Q: Jimmie Johnson has had three different rear tire changers since the night race at Bristol, are you surprised it hasn’t slowed them some and as a driver how much does that potentially affect team chemistry?
Mark Martin: “It affects it in different ways. I think it could put the whole team on their toes knowing that your job is based on performance and you’ve got whatever your job is on that pit stop you better be getting it done because there’s somebody behind you that is ready to take your spot. The thing that they work really hard at Hendrick Motorsports is having some depth. I don’t know about the No. 48 but I know the No. 5 car has backups and they all practice and they all work and they’re backups. That competition is tough. It puts a little bit of pressure on you but that’s what this game is all about. There’s pressure everywhere you turn. Am I surprised it hasn’t slowed them down? Really not surprised because of what I explained. They look for depth in their programs and they look to have someone actually two behind the a-guy and the way you become the a-guy is getting it done in practice and then eventually getting it done in the races and you become the a-guy. That’s kind of how that is.”
Q: Why did it click so fast for you and alan and you mentioned he might be a little intimidated by you, have you ever got after him on the radio and you had to sort of keep it calm?
Mark Martin: “No, I haven’t really approached any kind of line. Most of the guys I’ve worked with in the last 10 years have been some intimidated. Not to say that Tony Gibson was because Tony got right in my back end. I’m not saying that Ryan (Pemberton) was but we weren’t under the same kind of pressure that we were under this year trying to make the Chase and run for a championship. But I know over a period of time I have beat down some crew chief in the past and I realized that and when you get to that point you can’t fix it. That damage is done so from experience I’ve learned too. I’ve learned how to handle things and in my frustration I still am conscious that will hurt me and I know that no matter how much those guys you, when you kick them and you kick them again I don’t car I’m telling you it affects them. They can still love you but it’s just not the same. I’ve been through all that. Don’t forget I was 25 once too. I’ve had my struggles along the way and I’m just trying to help those guys that work on that car reach their full potential and encourage them and let them do what they can do. I’m proud, I’m proud of them because what we’re doing on the race track is them it’s not me. The only thing I’ve had to do with that is encouraging them and giving them opportunity to reach their full potential.”
Q: Have you had to be sort of a different Mark Martin or make accommodations to fit in with different crew chiefs who have different personalities, do you have to not be you sometimes?
Mark Martin: “I definitely had to check myself with Tony Gibson. We went to Atlanta with Tony last year and I told him this was the worst car I’ve ever driven and jacked him so far up that when Atlanta was over with I knew that I had made a mess of things. So from there on with Tony I was always calm, this is not working, we need to do this because I found out if I got excited and really got after him he would get excited. Then we’d be in trouble. It’s okay if one of us is excited but if both of us get excited then we’re probably not going to hit the target. So Tony and I really, really, really got good communication going forward from that. But I just had to be careful about getting him too wound up because he would make bigger changes than I would have under more calmer situations. Then we would miss our mark. Yeah in the past I’ve adapted how I deal with guys based on how they react to my input. With Alan it hasn’t taken any conscious effort. My respect for him is so huge that I just can’t see me getting wound up. There could be no way we could fight any harder than we fought to get into the Chase. Make no mistake that was something that you guys completely overlooked. For us to get in the Chase, that was big. To be 35th in drivers points, we were 34th in owners points, but we were 35th in drivers points after Atlanta and it didn’t stop there. We had a few more little accidents too and setbacks as well. We already had our pressure cooker experience just to get into the Chase.”
Q: On comparing this season at Hendrick Motorsports and 2005 at Roush Racing:
Mark Martin: “Well for me you have to realize at that time in 2005 that was the best it had ever been as far as teams working together, multiple teams working together at Roush. 2005 was awesome and we had a lot of years where we had struggles with that, getting it that good. But that was the best year with the most harmony between all the drivers and crew chiefs. We had really good stuff. That’s the way competition is in this things. You just can’t stay on top all the time. The best teams, they get back on top more often or for longer periods or their off the top for shorter. Nobody can stay on top all the time because its competition. That’s how it is. We were really at the top of our game there and really had things working. 2006 was a good one as well but the No. 6 car wasn’t as on target as it was in 2005.”
“With Hendrick it feels a lot like 2005. It certainly is the best I’ve ever seen a group work together off the race track to make their stuff the best stuff on the race track. It’s still on the race track no matter how you guys like to cover it. On the race track we still race each other. We are still competitors. The special consideration that my teammates get my best friends get too, you know what I’m saying. You’ve got your friends out there, your buddies and they get the same special considerations that Dale, Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson get from me and there is not a lot of it because we’re all competitors on the race track. Off the race track we work together to be the best.”
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