Jeff Gordon On Junior, Montoya, Mark Martin
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Mar 12, 2007
On how hard it will be for Junior to rebound from start to season:
“It all depends on the kind of team that you have and the driver. Those guys are capable of rebounding and getting back into it. If it continues much longer, confidence starts deteriorating. Those guys were running were good at California so I think that is what is holding their heads up high and getting them through the weekend. If they can come out of here solid, then I don’t think it is an issue. If they have problems here, then it is only going to make it that much tougher next weekend. “
On Montoya’s Busch race in Mexico:
“I didn’t see it. We were on vacation! I heard about it and that is about it. I can’t comment on it because I didn’t see it. Did he take out a teammate or did a teammate not give him enough room? I can’t comment because I didn’t see it. Obviously you don’t want to make contact with your teammate no matter which side of it you are on. If anything, I just think it shows that Juan knew he was on a road course, knew he had to be aggressive and knew how bad he wanted that win. There is no doubt about it that he will be someone we have to worry about at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. I think there are going to be some ovals that he is going to be tough on as well. I don’t think there is any doubt that if Ganassi gives him a good race car, on a road course he is going to be a threat to win. I think it will be fun and exciting but I don’t want anymore challenges, I have enough of them out there now as it is (Laughs). I don’t feel like we have it all wrapped up by any means trust me. Stewart has been so strong there. I didn’t think we had the fasted car last year when we won but we made some good moves and had a fast car at the right time to get track position.
“I think he is an aggressive driver and that is what makes him fast. The thing about the ovals if you have to know when to be aggressive and when not to be. It is just something that is going to take time, but as he gets more confidence and more laps you’ll see that same driving style he has on the road course on the ovals. “
On what would happen at Hendrick Motorsports if that situation occured:
“We would definitely have a sit down talk and I am sure Rick (Hendrick) would get involved and we would do whatever it takes to make sure things like that didn’t happen again. I am sure we would try to find out who was at fault as well. There are times when you have to give way and there are other times when you should not be so aggressive and poke your nose in there! You have got to be able to work together as teammates, that is the only way you can grow as a team. I think it is probably hard for Juan to look at Scott (Pruett) as a teammate when they are just running together in the Busch Series in a few road races. “
On Mark Martin:
“I would take a long vacation and man I would enjoy it while it lasts and say I went out on top, that is what I would do. LAUGHS. I don’t know, you know he made a decision and I think when he made that decision there are things that come along with making that decision that could be more rewarding and more positive to him than even leading the points. I think it might be a little bit different if we didn’t have the Chase, he might stick around a little bit longer. But with that Chase format in there, everything changes when you go in to the last 10 races and not saying that they still wouldn’t be a factor and be strong because he has done a fantastic job, it is just showcasing his talent. To move to a different team has kind of been exciting, I know it has been exciting for that team. I know we are all going to be curious when we show up at Bristol.
