MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 KELLOGG’S/CARQUEST IMPALA SS:
“Right now, there is no pressure. Everyone is talking about the Chase, and how each winner, each weekend is suddenly the top contender. I’ll say it again, ask me with four races to go. Last week this team could have succumbed to the pressure of not having a perfect race car, but we didn’t do it. I watched my guys dig and scratch and claw to the best finish we could possibly get. And it was enough. It wasn’t a great day, and I know there is not a guy on this team that was happy with a seventh-place finish. But for where we could have finished, it was great.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION IMPALA SS:
“Last week and really the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about our strategy and the tracks, directions with set-up, and things that we’re going to try, things for certain tracks and not other tracks. I feel very confident with the approach we have and the set-ups we’re going to be taking, the cars we’re going to be taking. We’re pretty well organized, so hopefully it pays off. I am hopeful that its helpful for us to have a track in the Chase that we are able to win at………being California. I think the season comes to us in a way. I know that we perform well in the Chase but I think the schedule is helpful for the No. 48 car. We have great results and it gives us a lot of hope going into these tracks but we still have to show up and get the job done. So we have a positive mindset looking forward to those tracks. It will make the week easier leading into those tracks but we still have to go in there and get to work. I’m excited for it.”
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET IMPALA SS:
“I would rather have Atlanta to be honest. I always run really well at Atlanta. At the same time we ran pretty good there last time we were there. It was very early in the season and even then I think we had decent cars. Right now we’ve got much more competitive cars. Going to California it’s going to be exciting. You’ve got to be very open-minded. We’re bringing our best stuff every week and you’ve got to hope what you bring is good enough. Some weeks you’re good enough for a top-five and some weeks maybe good enough to win and some weeks you kind of look at yourself and you know finish 12th or 15th. Everybody is going to go through it right now.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/OLD SPICE IMPALA SS:
“We (Stewart and Darian Grubb, crew chief) were still just learning each other going into California in the spring. So going around this time, we obviously know each other better. We’ve had time to make mistakes and make decisions that worked for me, and we’ve learned the feel that I like together, and that’s something that will help us definitely for next week. So it’s a much more—I’m anticipating California a lot more this time than in the spring.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT/PEPSI IMPALA SS:
“We’ve improved a lot on these types of tracks since last year. And we had a great run here earlier this year, but we feel like we let that one slip away. Hopefully, we can get that one back this weekend. It’s going to take strong runs like that and like the finish we had at Kansas each and every weekend in the final seven races. There are six guys ahead of us right now, so it’s highly unlikely that we’ll make up a 100-point deficit and pass all those guys in one race. But there’s still a lot of laps and races left to chip away. We can’t control what the other guys do and where they finish. We’ve got to focus on our team, our program and our finishes. “The competition is as even as I’ve ever seen it, so we must make the most of our bad days. And we definitely need to take advantage of tracks where we should be good. Like this weekend at Fontana.”
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 HAAS AUTOMATION/US ARMY IMPALA SS:
“Kansas was a rough day for us, but we are by no means out of the Chase. Kansas was not one of our best efforts in my opinion. We really battled all day because we didn’t have the track position that we needed and then we had some problems on pit road, so it was just a rough day all around, but that doesn’t mean that we’re counting ourselves out. We just regroup get our focus back and head to California and get back on track. Prior to Kansas, I think we had a string of top-10 finishes. And that’s what we need. Not only do we need top-10 finishes, but we need top-five finishes because to be where we want to be, which is leading the points, we’ve got to improve our game. I guess that the best way to say it. All year, this team has proved that they don’t give up, that they have a lot of fight, and I think we’re going to have to keep proving that each week of the Chase. There’s seven races to go. Yes, we have some ground to make up, but we can do it. I have faith in Tony Gibson, my team and in Stewart-Haas Racing. We just need to be better.”
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