NASCAR
Jeff Gordon wins the Aaron's 499 at Talladega
By Reilly Brennan and Nancy Wager
May 1, 2005, 22:30 PST

©Dorsey Patrick

Post-race press conference with Gordon and crew chief Robbie Loomis

Jeff Gordon and Robbie Loomis (Crew Chief) #24 DuPont Chevrolet Winner IT SEEMS YOU HAVE QUITE A DOMINANCE GOING AT THE RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACKS NOW (4 OUT OF LAST 5) Gordon Well, when you get a car like Robbie and the guys on this team gave me, it certainly makes life a lot of fun out there. This is the most dominating performance that I've ever had on a restrictor plate track. You know, the car really just did everything that I could have asked for it to do. Of course, Talladega isn't a handling race track, so you don't have to worry about the car handling. Just shear speed. But it had it. Man, the engine just ran so, so good. You know, the car just seemed to get through the air so good. Like you said, I've never had a car that I can remember like that. It was just awesome. Not to mention the pit stops were good, so just all the way around, it was a great, great effort. ROBBIE, TELL US ABOUT THE CAR Loomis This car is the same car that we won last here with. And when we went to Daytona and tested, we built a new car that the guys really focused on. And it showed better in the wind tunnel. When we went to Daytona and tested, it was real close on which car was the better car. It seemed like the new car was a tenth or maybe 15 hundredths quicker. So, elected to keep it in the truck as a backup for Daytona. And then fortunately we got to leave that at Daytona USA. So, we brought it back out and knocked the dust off it and I think they put a new front fender and maybe a quarter panel on it to maybe slick it up a little bit more. It sure paid off today. YOU DON'T SEEMED THRILLED ABOUT RACING ON A RESTICTOR PLATE TRACK, BUT YOU HAVE A LOT OF SUCCESS ON THEM Gordon Well, don't take that the wrong way. Because there are certain things about it that I love: the draft is amazing. It's something that you can't describe what it's like unless you're out there dealing with it. What I don't like about it is how bunched up we get, the big wrecks that we get. Those are the downfalls to restrictor plate racing. To a driver's standpoint, yeah, there are certain things you can do to enhance your chances of winning but you're pretty much, for the most part, your hands are tied behind your back to the car and what goes on behind you on the restrictor plate. So, I've worked really hard over the years to learn as much as we can. I like the rules right now. The rules that we have right now, you can pass but it takes a little bit of effort. It's not like you can pull out and go anytime you want, you've got to have a little bit of help. Sometimes you've got to have a lot of help. And, you definitely have to work that air and work the other cars around you. Today, we had a car that didn't seem to take as much help as what I've had in the past and that's certainly, when we got shoved to the back, it allowed us to push back through there. To me, I feel like this is the type of race in restrictor plates where experience really is key. And, the more than I get used to watching my mirror, using the air and then I get a car like I did today, I feel like I get better at the restrictor plate races, so today certainly was a good day all the way around for us. I felt good about the decisions that were made. Like I said, when we got shuffled back we were able to get some momentum, get a push from behind and really get back up through there. ©Dorsey Patrick   WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT STEWART DIDN'T MAKE MORE OF A RUN ON THAT LAST LAP? Gordon Well, yes and no. I mean, he and I really battled hard early in the race and I knew how badly he wanted to win. And I felt like there was a lot of guys gunning at me because we had such a dominating performance and I knew there were a lot of guys out there going 'Anybody but the 24 today because we're so tired of him leading.' But, at the same time, I saw what was happening in my mirror and he never really got the momentum in the run to be able to make a pass on me. I told the guys during the caution, I said 'Well, it's going to be up to me whether I allow those guys to get the run on me' and I worked so hard and kept beating that into my head on the caution as we came to the green. Just keep those guys on your bumper, keep them on your bumper, don't let them get momentum. The #42 had been laying back on the restart, so I got a little bit concerned with him. And then we took off, and then we came off of 2 and I felt good. And then I saw those guys shuffle him out, so I just moved down in front of them the best I could. Their momentum sort of stopped a little bit and that was the best thing that could have happened. When they told me it was the #20 and the #15 and a gap, I knew that it was going to be really hard for them to get the momentum to make the pass. