Q: One of the things Felix said during the discussion is that he thinks if you were in a Hendrick car, he thinks you would have won five or six races this year, do you agree with him?
Montoya: “Right now you look at it, it is two Hendrick cars, myself and then two more Hendrick cars, or one is Stewart, sorry, not a Hendrick car. (laughs) Right now they are dominating the sport and to be in the mix of things with them, it is great. Being in a Hendrick car doesn’t mean you are going to win. You look at Junior (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), he has won a lot of races before and he’s in a Hendrick car and he is struggling. I don’t know if it is the way he drives the car is very different or something. But I am sure with time; he will be fine once he settles. He spent a lot of time with the same guy and now it is different and it cost him a little bit of time. He will be fine.”
Q: Do you ever allow yourself to think about it the what if you had one of those cars?
Montoya: “Right now we have a Target car and a Chevy car and it is great. I can’t complain. I was happy last year when I was finishing 15th and right now we finished third and I am pissed off.”
Q: You get pissed off on the radio during the race:
Montoya: “I don’t anymore! (laughs)
Q: Brian stays very calm:
Montoya: “Does he? On the radio he does.” (laughs)
Q: Talk about your relationship with Brian:
Montoya: “We have a very good relationship and it very open. We understand each other; we all have good days and bad days. He plays it really cool with me, but I know as soon as he comes off the button (on the radio) he is shouting at Billy (Curwood, team engineer) who is sitting there beside him. Billy gets all the shouting from Brian and Brian gets all of it from me. He tells me sometimes ‘you should shout and then press the button. I said ‘then, what is the point’. He doesn’t shout at me. Where was it? The car was horrible; I don’t know what we did in Kansas at that last run when we started going backwards before the last pit stop. I am going on and on about how great the car the was and he said ‘that is why you get paid the big bucks to drive it.’ I said ‘ok’. I just started laughing actually, when that came on the radio. It was kind of funny.”
Q: Looking at the standings, do you feel like it is you against Hendrick?
Montoya: “It can change really fast. After this week, it could be Hendrick against Hendrick. I don’t think about it. We run as good as we can. We are bringing the best cars every week and making sure we don’t leave anything on the table, whether it is qualifying or practice, you are still going to make mistakes. But hopefully you make the least mistakes. Something that has been very impressive this year is how the pit crew has really stepped up their game and everyone at the shop. The detailing on the car has gone a lot better. Everybody is motivated on the team. It is great to see.”
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