Catchfence

Team Chevy Drivers Fill all Top-Five Finishing Positions at Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, CA – Jimmie Johnson took his No. 48 Lowe’s/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Impala SS to victory lane for the fifth time the season to take the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

Johnson, the defending and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) champion, led 10 times in the 250-lap race for a total of 126 laps to tally his 45th career victory. This is his fourth victory and 10th top-10 finish in 14 starts at Auto Club Speedway.

Team Chevy drivers filled the top-five finishing positions in today’s race. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Impala SS, finished second behind his Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) teammate. Gordon led twice for a total of six laps that jumped the four-time NSCS champion to sixth (6th) in the standings, just 105 points behind Johnson, the leader.

Juan Pablo Montoya continued his charge in the Chase with a third-place finish behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Impala SS from Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. Montoya led seven times for a total of 78 laps and remains third in the standings, 58 points behind the leader.

Mark Martin powered his No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Impala SS to a fourth place finish. Martin led once in the 500-mile race for a total of five laps and now sits second in the standings, 12 points behind his HMS teammate, Johnson.

Tony Stewart recovered from a pit road penalty that put him a lap down at one point to score fifth in the final order in the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Impala SS fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart led twice for six laps and remains fourth in the standings, 84 points out of the lead.

Richard Childress Racing drivers Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Prilosec OTC-Walmart Impala SS, and Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Impala SS, finished ninth and 10th respectively to give Team Chevy seven of the top-10 finishers in the fourth race of the Chase.

The sixth Team Chevy driver in the Chase, Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation/US Army Impala SS, rallied back from a flat right front tire that mired him deep in the field to finish 15th. Newman now sits 10th in the point standings with six races remaining in the Chase and the 2009 season.

The NSCS series moves to Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina for Chase race number five on Saturday, October 17th.

JIMMIE JOHNSON AND CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 LOWE’S/JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION IMPALA SS
RICK HENDRICK, OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

THE MODERATOR: Today’s winner, Jimmie Johnson has joined us in the interview room. Jimmie, the win, which is your third straight in the Fall race here at Auto Club Speedway puts you into the lead in the standings for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. I’m sure you already know that. You lead your teammate Mark Martin by 12 points. Talk about your day out there?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Real good day. There were points where the 42 was better than us. I think a couple cars like the 11 for a handful of laps showed some really, really good pace. But it seemed like on the long haul for the majority of the race, we had what we needed.

So we made some is adjustments. I think the track came to us some when the sun came out. Our car, really, I know Chad was making adjustments, but usually the sun comes out, and the car wants to slow down and not handle as well. With the adjustments we were making the car kept getting better and better.

So we did a really good job staying on top of things. We had solid pit stops. Thankfully it wasn’t down to a two-tire strategy or fuel only or something goofy at the end.

The tough part at the end of the race was the restarts. It’s so tough to with the straightaway this long on, it’s tough to get a good start. It’s tough to control your destiny on a restart because the guys behind you really control who is going to lead going into turn one. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don’t. If the guy behind you gets a poor start, you’re not going anywhere. It’s almost like being at Daytona or Talladega with the drafts.

So that last start worked out well for he me. Had a great start on the 24 and was just able to clear him off the two. And that certainly made the difference for us.

THE MODERATOR: Winning crew chief, Chad Knaus, your view from atop the box today?

CHAD KNAUS: Obviously, it was a fantastic day for us. The car was good right from the start of the race. We had to — we made some pretty significant changes from last night.

I don’t even think I told you those, did I?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I didn’t want to know. That’s fine.

CHAD KNAUS: Yeah, we made a lot of changes (laughing).

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I’d rather have a clear head.

CHAD KNAUS: It’s pretty easy — I shouldn’t say ease hey, but it’s a lot easier to go out there and run the way we did today when we’ve got a driver like we’ve got. Jimmie did a fantastic job all day long. He was patient when he needed to be patient. He wasn’t overly aggressive in the draft. Didn’t hit the wall like you saw a bunch of guys getting into the fence today from being type and then snapping at the corner.

