ABOUT THE CHASE
“A championship is beating everybody else. We come here to race and to win races and to win races you’ve got to beat everybody else. We know that we’ve got good cars. We know we’re in a very good position but at the end of the day it’s ten races. So nothing really has happened. I think you’ve got to wait five or six races and see where you are. And if you’re still in this good position after six races then you go, okay, what do we need to do from now on. And have kind of a game plane. Right now it’s all about all you can get.”
DO YOU THINK THE NO. 5 (MARK MARTIN) AND THE NO. 48 (JIMMIE JOHNSON) CAN KEEP UP THE PACE THEY’VE BEEN ON THE PAST TWO RACES? AND CAN YOU KEEP UP THE PACE THAT YOU’VE BEEN ON?
“If you look at our pace and ours, it’s been right there. I don’t know (laughs). I’m really trying to think. You’ve got to say oh the No. 48. The No. 48 won three championships in a row. So what am I going to say?”
IS IT GOING TO TAKE TOP FIVES?
“Oh, I think it’s going to take top fives all year. And I’ll be honest with you. I think more than the No. 48, I would be worried about the No. 5 car. You know, the No. 48 either really shines, really shiny, like perfect and everything. They have picture perfect days or they have average 10-place days. Where the No. 5 car kind of struggles all day and he finishes second, third, or wins?
Second, third, win every freakin’ week you know? (laughter)”
DO YOU HAVE EIGHT MORE TOP FIVES IN YOU?
“How many do I have this year? Two in the Chase. I don’t know. Hopefully (laughs). Hey, I’m serious, you know? It’s like we unload every Friday with our best car or what we think is our best car, and what we think is the best motor we should run right now, and we go out and everything works and all the information and simulations that say we should run the car this way, we do. We put it on the race track and if it’s good enough, great. You know there have been weeks this year where we unload and you’re 20th. And you go, uh, oh. It’s like do you think guys running 20th in the championship are not doing that? Everybody’s doing that. It’s just that some people are doing it better than others and understand the car better than others. That’s all there is. Right now, (crew chief) Brian (Pattie) and everybody on the team really understands what I want out of a car and how to get that. And that’s why we’re so good right now.”
SOME DRIVERS, AT CHASE TIME, GET VERY IN THEIR HEADS AND WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? FOR SOME, THE TOUGHNESS OF IT CAN BREAK THEM. YOU SEEM TO BE, EH?
“It’s 10 races you know? The Formula I championship was 15 races. So this is like a normal season for me (laughs).”
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THAT WAY? DO YOU GET REALLY IN YOUR HEAD ABOUT IT OR DO YOU JUST KIND OF ROLL WITH IT?
“I’ve been in two positions. I’ve been like on my head about it and the more you put it in your head the more you screw up. Or, the more you put it in your head sometimes it works. So, I’m just really enjoying the ride (laughs). You know, think about it. It’s our first Chase. And nobody gave a penny for this team at the beginning of the year or the year before or the year before. Right now, the way we’re running, everybody is like oh my God. It’s like, wow. Where is that coming from? I think for a lot of people it still doesn’t make any sense how we can run that good. And if you really look at what Chip (Ganassi) has done in the past and what I’ve done in the past and what the good people we’ve got around us are doing, you shouldn’t expect any less. You know I didn’t come here and sign with Chip thinking I know it’s not a very good team right now and I’m just happy to run 20th every week. Hell no, you know? It wouldn’t happen.”
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