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE GREEN/WHITE/CHECKER FLAG POLICY? Gordon I've always said and I'm going to stick with it that green/white/checker is fine everywhere we go except for restrictor plate racing. I don't agree with it. We only had about 16 cars out there. If we had a fuller field, there probably would have been another wreck. I just think that restarts, as much as we're bunched up, it's just that you don't have a choice but to bump draft and do things that I don't think.it certainly offers the fans a lot and is exciting for them. But from where I'm sitting, that's my opinion. RACING IS STRESSFUL BUT YOU HAD THAT 45-MINUTE DELAY Gordon It definitely went through my mind when were just sitting there. I felt that we had momentum, I felt that things were going our way. You just don't want to break that-you want to keep it going. And it felt like I was just feeling the moment, feeling the vibe of everything going on around me. I definitely feel that I was taken away from that. But, more than that, it was just hot. Because we have to shut down all the batteries and everything in the car. I have a little blower system that blows a little bit of air in the helmet and around my seat. You have to shut all that down to keep the batteries from going dead so you can start back up. That was the biggest thing, kind of laughing watching those guys fix the wall. Because there was like 50 of them, and I think only one welder. And then it was just hot. RE: RESTRICTOR PLATE SUCCESS WITH TEAMS RUNS IN CYCLES Gordon I think Robbie can answer this as well as anybody. We certainly put a lot of effort into the wind tunnel. I know the engine shop has always been known for their restrictor plate program. You know, to me running good here is just a combination of all the details that go into the body-getting it as slick as possible. Making as much power with the restrictor plate. Gearing and transmission. All those little things. It takes a lot of effort and really almost a designated group of people to focus just on that and I feel that we've got one of the best groups to be able to do that. I think Robbie can tell you more than me. Loomis I think he hit it right on the head. The big thing is that there's 43 cars and they're so close, with everything that we check on these cars for rules and even the engines. When you do get an advantage, it's real small areas you're getting an advantage in. You're looking for one or two counts of drag in the wind tunnel every time you go. You're looking for one or two horsepower, you're not looking for eight or 10 horsepower gains. So when you get a four count drag advantage or a three or four count horsepower, it takes a while for guys to catch up and a lot of work to get there. ©Bob LeSieur ON THE RESTART, LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE BLOCKING TWO CARS Gordon I don't remember. I just remember the #42 being behind me and the #38 being behind him. All I remember is taking off and seeing the #42 in my mirror. He was laying back and I was just trying to keep him from getting too much momentum. But, I don't remember where the #29. When they get side by side, you've got to keep your car in front of the car that has momentum. What you have to do is watch your mirror. I was watching my mirror more than I was watching what was going on in front of me. And, so, when you start to see a car surge forward, you hop up in that lane and try to slow their momentum down or make sure that when their momentum comes forward, it catches you and carries you along with them. So, you'll sit there and hop back and forth, or sometimes you'll sit there and hop back and forth just to keep them side by side. So, you're staying out there all by yourself in clean air and you just go back and forth and hope that you just stay there side by side. The best thing that could happen is them being side by side, because once they brake loose of that, they've got a ton of momentum coming in. Then you really have to block them. You've got to block them in a way where they're going to hit you. You really don't want them to even get to your bumper. You want them to get about a foot or so off of you. And never let them get any closer than that. That's all I can remember and think of what happened there is maybe they got side by side and it was just moving around different lanes. WITH A DOMINATING CAR, PEOPLE TALK ABOUT TALLADEGA HEADACES Gordon Well, I got a headache. It's not as bad as I've had here in the past. It's more a headache when you're sitting there three-wide in the middle all day long. So, I was fortunate that I was able to get out front and stay out front. That definitely helps soothe the headache. LOOKS LIKE FOR THE WHOLE RACE YOU RAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK Gordon If you notice, I ran wherever the guy behind me was. If he ran the bottom, I ran the bottom. If he ran the top, I ran the top. If he ran the middle, I ran the middle. I mean, if I turned in the corner and they would follow me, I'd choose middle to bottom. I'd prefer the lower line. McMurray, for some reason, loved that outside lane and was trying to get some momentum on the outside. The #8 car did as well and so I was forced to run up top there for a while. I didn't like it because to me it just opens the bottom up so much. It allows guys to get up there to you. But, I could run anywhere I wanted to. It just seemed like maybe the middle, I could watch them in a little bit better in my mirror