Jimmie was methodical about the way he drove all day and kept our car good to the end. Fortunately we were able to run up front most of the day, and Jimmie made it happen.

THE MODERATOR: Team owner, Rick Hendrick, also with us. A pretty significant win with all of your 25th Anniversary celebrations ongoing.

RICK HENDRICK: It’s been a good day. It’s been a good week to celebrate the 25th Anniversary and the film. And to come out today and win the race, you know, I think I missed the last two that they won, so I thought I wasn’t going to be able to come back (laughing). Now I feel like I’m okay to show back up. It was a great day. Ran well. Jimmie just drove the wheels off the car.

Q. Earlier Jeff was in here — and Rick’s going to know the song title I’m going for before you guys, you’re too young. But Jeff said there is something magical about you guys in the last ten races. So, Rick, do you remember “Do You Believe in Magic”? I was wondering, you guys work very hard. But do you believe this is a special time for you guys?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: The last three years have been really special. Right now we’re in a great position, but it’s way too early to start thinking about other things.

I mean, we love where we’re at. We love the fact that we’re in the points lead. We’ve got maximum points today. But I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to think about those things. If we are in the hunt come Homestead, come Phoenix, it’s going to be the thoughts, the emotions, all of that is going to be so heavy on all of our shoulders that it’s going to be a tough grind.

But right now it’s so early enough to where we can kind of brush it off and say okay, we did what we needed to. Let’s go to Charlotte. As we get closer to the end, there is no doubt it’s going to ratchet up. But right now we did all we could today.

Last week, if you had a chance to speak to us after the race, we were all ready to jump off a cliff. You know, this week we’re on top of the world. So it’s a sport we call home is tough on us from time to time.

Q. On the double file restarts, what goes into decision making and who ultimately makes the decision inside or outside?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: For us so far it’s really been me inside the car. Chad’s gives me info about where it’s worked, what’s gone on. On the last restart I wanted to be on the outside. I felt like I might get beat through one and two, but I wasn’t really concerned with that. I knew in three and four I was so much faster than the 24 that I could get the line that I wanted and get by him.

So I was thinking about the outside. And as we drove through there the first time after the red flag, there was a lot more of the stay dry and kitty litter or whatever it’s called that was down in the second lane up. And I made my decision then. I thought there’s less on the bottom, that’s got to be good for me. So I chose the bottom lane, and I got a good start.

And those restarts are so tough because it depends on what the guy behind you does. Everything worked out well, and I had a good push and got through the gears well. I just cleared them off of two, I should say.

So those restarts, especially with the straightaway this long are so nerve-racking. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. You can do everything right as the leader and end up fourth off of turn two easily.

CHAD KNAUS: What we try to do is just to communicate. I think that’s from every aspect of what we do. Like Jimmie said, I just try to watch and pay close attention to the nationwide races. We pay close attention to a lot of that stuff.

This track’s a lot different than most of the others that we go to, like Jimmie said, with the drafts. So we communicate, and ultimately the decision is his unless I completely disagree. But we’ve been pretty much in agreement all the time.

Q. You’re now 25 years in the NASCAR business. Very, very successful. The long-term future maybe you’re playing already with the idea parallel to your NASCAR commitment to enter any other motor racing championship series or whatever and try to find a new challenge?

RICK HENDRICK: I think I’ve got all the challenge I can handle in NASCAR (smiling). No, I’m happy here. I don’t think about that. It’s hard enough to compete every week and be competitive in this series. So this is where I’m going to stay.

Q. You have 16 Chase wins. What is it with you and the playoffs?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: I really think that I’ve been saying it, I’m trying to find an answer for everybody as well. I think it really boils down to the fact that the tracks in the Chase are my strongest tracks. If you look at Martinsville, you look at all of them. Lowe’s Motor Speedway, this track, you go through them and they are tracks that we win at.

