TALK ABOUT RACING HERE AT MARTINSVILLE THIS WEEKEND:
“I am excited. When we come to Martinsville, this is a track we have a lot of confidence in and look forward to getting out there and start working on the balance of our race car. I feel like we have momentum right now and we want to keep pushing forward with that momentum and continue to put good, solid finishes in and hopefully start putting some wins together. This is a track where we can do that.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS IF QUALIFYING GETS RAINED OUT TODAY?
”We are being pretty optimistic right now. I just left the hauler from talking to Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and looking at the radar. I think there is a chance for us to get this in today. We are certainly pushing for that because I feel like you don’t want to give the No. 48 any more advantages than they have right now with their points lead. We saw what that No. 1 pit stall did for them last week. I think that is probably as much or more of an advantage here at Martinsville. Not saying that we are going to secure that qualifying, but we have a pretty good shot at it. Our qualifying record is fantastic here. The last time we did qualify here, I think we were on the pole. We certainly would like to see qualifying get underway and happen and try to get out there and get that No. 1 pit stall.”
HOW CAN YOU COMPARE THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAD WITH RAY EVERNHAM IN THE ‘90S TO JIMMIE JOHNSON AND CHAD KNAUS?
“I think if you look at the equipment, the team work, the connection between the crew chief and driver – the whole team. It takes a total team to win like they have and like we did in the mid-90’s and the championships. But that driver-crew chief relationship is crucial to have common respect. To push one another and then also just to be on the same page when it comes to communicating. I feel like there are certain relationships that just click right away. Mine and Ray was certainly one of those and it seems to me as if is what you have with Jimmie and Chad as well, they clicked right away. They had the people and the resources to back that up. I think their success has certainly proven that and staying together is the toughest challenge with that. They have been able to do a fantastic job with that. If they continue to that, I think they will continue to be successful.”
HOW IMPORTANT IS HAVING THE FIRST PIT STALL HERE AND IS IT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL THE RACE TRACKS?
“It is certainly one of them. The No. 1 pit stall is important from many aspects. The most important tracks are the ones where the camera is closest to the pit stall. Like last week even though we were on a mile-and-a-half race track, the camera is pretty close to that No. 1 pit stall. So, while there were times we were beating the No. 48 to the yellow line, we weren’t beating them to the camera.
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“There are some tracks where it is further than others. Which I don’t quite understand that, to be honest with you. I think it should be the same everywhere we go. Certainly from size track to size track. But, here, it is very close. It doesn’t take much to squirt off that No. 1 pit stall, so it is definitely a huge advantage. There are some other pit stalls that are really good here. The one disadvantage to that No. 1 pit stall is you are pitting on the corner so you have to come around the corner and to get in the box, squared up for the pit crew to make the best pit stop. It is a little bit of the challenge. Plus they can’t really see you coming until the last second. There are actually some pretty good pit stalls here on the straightaway. The problem is that you have to survive a lot of things for that pit stall to start to finally pay off because you’ve got to withstand the crashes and the contact with other cars and all those things. Plus with double-file restarts now as well how the rules are to get people back on the lead lap, the only way those pit stalls play a good role for you is if there are very few cars on the lead lap or half the field or less is on the lap. That is when those pit stalls can really pay off and be just as good. Just because you have the No. 1 pit stall doesn’t mean you are going to win the race. But it certainly helps.”
DON’T YOU HAVE TO RATTLE JIMMIE’S CAGE SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE OR SHAKE HIM UP?
“Well, I am going to put you in my car so you can go out there and rattle his cage I guess. I think you’re right but at the same time, it comes down to the timing of it, what’s up for grabs and you have to have yourself in that position to be able to do that. I don’t know about you, but if you watch the last couple of races, I tried pretty darn hard. What we’ve got to do is get ourselves in position to be able to capitalize on when we get a restart like we did at California. We get a restart like we did last week; we have got to either have the car to capitalize on it or the tires to match up to capitalize on it. I hope we continue to get those opportunities. Rattling somebody’s cage doesn’t necessarily mean you have to knock them out of the way or put them in the wall or anything like that. I will say the next five races; we are going to be extremely aggressive. We’ve worked our way up to third in points. They have a pretty comfortable lead and how they race versus how we race is probably going to be a little bit different. I think that is the one advantage that we have right now is that we’re far enough back to where we really don’t have a whole lot to lose and it is sort of their championship to lose and we are going to race them hard. We are going to race them aggressive. But we are also going to respect the fact that we are teammates and there is a certain amount of respect that goes beyond just when you are racing other competitors out there. It is risk versus reward. Let’s hope we get down to the final laps of this race or any race from here on out and we get to show just how hungry we are to win this championship.”
IS THIS TRACK LESS OF A WILD CARD THAN EVERYONE THINKS IT IS?
“Years ago, I think we had more brake issues. I think that it is equally as hard to pass on as it always has been. Now you have the double-file restarts, so, I don’t see a single race track from here on out that isn’t a wild card. I think they are all wild cards. Anything can happen at any one of these races. Of course, we know that Talladega is the one that stands out, because you pretty much know that a big wreck is going to happen there that is going or can impact this championship and it probably will in some ways. But I think that all the other tracks can be just as much of a wild card. I get through every race and go ‘whew’, we survived this moment, that moment. There’s hundreds of moments that you have as a team every single weekend that maybe doesn’t materialize or that doesn’t get seen by the public or even the media, but we see it. There are close calls all the time. It can happen at any time.”
IF YOU COULD WIN HERE THIS WEEKEND WOULD IT SEND A STRONG MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR TEAM’S STRENGTH AND DETERMINATION NOT TO RUN SECOND TO JIMMIE AND THE NO. 48 TEAM?
“Exactly. I think the earlier question had a point and I think he was referring more to Earnhardt, Sr.’s style of just going and using the bumper a little more maybe than what you see these days. That has never been my style. It just hasn’t. I race guys hard. I race guys clean and I race them how they race me. I think you do have to rattle their cage, but to me, the way you have to rattle their cage is you have to out run them; you have to show what kind of team you are. That is obviously a tall order. They have been very very strong. They have got momentum and they are going to be tough this weekend again. But I do think we are capable of beating them here. But we are going to have to really work hard at it to make it happen. We hope we get the chance to qualify because I think that could be a notch in our belt. I think that we qualify very well here. If we just finish ahead of them by one or two positions, that is not going to win this championship. We could do that every weekend it is not going to win the championship. We’ve got to, we pretty much have to win the next five races and do it that way or they are going to have to have trouble. Right now our focus is to go out and at least put some pressure on them to know that we are not just going to run around and finish second and that we can compete with them. As much for trying to win the championship this year as well as getting ourselves prepared for next season. We are thinking about now as well as the future.”
IF YOU CAN’T WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP WOULD YOU RATHER SEE MARK MARTIN WIN IT OR JIMMIE JOHNSON WIN IT?
“I don’t think there is anybody in the garage area that wouldn’t like to see Mark Martin win it as a sentimental favorite. I’ve raced with Mark so many times over the years and seen him come so close to winning the championship. I don’t think there is anybody more deserving than Mark Martin. That team has gone through a lot so from the sentimental value I think it would be fantastic. But the No. 48 team, they’ve earned the position that they’re in. They’ve worked hard at it. They’re a great, great team and I think they’re in a position to make history. I think there is something very special about that. Honestly I haven’t even thought about that a whole lot. I’m really more focused and my mindset is on us winning the championship. Out of Homestead whatever happens there I’ll be more than happy to actually think about it and give you my opinion more.”
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