and protect the inside and the outside if I had to and it makes the track longer, which keeps the RPMs up. AFTER LAST YEAR'S RACE, BOTTLES WERE THROWN. NOT SO THIS YEAR Gordon Well, it was obvious to me why they threw stuff. One is that Junior wasn't in the mix there at the end. That changes the excitement level maybe a little bit. You know, it was just a controversial finish that people weren't happy with. And as many Junior fans as there are here, they probably felt like their guy got taken out of it by the judgment call and plus, they're not watching it on TV. They can't watch it on slow motion, they can't see who's ahead of who when they froze the field at that time. It was definitely better to see a green/white/checker finish and finish under green even though I don't like to do that in restrictor plate race. I understand it's great for the fans to see it that way. I don't think last year it was so much me winning, as it was just the controversy surrounding the finish. (LATE HENDRICK ENGINE BUILDER) RANDY DORTON WOULD HAVE BEEN 51 TODAY. TALK ABOUT THAT SIGNIFICANCE Gordon I had him on my mind a lot today. When we were out there, and that motor was just singing, I couldn't help but think that Randy was just really smiling somewhere. Really impressed with that and proud, because that's his legacy-what's there and what's been left behind and all the hard work and effort in people he trained. They're just continuing it on. I said after the race was over that I felt like he was in there cranking that engine himself. The thing was running so good that I had him on my mind all day. This one really was for him. That was an awesome win. He would have been the guy that would have been there with the biggest smile when that thing was over.   Loomis I think Jeff hit it all. I think everyone knows how important Randy was to us. And not so much as an employee that we worked with, he was a visionary that really had us look farther ahead and could see the bigger picture in life. Sometimes when I got so stressed out about how we were doing, he was the guy I could talk to. He'd call me Sunday night and would get my head back on straight, so he's taught us a lot of things. Jeff Andrews and all the guys in the engine shop have really done a great job of picking up and looking farther ahead. And we've got Doug Duchardt in there helping a lot with all that stuff too. Randy, I felt like he's a part of this right here as much as he's always been. WITH SUCH A DOMINATING CAR, IT IS STILL A CRAPSHOOT AT THE END OF THE RACE? Gordon Oh yeah. You know, the whole day, as great as the car was and as dominating as it was, I just could say, 'Man, it's too good to be true.' Something is going to happen. Somebody's going to get momentum and make a move and we're going to get shuffled back and not be able to get back to the front. You know, no matter how good your car is on a restrictor plate track, it really does equal out the competition. To me, experience is just so important at a track like this. You know, Tony and Michael and Junior. Jimmie has really come along as well. But, having experience of being up front and knowing how to get that momentum and make it happen, there's two things going on: I'm trying to prevent the momentum, they're trying to get it. When you've got inexperience against experience, it's obvious to see it. But when you've got two experienced guys, it really can go either way. You don't know how it's going to turn out. I got shuffled back there with five to go. Michael got a run on me. I really thought we were going to do all we can to get back up as far as we can. I really had no idea that we were going to be able to get that lead back. I really wanted that lead and be able to just block those guys and be able to maintain it. And then, a couple laps later we got it back. We had a great car, no doubt about it. It could have gone either way though. I was standing in victory lane, saying to myself that I'm shocked because I really thought, as good as we were, we were still going to get beat. Plus, you never know if everyone is showing everything they really have. Sometimes they get a little bit more aggressive in the end and maybe they try to make things happen they haven't done earlier. DO YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT HOW FRUSTRATING IT IS TO BE THE CARS BEHIND YOU, CHASING YOU? Gordon Yeah, I've been on both sides of it. I will say that today was the most dominating car I've ever had on a restrictor plate track. And I don't know if I've ever been able to be on this side of the fence, even though I've won races, don't know if I've ever been on this side of the fence like this before. So, to me when it really, really hit me how good our car was, when I pushed the #8 car to the lead, I was on his bumper, pushing and pushing and pushing him and then I pulled out and passed him, I went 'Wow! This car is good!' When you pass him like that, that's impressive. Yeah, I've been there as frustrated as can be. And Robbie can tell you that I've sat in the truck after the race going, I don't know how we're going to beat those guys. They got something we don't have. And today, we had something that was just unstoppable and it was fun to be on this side of it.