So far the last three years I’ve been he very proud of the team and how we’ve been able to keep our composure with the pressure that’s come our way. Today we did a good job of it, but there are still six more times to stub our toes. So we’ll have to stay on top of things, and hopefully do what we’ve been able to do in the past once again.

Q. With your win today you become the all time winner here at ACS. Your thoughts? How do you dominate this place so much?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: That’s cool. The home track. To be able to have more wins here than anybody, that’s a cool stat to add to a cool week that we’ve had with the foundation stuff and the race win here today.

There are certain tracks that fit drivers well. This track has been — actually, there was a period of time where we weren’t that good for a year or two, trying to find the balance. But to get my first win here and then lately we’ve done a really good job of understanding the track and what we need. It’s just a track that works for us. Hopefully we can keep it going.

Q. We’re talking about the Chase now and that should be the biggest story in the final ten races, but we keep talking about Danica. How important is Danica Patrick to the future of our sport?

RICK HENDRICK: I don’t think it’s — I don’t think she’s important to the future of our sport. I mean, she would add a new dimension, maybe, if she participated in the Nationwide Series or the Cup Series one day. But I don’t think that’s going to make any difference where NASCAR is.

Q. Talk about Juan Montoya and his development and how concerned you are about him?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, week in and week out he keeps scoring points, running up front for qualifying, racing really smart on the track. I, in some ways, hate to see it because he’s doing a great job. But in other ways, I’m proud of him. I’m proud of the commitment he’s had for the sport. To come over and to start over here in the U.S. and race a totally different vehicle, you know.

He’s putting in the time. He’s a very talented driver. Erases people out there well, and I’ve got to commend he and his team. The team has been going through some tough times with the merger and they only have a two-car effort and things like that, so they’ve done a really good job. Hopefully they just do a decent job the rest of the year, but they’re doing a great job right now.

Q. You weren’t involved in any of the silliness that went on the radio yesterday in the nationwide race. But how do you feel about everybody being able to listen in? Do you feel like you wish you had a private place where you could talk amongst yourselves without everybody in the world hearing it and commenting on it?

CHAD KNAUS: You know, honestly, from time to time, yeah. It’s difficult. We’ve had to develop ways to communicate inner-team wise so other teams didn’t know what we were doing as far as chassis adjustments and things like that. It’s as simple as writing down the information on a post-it and what have you to coordinate things with the car chiefs and the pit crews.

With the drivers and spotter that gets more difficult. You can’t do that. So if we could, it would be nice. But I think there is an element of uniqueness in our sport allowing the fans and the press and the media to get ahold of some of that stuff.

Some of it, yeah, drivers and crew chiefs act like fools and say things we shouldn’t in the heat of battle. It comes out, and we have to deal with it for about a week and then it goes away. But I think, ultimately, it’s a good thing.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: You nailed it. You did a good job.

Q. With the changes this year in the Chase tracks, not only the addition of this track, which obviously was a really good track for you and worked out well, but more specifically the moving of Talladega to later in the Chase to the seventh race the Chase. Is there any change in mindset or strategy for you or do you see it for any other teams given now that the wildcard comes later in the Chase and you have less time to make up points in case a disaster strikes?

CHAD KNAUS: That’s a good point. It’s very stressful going into Talladega, obviously. We made it through there. We crashed five times last year and didn’t hit anything. So it’s a difficult race to go into. I prefer it being earlier in the season because you do have a recovery period.

Leading up until, I think, last year, we hadn’t finished the fall race at Talladega. So it’s been a stressful race for us, and it can be one to turn the tables once we get there. It will make it pretty exciting.

Q. Talking about the restarts, the one on lap 190 where you and Montoya and Hamlin got involved. Could you take us through that?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Yeah, we came up through the gears. I got a good start. Was pushing Montoya, and the 11 got a really good start. That’s what I was saying earlier. It really depended on what went on behind you.

