win, we might…..we just might. So we are going to go there and just see what it turns out.
“You know, having a fast car there doesn’t help you nearly as much as it does in other places so you know, it all comes down to what is meant to be. So I am going to go there and see what is meant for the No. 5 car and for me. We’ll know after the race.”
ON HOW YOU THINK ONE DRIVER WINNING A LOT AFFECTS THE WHOLE SPORT IN SCOPE AND IF IT’S GOOD OR BAD FOR IT
“I don’t think they pay less attention, they maybe don’t pay more attention. People get tired of that and it causes peoples blood to flow. In other words when Earnhardt was winning so much people just watched because they wanted someone to beat him.
“So when someone dominates, I feel that the same number of people that it turns off, it also fires up a large number of people to want to see something change; to see that dominance change. So back in the day, we didn’t worry whether or not fans were going to get tired of Earnhardt winning, or Rusty winning ten races or Bill Elliott, you know? We just went out there and did it. And if you can dominate, that is a good thing for you. Of course the forty-eight has been dominant and there are some people that are hoping that continues and some fans who think somebody can do something about that. So we will just see what happens. Sooner or later everything changes.”
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