Talladega Superspeedway

Tony Stewart #20 The Home Depot Chevrolet 2nd position WHAT WAS YOUR STRATEGY AT THE END? I didn't have a strategy. I never have a strategy coming here because it's, you know, as soon as you try to plan a strategy it's out the window as soon as they drop the green flag. So, man, we just got started, tried to stay up front. Got in a line that worked its way to the back but just didn't get worked up over it. Just worried about getting the car driving good. We were a little tight in the beginning at the exit of the corner. And, just kept working with Zippy and the guys making adjustments trying to free it up on the exit and got it pretty good and just started working our way up. I never really, other than the beginning of the race, that's the only time I just really laid back which was uncharacteristic for me. The rest of the day, I was pretty much just jousting and trying to figure out what I could do to get to the front and pretty much raced really hard all day. I just stayed out of all the wrecks. The big one that happened in turn 1, I saw the #17 spinning and that's when I saw it start wrecking. My spotter said go low so I went clear down on that really wide piece of asphalt down there on the bottom and I was staying to the right of the #17 car but he kept moving to the right, so I just kept slowing down and slowing down and there's guys coming off the banking, wrecking and sliding past us. I just kept on straight, slowing down, downshifting, slowing down, downshirting. Finally I just had to come to a complete stall and had five cars right in front of me, wrecked in front of us without a scratch on mine. I put it in reverse, backed up out of the wreck, drove around it and took off again. That was really the only close moment we had. The rest of the day was pretty smooth. RE: BUMP DRAFTING If they want us to quit bump drafting, take the plates off. Then we won't bump draft anymore. But, I think what the point was of what they were trying to tell us in the drivers' meeting was the smart thing to do. Yesterday in the Busch race, the rules package was different from what we had today and that was causing us. You'd get so close to guys yesterday that you couldn't get away from them. You get to a point of where you're kind of pushing somebody with the air with the threshold and then you cross a point to where you're being sucked up to the guy in front of you. Where, today you're always just pushing the guy. So, it wasn't as big of a deal today, obviously, but I think it was a good reminder where the tri-oval was an area in the past where we've seen people have problems. Trying to help somebody in front get a run and push him through there, but it's probably not the best spot to do it. But, I think, for the most part, it was probably a good reminder and everybody took it to heart today. TELL US ABOUT WHERE YOUR TEAM RIGHT NOW? Um, they're in the garage, going through tech. I don't know. I don't really worry about it, to be honest. The only thing I know is that they're giving a 100%, whether that's good enough each week to get the job done, we have to take that one week at a time to find out. You know, I know one thing that they're doing everything they can. We're still testing a lot. They're still trying new things and taking the data from the test sessions and trying to dissect it and using it to make our program better and faster. As far as knowing where we're at, I don't know if I know where we're at compared to everybody else. The only way to compare it is against your competition. So you know where you're at each week versus where the competition is at. IS THERE HOPE FOR SECOND OR THIRD PLACE TO WIN ON A GREEN/WHITE/CHECKERED CONSIDERING HOW LONG IT TAKES TO REGAIN SPEED? We were, what? Fifth and sixth on the restart, and we got to second and third, so I'd say there is, yeah. If those guys are in the right position and get the right push, yes. You know, I had Michael behind me. I had a good car, he had a good car. Michael gave me a great push that got me through those guys and I think we caught a bunch of them off guard, (that) was the big morale of the story. They knew that Jeff was the fastest car and they knew they weren't going to get around him. They went with him. Michael and I got a great run out of three and four and really caught some guys off guard and got by them right away and caught Jamie off guard and got by him. I think at that point, you know, we had a shot. If we had a better car than Jeff, we would have had a shot. Michael pushed me all the way down the backstretch and we still couldn't catch him, so you know, they just had a better car than we had all day. JUNIOR SAID HIS CAR WASN'T THAT GOOD. IS HIS DOMINANCE IN PLATE RACING NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS? I don't think.the times we were together today, we weren't as potent a combination as what we've obviously been there in the past, but I wouldn't say it's over yet. I don't think you can take two races and say that it's over. You've got to look at the situation and see that he's with a totally different team than what he has been with the past couple of years. Maybe it's just a combination they've got to find that's a little bit different, but I wouldn't count him out just yet. WAS THIS THE SAME CAR YOU HAD AT DAYTONA? WHAT CAN YOU DO TO MAKE IT BETTER? Man, if I knew what there was to be better, we'd be doing it. I'm not sure what there is. I know we've made gains from Daytona to here. Obviously they made bigger gains than we did, but I think everytime you come, the teams and technology finds stuff that picks it up. It was same car, but we did find some things that made it better, speed wise. Obviously, what they found was better than what we found. But, it was still good enough to get us to second. Even though they won the race today and had a dominant car, I can promise you that they're going to go back and they're going to do everything they can to find a tenth or two more before we go back to Daytona for the July race and before we come back here in the Fall. Make our program better and stay ahead of the game. Everybody's going to be looking for things. Who knows what the area is where you're going to find the speed, but hopefully you find it. DO YOU LIKE RACING HERE? I mean, you say it hasn't been kind to me, as many second place finishes we had, there's 41 guys who didn't have it as good as we had it those days. There are a lot of days that we ran second here and it was as good as a win for us. We knew we didn't have the best car. Today, for example. We didn't have the best car but we ended up with a second place finish. So, that's the best we could do. We're leaving here with smiles on our faces. I enjoy it. The whole week here, in the Busch race I had a bunch of fun. We got tore up in a wreck, went to the back, came up to the front and thought we had a shot at winning. A pin in the distributor gear broke. But, end of the day, come back out and you know, we really didn't have a shot to win, but we finished second. We've had a really good weekend, I think. The Talladega weeks are always fun weeks for me because I go fishing and it's a week where I don't turn my cell phone on and I don't worry about the race car and the race team and the guys know don't call me. It's just a week to kind of hit the reset button and by the time I get here on these weekends, I'm fresh and ready to go. I always have fun when we come here