So Hamlin gets an awesome start. Montoya didn’t get the best start. I start pushing him. The 11 thought he could move down and protect and block the inside lane, and we were just coming. So he moved down to block the 42, and the 42 was there.

Q. Can you characterize any differences between this chase and the ones you’ve been in in the past? Particularly because of the intensity that is added with the double-file restarts at the end, and that there will be a number of tracks that you’ll be going to where you haven’t run the double-file restart yet?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Every chase so far has been different for me. I think I’ve had questions about the last three for the Championships and the differences. All three have been much different.

This year there are new elements from the double-file restart, and also tracks like Martinsville where we haven’t had it yet. We’ll get in there and just see what happens.

There are a lot of things to worry about out there, and I’m really trying not to worry about that stuff. If I look forward to the rest of the season, I can worry about Martinsville if I get stuck on the outside on the restart. I can worry about Talladega and go through a variety of things from mechanical issues to tires to whatever it is. I’m not going to do that.

It’s one thing I have learned over my experience in the Cup Series and especially the last three years. Just put my blinders on. Worry about my little world I live in and the things I can control that day. If I look any further, it’s easy to get lost and worried and concerned and stress out on a lot of things I don’t need to.

So I’m just worried about getting home, I guess.

Q. For a while now you’ve been saying how much you like the addition of Auto Club Speedway to the Chase. Would you have been satisfied with anything less than a win here?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: It would have depended on how the race went. If we led all day like we did and lost, it would be like last week where I would have been pretty bummed out.

You know, I try not to have the mindset that we come back to a track that we’ve had success at that we’re expected to run well. You have to go out there and earn it every week. It’s the same thing for this championship. Just because we’ve done well the last three years doesn’t mean that we’re a shoe-in for the fourth.

So I’ve just got to stay focused on my job. Go out and earn it each lap and see where things fall into place.

We needed to run well today to get points, because obviously, the 5 and the 42 ran well. I think we obviously had a good opportunity with the 11 having troubles. I saw the 14, I saw them post a number at one point. So hopefully we were able to spread things out a little bit. I’m glad that we had a good day today.

Q. That was a pretty exuberant celebration to the point where you had to get called to victory lane by NASCAR. Looked like you were celebrating like seven years ago when you had your first win. Was it because it was I couldn’t a home state win or was it a relief getting this win after being dominant last week and being able to seal the deal this week?

JIMMIE JOHNSON: No, just having some fun. It’s weird. Climb out and relax, and people ask me why I relax. Then I have fun, and everybody asks me why I had so much fun. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t, I guess (smiling).

I just saw a really nice wide back straightaway, and I could do some cool cop stops. I had a little fun with it. Just had a little fun.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS – Finished 2nd
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET IMPALA SS – Finished 3rd

THE MODERATOR: Our third place finisher today has joined us here in the interview room in the garage. That’s Juan Pablo Montoya. Tell us about your run today.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: When it was cool, we were really good. We had the fastest car, and I could just had drifted through the corner enough, just pedalled the car through the corner, got really fast.

As it got harder, I got looser, and couldn’t get on the gas. We got off the corner. We tried to fix that. And the more we fixed it, the worst it got in the corner. We went in circles for a little bit. In the end it got better, but it was a little late.

I think I had a car good enough to beat the 24. He pinned me down here in the last lap and got me really loose. Just a bunch of momentum. But, hey, it’s what it is. So. We finished third. That is good for the Chase, so we’ll just move on.

THE MODERATOR: Sounds good. You are now third place in the points. 58 points out of the lead.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: Yeah, I was seven.

THE MODERATOR: You are now in third place.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: It’s incredible. We have four or five in a row and I’ve been losing points to the leader. It is what it is. I think it’s what you said before, you ain’t going to make any points on anybody. Everybody that runs good is going to be there. You just got to make sure you don’t lose any.

