WHO WERE NON-TEAMMATE DRIVERS THAT HELPED YOU OUT EARLY IN YOUR CAREER?
“Buddy Baker was pretty much the guy. He was on the team as a mentor but at the same time he was a guys who had been there and done that and I could go to him and not have to worry about him being biased. It wasn’t like I was racing against him the next day or that next practice session. He taught me more so sometimes the things not to do than the things to do. To me, that made a big difference and a big impact. If I could not make some of those same mistakes that he did that cost him a shot at a victory and to make an addition to his resume, those were things that were going to help my resume. He was really big in that. I never really had a Mark Martin to go to; Rusty’s (Wallace) and my situation goes without saying. I guess one of the first people that I went to was Dale Jarrett at Daytona and I think we ran the qualifier and I went to him after the race and he told me good job, and we just talked a little bit. But it wasn’t like I went to Dale Jarrett or went to his bus. That was just more because of my personality and people’s personality of me; probably a combination of the two. Honestly, at the same time, not to sound overly confident, but we didn’t really need a whole lot of advice. We came out of the box really strong as a team with the No. 02 car and then the No. 12 car.
ARE YOU MORE STANDOFFISH?
“No, racing is a funny sport in respect to that. I guess it’s probably like golf or some other sport where you don’t tell your secrets unless somebody asks and then what you want to tell them is up to you. Buddy Baker always said it’s your story; tell it how you want to. You can lead them down the right path or you can lead them down the wrong path. I’ve never done that. I’ve always been honest with somebody when they ask me a question, but I’m not the first one to go offer advice either.”
THIS IS THE FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION WHERE THERE ARE ONLY THREE CHASERS IN THE TOP 12 ON THE STARTING GRID. JIMMIE JOHNSON IS STARTING 15TH. DOES THIS GIVE YOU ANY HOPE THAT THIS RACE MIGHT SHAKE UP THE STANDINGS A LITTLE BIT?
“I think there is potential of that. Short track racing has that potential. I think without a doubt that Jimmie and Tony (Stewart) will be right back up there, which is what they always do in very little time. I think it’s a little different situation today. You look at the No. 48 (Johnson) and I know he spent a lot of time in race trim and very little time in qualifying trim. So those factors weigh into it because of the small rain delay and abbreviated practice session that we had. Tony didn’t even do a qualifying run in practice.”
HAVING NOT WON THIS SEASON, WOULD A WIN ON SUNDAY BE ANY MORE SPECIAL TO YOU THAN IF YOU’D WON TWO OR THREE WEEKS AGO?
“No, I kinda know what you’re getting at. If we win the championship and don’t win a race then it doesn’t make any difference to me. I know that winning is a big part of our sport and I want to win just as badly, if not worse, than anybody else. But here, versus any other race track? No, it doesn’t make any difference. We’ve been trying so hard each and every week; sometimes too hard. This is a great place for it. I know (crew chief) Tony Gibson is a great fan of Martinsville and short track racing and he’s got a great understanding of the race car here and that makes a big difference obviously for me; and to come off the truck as good as we did and work as well as we do together.
SOME PEOPLE WOULD CONSIDER BEING 8TH IN POINTS TO BE PHENOMENAL. OBVIOUSLY YOU WANT MORE. WHAT HAVE YOU AND TONY GIBSON LOOKED AT THAT YOU CAN IMPROVE ON FOR 2010?
“I really can’t answer the whole question because I personally haven’t thought about what we need to do for 2010. I know some things that we’re looking at and what we can do to be a better team and what we can do to pick up our speed on pit road and what we can do with our race cars to make them faster with less drag and those types of things. They’re already in the process of building Daytona cars. That’s part of it. A lot of teams are. But we’re still trying to get that first win and focusing on this year. They guys back in the shop are doing their things as well. I know one thing, we’re still with our noses to the grindstone and working as hard as we can.”
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