Michael Waltrip
#15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
3rd position

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING THERE AT THE END?
Well, we had a fast car, but I don't know. Today, you know I never complain about not getting any help, because it's not anybody else's job to help me, but I seemed to go the wrong way a bunch today because I was by myself all alone. I knew the bottom was fast enough to make some moves and I was really happy to see Tony dive to the bottom in turn 3 on that restart so that we could try to do something. Riding on the line would have really bored me, so I was thankful he tried to make a move and I was right there with him. We actually had some success do that. Shocked that we didn't make a move on Gordon. When we took the white, I got to Tony's bumper and all but pushed him through the turn. I was so close to him and as we exited turn 2, I pushed him all the way down the back straightaway. And I can't see where we're going because I'm so close to him and I'm just thinking: any minute now, we're going to pull out on Gordon. I was pushing him that hard and we were going that fast. I thought we were going to make a move and pull out. Tony said he couldn't catch him and I was pushing him. So I think that tells you that Jeff Gordon's car was a little bit faster than everybody's today. But my car was plenty fast. You know, I led the race with 4, 5 to go. My car was plenty fast to win, I just couldn't overturn Jeff Gordon.

YOU LOST MARTIN AND DALE THERE AT THE END. WOULD THAT HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE?
We were working hard trying to get things lined up for the end. I think all throughout the race, Dale Jr.'s car worked better on the top and I worked well on the bottom. Maybe I tried the bottom too long. Then at the end everybody said, we'll go with you but you've got to stay up him. So then, I started staying up high. Something happened to my radiator. I don't know what happened, but I got really, really hot at the end and Richie Gilmore's engine is probably over there melting right now.

TALK ABOUT THE STRENGTH OF THE #24 CAR TODAY
I was amazed that they were that strong. They could do a lot of things out there that I couldn't see anybody else doing. So, they had a really, really good car and were able to take advantage of it. You know, obviously our cars are fast. We came from last to first. When you run up a guy that qualifies first, and then it works well in the draft, and has the talent Jeff Gordon has, you just can't overcome it.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WITH YOUR HORSEPOWER VERSUS HENDRICK AND TALK ABOUT THE PROBLEM YOU HAD THERE AT THE END
For me it's hard to diagnose. You know, between the engine and the body, it's all a big package. I think that, obviously we're off somewhere, or we wouldn't be qualifying 38th. And it's just that simple. But, to just point a finger at the engine or for anybody to point a finger at the body. We just have to keep working. Jeff's package is fast because they've got it all together. I really believe that Richie and them are going to try to find more horsepower and Stiffy (Tony Eury, Jr.) are going to try to get the body. When those two entities go off in separate directions and go to work and work as hard as they do, then they're going to come back to Daytona with a car that won't qualify 38th, I can promise you that. Could we use some more horsepower? Shoot, yeah. Horsepower's cool. These cars are pretty doggone good like they are.