If you make a mistake, I think the 11 made a huge mistake coming down on me. I was surprised. When I saw it, I was like” What is he doing? What is he doing?” And he was fifth in points and took him out of contention.

So I was kind of surprised when he did that. I don’t know if the spotter didn’t tell him I was there or something. I couldn’t do anything. I had the 48 just pushing me all the way. So just trying to avoid something, you end up wrecking yourself. But, you’ve just got to go to the next one.

I think as I said before, you know, once you pass Talladega, Martinsville and Talladega and you look at the points you say okay, what do we need to do for that? Doesn’t matter how many points. We’re doing Top 5s every week. We hope to keep doing that. It would be nice if we can get a freaking win soon and we can move on.

THE MODERATOR: A quick wrap up, if you would in Spanish.

Q. Does it not get frustrating though the fact that you have, you would think, four Top 5s to start the Chase, you would be the leader?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No, I had, remember when we started the Chase I was 40 points behind already. So against the five car I should have been like four points. But at the same time we’re getting Top 5s, and Top 5s here left and right. You know, we’re getting close to our first win. We know it’s going to happen. But I think that’s why we fall behind in, you know, the Chase.

If you ask me, ask anybody, ask yourself, did you think we were going to be this competitive when the Chase started? No. We just wanted to make the Chase. And we played our strategy to make the Chase.

If I could run this good every week next year, then you can win races, take risks, and it doesn’t matter. You know, if you DNF one race, you go out the next one, you get another Top 5 and you keep running. But when you’re running 10, 12 every week, you cannot take any chances. You’ve got to keep finishing, keep that average up.

Q. What I don’t understand about this whole run you’ve put together is where did it come from and were you capable of this with the whole season?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No.

Q. Is this something that you were sand bagging early in the season?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: (Laughing) I wish. If you look before the Chase started we finished third in Atlanta. We ran second in Bristol, and we blew a tire. We should have finished second in Pocono. We should have won Indy. It was a lot of races we were good, and there were other races we went not with our best cars. We were building better cars. Our cars at the time were good enough for what we needed to do.

We’re not going to go to Richmond with a brand-new car hoping, and you never know what it’s going to do, you know. We tried to bring our best equipment every week. We normally do. It’s just everything’s clicking. It keeps clicking, you know.

I’m driving the car a lot better. I understand the car a lot better. Just something clicked, you know what I mean? And I figured out a little bit here, a little bit there.

Once things start clicking, you understand. And they tell you — it’s like Jimmie Johnson told me the same thing. This is what I do. And you try it, and you don’t get it. Three years, three and a half years down the road you go, oh, I understand what he was saying, and it works.

Q. The contact with the 11, do you feel like that impaired your car at any point?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No, no, no. I think it hit the corner of the bumper. We were going so slow, it’s just a slow spin.

Q. I know on the last restart you were pushing or you were behind Jeff on that restart. What do you see out of that 48 car that gets that run in? I know you led a ton of laps today, but he led more laps of the do you feel he was the dominant car by far?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think when it was cooler I had a better car than him. When it warmed up, he had a better car than me. I think I had the second fastest car. At the last pit stop we made a change in the car, and we lost a bunch of ground. It’s okay. It’s what happens. You’re second, third, fourth, it doesn’t matter. You gamble to try to win the races.

THE MODERATOR: Second place finisher Jeff Gordon has joined us. He is fifth in the points right now, 105 points on
out of first. Your sense of your day today?

JEFF GORDON: I didn’t think we were a second place car, so we were pretty happy about finishing second. We had a good pit stop and some good restarts there and were able to get ourselves action into the lead. But couldn’t maintain it.

My car just didn’t work good on the outside, especially early in the runs. So we kind of gave up that lane to the 48. You know, once you give up that lane to him, he was so good up there, you’re going to lose the lead. So we did, and we’ve got to be happy with second, that was a good day for us.

