AT MARTINSVILLE YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESS. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT?
“Yeah, it’s certainly a great track for us. The way we ran here in the spring, and really the last few times here, we’re very optimistic about our car this weekend. Practice in race trim this morning was really good. We didn’t spend a lot of time in qualifying trim. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’re going to start up where we wanted to, but it is what it is. It will hurt us on pit road for sure. But I really think the way the car is going to be and how well I can work traffic here, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem. We’ll take our lumps in qualifying and go on.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING ON THE POLE, DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER TRACK THAT’S YOUR FAVORITE AS FAR AS THE NUMBER ONE START SPOT AND PIT PICK?
“It’s such an advantage at a lot of the tracks. Dover is huge. Indianapolis is (because of) the way the timing lines work out. California Speedway, I think we all saw it, with Denny (Hamlin); they’d come in third or fourth and the camera line was just a few feet outside of the first pit box and that was a huge advantage to those guys there. But here, it’s like one of those tracks, I’m not sure it’s the most important one, but there are three or four where it’s really important to have that first pit stall. You can count on two or three positions each time. And if you come in, in the lead, you’ve got that extra time to slow things down during the pit stop and have the guys be in more of a rhythm instead of forcing the issue. The other aspect to it is that you avoid a lot of the chaos on pit road and that’s important here too.”
AS YOU’VE BEEN JUST TEARING IT UP FOR THE PAST THREE OR MORE YEARS, DO YOU SENSE THAT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OTHER DRIVERS IN THE GARAGE HAS CHANGED AT ALL?
“I’ve worked hard to build a lot of friendships in the garage area. I can’t say that it’s changed much. We’re all very competitive and there are certain sides of everyone’s personalities at the race track, where it’s competitive. But when you get away from the track, and I’m thinking of the event we had with our (Jimmie Johnson) Foundation recently; Kurt (Busch) and I couldn’t stay away from each other earlier in the year and had some heated moments and we sat back and had a blast at my charity event. We’re getting along in a friendship standpoint. It’s tough at the track. So at the track, to answer your question, in some ways yes. But I think that the way I act and how I respect the other drivers has maintained a level of respect amongst all of us. And away from the track, we seem to all be able to separate it once we get outside of the garage area.”
YOU HEAR TALK THAT THE FANS SOMETIMES GET TIRED OF ONE GUY WINNING. JEFF GORDON WENT THROUGH THAT AND MAYBE YOU ARE NOW. DO YOU EVER GET THAT SENSE FROM THE DRIVERS THAT YOU’RE JUST WALKING ON AIR AND THAT THEY ARE FED UP WITH YOU WINNING ALL THE TIME?
“Maybe not fed up. I certainly hear the comments. From my standpoint, we’re working so hard and we’ve been able to pull off some really cool things, but other people seem more confident in our abilities than I do at times. It makes me laugh inside when I see that at times. But you just never know. We’re out there doing all we can each week. I pick that up from time to time with the guys, but in the end I’m really just trying to focus on trying to do my job and not spend time worrying about what other people are thinking. If I’m worrying about what other people are thinking about, I’m not worrying about my race car. At the end of the day I need to keep my blinders on and stay focused on my job.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MARK MARTIN AND WHAT HE’S BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS YEAR? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MAYBE BEING THE GUY TO KEEP THE SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE FROM TAKING HIM HIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I think the world of Mark. We’ve had a very good respect and friendship over the years and it’s only grown since we’ve been teammates. If I’m not the one winning the championship I want Mark to win it or Jeff (Gordon) to win it or (Dale Earnhardt) Junior to win it and have it stay in the family. I certainly root for him if I’m not having the day and the same for Jeff. I have not thought about being the guy who could take away someone’s opportunity. I’m only worried about doing my job and trying to win my fourth championship.”
WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST COMPARISON YOU’VE HEARD OR READ OF YOUR TEAM TO OTHER SPORT’S DYNASTIES OR DOMINANT ENTITIES?
“I can’t say I’ve been paying attention enough to know. I have really disconnected from, especially our media and the coverage, and if there have been any comparisons made, I’m just totally separated myself. I’m not sure. One of the coolest moments I’ve experienced was last year after winning the championship when I walked into ESPN and Mike Ditka was walking down the hallway. And I made a comment about I wasn’t sure how I ranked and wasn’t sure if what we’d done should be considered a dynasty. And here’s a man that I’ve obviously respected and knew who he was and didn’t think he knew who I was, and he came down the hallway and said, ‘You better believe that you’re a dynasty’, and gave me some cool props at that point so I kind of fall back on that one.”
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