YOU'VE OUTFINISHED DALE JR. THE PAST THREE WEEKS. DO YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THAT?
The only thing I pay attention to is that we're both really competitive. At Texas we were both really good. At Phoenix we were good and today we were good and up front. So, as long as we're both competitive then I think there is more of a mutual respect between the two teams. You know, they'll  both want to bounce things across each other that will make us stronger as a company. We got off to a slow start with a couple of engines that broke on us at Daytona. And California. If it wasn't for that, we'd be all up the middle of this deal. We've had the ability to work and learn each other under the radar while we've made us some progress back up the points ladder.

WHAT IS THE KEY AS TO HOW HENDRICK HAS BEEN ABLE TO GET IN FRONT OF YOU ON THE RESTRICTOR PLATES?
Obviously, they are on top of things. That's obvious. They won four of the last five. But, you know, one of the ones he won, Dale Jr. was ahead of him and the caution came out and all that crap went down. So, would that have been a DEI win instead of a Hendrick? Would that have looked a little bit better? Sure. And then at Daytona, we were certainly in a position to win that race. The cars, they're doing good. And Jeff Gordon is a great race car driver as is Dale Jr. And so, if there cars are a little bit better, he's going to exploit that. It isn't as lopsided as four out of the last five makes it sound. Circumstantially it could have been quite different in a hurry.

Jeff Burton
#31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
10th position

We had a good car all day. Unfortunately we got hurt and I hate that more than anything. Something happened at the end. I don't know. It happened like the same thing last year in the fall. We just get ready to go and it won't go. But, that's a tenth, we'll take it and run it out.

Kevin Harvick
#29 GM Goodwrench
12th position

We had a really fast car today.  I'm not sure what happened (accident).  It just got real tight and someone got into me.

The racing was good all day.  I saw things get wild just before the big crash and so I dropped back.  When they started crashing I just went as low as I could and just stopped.  Every now and then you get a feeling and I guess I was right this time.

I'm disappointed because we had a car that could run with the No. 24.  He was really fast and I'm not sure we could have passed him, but I would have loved to had that chance.  We'll take the points and get ready for Darlington (S.C.)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
#8 Budweiser Chevrolet
15th position

WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR CRASH?
I went straight and then into the wall the next thing I know. I'm not sure what happened beside me there. I came up the track a little bit, but I didn't think that I come up a lot. But I must have squeezed somebody up into the wall or something.

YOU DIDN'T SEEM LIKE YOU GOT A LOT OF HELP TODAY, WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED?
No, not really. Everybody wants to win. It ain't "push Dale to victory." But, we didn't have a good car either. That was it. I mean, they'll push you if you're fast but it wasn't fast. and they get tired of pushing you if you're slow.

WAS THIS THE MOST FRUSTRATING DAY YOU'VE HAD HERE IN A WHILE?
Um, the first year we came here our cars weren't that good either. It's about like that.

WHAT DID YOU SEE IN THAT FIRST BIG WRECK?
The #48 ran the #4 into the fence, into the #10. Just, we're all driving real hard. I don't know, you know. Just driving hard. You're spotters are a big part here. I don't know. I was pushing the #4 and the guy beside him-which I was told was the #48-squeezed him into the #10 and they all hit the fence.

WAS THIS JUST JEFF GORDON'S DAY?
I couldn't get up there to see it! I mean, I finally did after a while, Man, but it's just that we didn't have a good car. Jeff's car was awesome from what I could tell. When you get those kind of cars, you need to get the wins, which they did. Congratulations to those guys.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST DISAPPOINTED IN TODAY? IS THERE ONE THING WRONG?
Nothing's wrong. It just ain't the best. It's good, but it ain't the best. We used to have the best.

HOW WAS THE #15?
It was alright. It wasn't too bad. The #15 couldn't get up there and get much room either.