Q. Jimmie said he was actually nervous out there sitting on turn four during the red flag. Thought he might not have enough laps to on pull that out. Curious what each of you were feeling and thinking at that point?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: For me I knew the only way we could do something was making sure the 24 got beside him. But I think, how do you call that? The Speedy Dry.

When I was in turn one I was freaking sideways. It was like I was turned and I was just like trying to hang on to the car. And Jeff was doing the exact same thing. I think the speedy dry hurt us a little bit. But it was fun. He had the fastest car all day.

JEFF GORDON: He chose the inside lane, there was a lot of Speedy Dry up there as Juan Pablo said. Up there in the outside lane I got a perfect restart, and I was right down on the outside of his door. I was hanging right with him, and as soon as we hit that, I slid up and he was able to put the power down a lot better than I was. And I just fell in behind him. I knew at that point we were done.

Q. I was wondering, did you guys see debris during the debris cautions? And if not, how did that disrupt the momentum of the race?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: For me, I never pay attention. Unless they tell me there’s a door or freaking bumper in the middle of the road, I just slow down and, you know. I’m sure there — you know the problem I know sometimes it’s frustrating when you’re leading and pulling away and they say debris caution. It could be simple. It could be a screw, you know. And where were we? In Bristol I had a flat tire from a wash er, you know, with 20 laps to go. What can you do? Nothing. It is what it is. So I don’t know.

JEFF GORDON: Well said.

Q. I understand what you’re saying about the top 5 still. But let’s say you got ten top 5′s at Homestead and you don’t win. Would that piss you off?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: No.

Q. So nothing’s going to piss you off?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: If I would have wrecked with the 11 today, I would have said, Well, it happens. It could have happened, and it happened.

We’re doing our best. We’re enjoying ourselves and we’re racing hard of the we’ve got great race cars, you know. There were four or five Hendrick cars and us racing today in the front. So to be able to do that is huge.

Q. So as long as you do what you can do –

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: We’re doing the best we can. If it’s good enough, it’s great. If it’s not, well, move on. There is another year.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Juan, good run today.

Q. I know you said you had a great run. You didn’t expect that. Is there any frustration that you still lose points to Jimmie Johnson? In terms of the competitiveness of this chase, are we talking about perfection that it’s going to take because it seems that every week it’s all 12 of you guys pretty much, running up front.

JEFF GORDON: Well, there are still some tracks in there that can change that all in one lap. So, you know, I mean right now all we can do — kind of like what Juan Pablo was saying — we can only do our best.

When we get to Homestead or finish out in Homestead, if you’re best isn’t good enough, then, you know, you work harder over the off-season and see what you can do to improve it for next season.

But right now the only frustration I have is the first two races that we had, we didn’t get the finishes that I felt like we were capable of, especially at New Hampshire. So we’re definitely behind.

But we made gains on a lot of guys. Got ourselves in the fifth now. So we’re doing what we need to do in my opinion. You know, if it takes a third place average finish over ten races, then, no, we’re not going to win it this year. You know, we’ve already gotten a 15th place finish.

We’ve just got to keep battling, and keep trying to get wins and Top 5′s and the last couple of weeks have gone really well, and I’m proud of those efforts, even though we have finished second.

Q. Similar question. You finish this well, but there’s still the points dynamic. Is it bittersweet?

JEFF GORDON: Well, the only thing to me that’s bittersweet is that we finished second, and I felt like we were like in a second class category. That’s the only thing that bothers me a little bit. We’re just not good enough. We’re good, but we’re not good enough.

We’re doing everything we can to be good enough, but it’s just not there. So we’ve got to search and find something. You know, we’ve got to be better than that. I feel like Charlotte’s a good track for us, and I’m looking forward to going there. And hopefully we can make up the ground that we’re lacking. Maybe it’s just in the set-up. Maybe we’ve got to look at our cars a little bit more. I mean, it’s our teammate, but they’re in another category. We saw it at Dover, and we certainly saw it here.

Q. The last 12 chase races going back part way through last season, Jimmie’s won five. So nearly half of the last 12. Is that surprising or is that almost expected because you know of his ability, his equipment, and what he has? I mean, obviously, 10% winning percentage among drivers would seem to be fantastic, but he’s almost hitting 50% here?

JEFF GORDON: Yeah, they have something magical about the final ten races. You know, these ten tracks really suit them. They do an incredible job. What else can you say? They’re the best out there. They’ve won the last three championships. They’re going to be hard to beat for this one. Really, unless they make a mistake, I don’t see how they lose it.

Q. Do you feel is there a certain tradition points wise? You’ve had success at Charlotte, you’ve had success at Martinsville, do you need to be in a certain place going into Talladega?

JEFF GORDON: Well, I mean, Martinsville I would like to get back to our winning ways at Martinsville. I feel like we’ve definitely gotten beat there the last several times by Jimmie and Denny, you know. And I feel like we’re capable of winning there.

What our focus is just winning at each track that we go to. Next week is Charlotte, and I don’t even know after that. Martinsville. And we’re going to go there.

One week at a time, we just focus. We prepare far in advance, but right now we just think about it a week in advance, and go in there and give it everything we’ve got. I mean, that’s what we’ve done the last two weeks we’ve finished second. You know, I’m pretty happy with those results.

We can’t control what the other guys do. We can only control what we do.

Q. Can you characterize any differences between this chase and others you’ve been in before, in particularly the intensity that seems to be added with the late race double file restarts like we saw today?

JEFF GORDON: Well, no doubt the double file restarts are adding a lot of excitement and intensity. Had we not had those double file restarts you might not have seen any lead changes there towards the end. So it was exciting to see some lead changes and be a part of that. We’re seeing that everywhere we go.

So I definitely say that that’s a change from what I’ve seen in the past. But I’ve never seen any Chase really go the same way. I mean, the last three finished the same way, but there’s all kinds of different ways to win it. What happens within that Chase is different each and every week and each and every year, and I can’t really go into specifics because there’s never been two alike in my opinion.

Q. Do you see any tracks throughout the remainder of the year where the double file restarts may have as great an impact as they had at this track?

JEFF GORDON: I mean, every weekend, you know. In two weeks at Martinsville, the outside lane is not the preferred lane. So guys that are on the inside lane, it’s going to be big. You can see a freight train of guys. What that does is builds frustration for the guys on the outside trying to get down on the inside, and that’s when you start seeing contact and crashes and things happening.

Charlotte is going to be intense just like we’ve seen on the double file restarts there for the All-Star event. It gets pretty crazy. So, you know, I think it’s every weekend. Every track. There is no one that is any more or less than the other, except for maybe Talladega. I think Talladega, you know, we’re already double file there anyway most of the time, so it’s not going to be that big of a deal there?

Q. Primarily this track is probably the biggest difference compared to last year where Jimmie just ran away with it?

JEFF GORDON: I don’t remember what he did last year.

Q. Last year on Labor Day, he led the majority of the laps and ran away with the race there.

JEFF GORDON: Well, from where I was looking, he ran away with it today (laughing). So I didn’t see a big difference. The only thing I saw was Juan Pablo. He’s really stepped it up, man. Those guys whatever they’re doing, it’s working. He’s fast. He at least gave the 48 a run for his money.

We played around with him on the restarts, but really had nothing for him. At least Juan had something for him at times. Other than that, I don’t see anybody that could have touched him the last couple of times he’s been here this time of the year?

Q. Asking this out of curiosity, not to be a smart ass or anything. When you talk about you feel like they were in another class, obviously, with you guys coming out of the same shop, can you shed some light on what is the difference? Do you have any idea what the difference is or how things have separated themselves like that?

JEFF GORDON: Ask the tech center. I don’t know. I have no idea.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Congratulations on a good run.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

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