Dave Blaney
#07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet
19th position

I don't know. It's just a shame. Early on our car was just really, really fast. We just had overheating problems. It would get hot and wouldn't run. We'd kind of have to slide back and get some air to it. Kind of like that all day until we got in the wreck. So, good car. Usually if you don't have happy hour it doesn't bite you, but it did today. Didn't help.

Jimmie Johnson
#48 Lowe's Chevrolet
20th position

WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE?
I don't know. It was that time of the day to start crashing stuff. We did a good job all day long. Everybody was staying in line and it seemed like the top was the place to be. I came off of 2 and all the momentum was carrying the cars high and I was in the outside lane, got squeezed in the outside wall and everything took place from there. It's hard racing.

I couldn't tell you. It looked to me like the inside lane was drifting up. Those guys were tight on the bottom. In front of me, all the cars got really close.

The air got taken off from me and I got the outside wall. It's just that time of the day. Everybody is real good, 20 (laps) to go and time to race hard. All those chances you had earlier in the day, you can't lift. That's just the way this type of racing is. We got tore up. We made it through most of these, but today we got tore up.

Martin Truex, Jr.
#1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
21st position

WHAT HAPPENED?
I'm not sure. I got up behind Junior off of two and the #29 just shot to the left and hit him and hit me in the left front at the same time and spun me in to the infield. I'm not sure what happened after that. I'm shame because we had a really good car almost to the end of the race. I was having fun out there today and real proud of the guys.


A LOT OF BLOCKING OUT THERE. IS THAT WHAT LED TO THE INCIDENT?
I'm not real sure what happened. The cars shot down in front of me and caught me in the front.

ARE YOU OKAY?
Yeah, I'm good.

Bobby Labonte
#18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
23rd position

Note: Lap 155-159, ran as high as third place.

On the restart, after the red flag, the car was as good as it was all day. We had it going pretty well at that point and thought we may be able to come out of this with another good finish. But bad luck got us again.

Scott Riggs
#10 Valvoline Chevrolet
27th position

RE: FINISH
I wanted to finish with all four fenders on the Valvoline Chevrolet today but we wanted to be the same four we started with. Everyone did a great job all weekend. We did everything right from the moment we unloaded. We just ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
 
We kept getting shuffled back a little and we'd work our way right back up. I don't think we ever fell out of the top-15 all day. We were working our way right back to the front, but were about one lane too far back to miss the wreck.
 
I have all the faith in the world in this team that they'll put together another incredible racecar to take back to Daytona. I just really hate it for them.
 
WHAT HAPPENED THAT CAUSED THE BIG WRECK?
I don't really know what happened. I was outside of the (number) four and he came up real abruptly, like something hit him, and pinched me in the wall. After that it was just chaos. I must've gotten hit about six times. I thought I was done getting hit and then I'd get slammed into again. You don't realize how fast you're going until you get hit get hit six times at those speeds.


Boris Said
#36 Centrix Financial Chevrolet
35th position
 
Our car was running so good -- it's a shame where we finished (35th). If we only could have stayed clean we would have had a great finish for MB/Sutton Motorsports. The incident happened so quickly -- I didn't see anything but smoke. And when I got into the smoke, my car became a ping pong ball.

I felt real good out there. I did make some mistakes early, but overall I really felt comfortable out there.  This was my first Cup race at Talladega and it was fun. If you love to go fast, then this is the place you want to race at.

Mike Bliss
#0 Net Zero Chevrolet
36th position

WHAT DID YOU SEE OUT THERE?
I didn't see a whole lot. Just a lot of smoke. That was it.

DID YOU KNOW WHO YOU HIT FIRST?
I just saw smoke. In the tri-oval on, I saw a lot of smoke. I didn't see a wreck for a while. So I thought a fender got pushed into somebody or something. Then the smoke was getting pretty bad.

PRETTY CALM DAY UP UNTIL THIS POINT?
Yeah, everybody was being pretty calm. They all knew I think that yesterday was a pretty bad race. It was coming up to that point in the race where everybody needed to step it up a notch.

HOW WAS YOUR CAR?
Probably like everybody else you'd talk to: it was good. We were just riding and just started to work our way to the front.

YOU GOING TO TRY TO GET BACK OUT THERE?
Yeah, the race seems like it's in here (the garage) right now more than it's out there on the track.

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