MARK MARTIN - No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion (Finished 18th)
YOUR THOUGHTS? "I don't know. I guess I'm glad that one's over with. Pat and all the guys tried to make something happen here today. We really thought we had something better than that, but we struggled around in the middle all day. The car was good on the long runs, but we didn't get much of that when we needed it. We certainly got some in the middle and got right up to the top 10, but we couldn't restart with any of them, so that one's off the list and we're done."
A MEMORABLE RUN WITH JACK ROUSH.
"Yeah, it's been a long time and a lot of water under the bridge. We've done a lot together and nothing will ever change that. We'll probably always look back on that as the good old days."
YOU ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH WITH THEM.
"Yeah, it was just a disappointing day. It didn't turn out quite like Friday night did. We hoped it would, but it didn't."
SOME PEOPLE DON'T STAY MARRIED 19 YEARS.
"That's right. It doesn't make it wrong for me to do something else, it makes it weird. It's not wrong just because I stayed there that long. My cup has been running over all year. That's it. I don't know what else to say. If it was half-full, I'd be crying right now."
JIMMIE JOHNSON WON THE TITLE TONIGHT. YOUR THOUGHTS.
"You couldn't beat him and you can't take that away from them. They went out there and earned that one."
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 19th
"I can't express how proud I am of this team. I just have a tremendous team behind me. They just never gave up all year. We battled back when we are down race after race. We battled back today and got a good finish.
"We didn't have the best car today but we just kept making it better and better.
"We made the Chase and we fought hard and we are going to try and do that next year, we have a great team, just a really, really great team.
"It is a definitely a great year for him (Jimmie Johnson) to win the particular races that he won and the championship. It has got to be a dream for him. They are a great team, just on the verge of doing something like this for a long time. If they realize exactly what they have as a unit, they will have a lot of success if they stay together."
We had a really, really good car when the sun was out and led some laps, but as soon as the sun went down, it was like a switch and we just weren't that good. I got to tell you, man, my team, I am real proud of them. They have got a lot to proud of over what they have been able to accomplish this year, the kind of cars they have been able to build, they are kind of down on themselves about tonight. But they have a lot to be proud of; they realize that.
"I just got tight and drove it in the fence. Oh well, that is just the way it goes sometimes, man.
"I am excited about 2007. My guys are kind of bummed out tonight, we had a great car tonight and they are really bummed out about how we finished but we have had a great team all year long and we have so much to look forward. We just have to maintain a great positive attitude going in through this off-season. Just get some work done, get some good cars built and put it to them next year."
JEFF GREEN, NO. 66 BEST BUY MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 22nd
"(The car) was a beast. I'd go into the turns and it would be loose, then tight in the middle, then loose off. I couldn't do a lot with it. My hat's off to Harold (Holly, crew chief of the No. 66 team) and the crew. They never lost faith, and kept making changes to try and make it better. I know they're looking forward to having some time away from the track to work on the cars and get them where they want them. I'm looking forward to 2007."
RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) - Finished 23rd
MONTOYA SAID HE DID NOT RUN INTO THE BACK OF YOU. IS THAT WHAT SPUN YOU OUT EARLIER IN THE RACE?
"He never touched me other than when we were both going for the same real estate. His bumper went across my nose and that spun him right around. What happened off turn four was totally my fault. I lost the car. I got into him and we got door to door and that spun me around. Down here, it was anybody but racing's fault in my opinion. His car came across the nose of mine. I felt bad for the situation because, obviously, it looked like I was retaliating, but that's not the case. That's what we just talked about."
IF NASCAR THOUGHT YOU WERE RETALIATING, WOULDN'T YOU HAVE GOTTEN A PENALTY DURING THE RACE?
"That's the way it usually works. That's the way it worked in Martinsville. I felt for Juan. I felt bad for the situation and him catching on fire and everything. I did not crash him on purpose and we'll go on."
WHY WERE YOU CALLED INTO THE NASCAR TRAILER?
"There was direct conversation about what happened and to make sure it wasn't intentional."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 24th
ON THE HISTORY OF JIMMIE JOHNSON'S SEASON:
"Well I had the pleasure of flying back and forth to the race track with Jimmie this weekend. It was a cool moment for me because I felt like those guys really had it in their grasp and were going to do it. I didn't want to say anything that was going to make him nervous or anything but we did talk about the type of season that he's had. He's had an amazing year. He's had one of those championship caliber years. You know the Chase just makes things more challenging and sometimes no matter how great of a season you've had it doesn't always going to mean you're always going to win a championship. So for those guys to win the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and have the type of season they've had and to win (the championship) and the seasons they've had in the past. They've been so close. I'm just proud of Jimmie. He's a great friend of mine and one heck of a race car driver. We're proud to have him there at Hendrick Motorsports and to get Rick Hendrick his sixth championship is something that is very, very special. That entire Lowe's team, Chad Knaus and all of them have done an amazing job since they started really. It's awesome to see him get it."
ON JIMMIE'S COMEBACK AND IF HE THOUGHT JIMMIE WAS DONE AFTER TALLADEGA:
"You know I thought ah man here we go again. The Chase starts and those guys had their problems. The one thing about those guys is you never count them out. Sometimes they do better when they're down. This Chase, 10 races is a lot longer than you think it is, and I'm pretty happy that we finished sixth in points. We had a lot of trouble and still finished sixth in points. It's a lot of racing out there and those guys never gave up."
WAS JIMMIE MORE NERVOUS THAN WHAT HE WAS LETTING ON TO?
"Yeah, probably. He was pretty quiet and wanted to go home and rest. There wasn't a whole lot of interaction. He's got a lot of friends, a lot of people here that wanted to see him win this thing. He's happy to have them here but he really didn't want to get caught up in all that and be let down or let that affect his thinking process. I thought he did the right thing. He was smart all weekend long and focused on the car and the team. When he left the race track he went home, got his rest, came back solid the next day and today he was ready."
ON JIMMIE WINNING THE DAYTONA 500, THE BRICKYARD AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IS THAT LIKE WINNING A TRIPLE CROWN?
"Heck yeah, that's one heck of a year. These are years you dream about. Jimmie and I talked a little bit this weekend when we were traveling back and forth to the race. One of the things we did talk about was that it's been a dream season if they could pull that off, the championship. I mean you can't do it any better than that - the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the championship. That's pretty awesome."
ON HELPING GIVE JIMMIE HIS START AND OWNING THE CAR AND HOW PROUD HE IS:
"I'm very proud. I don't like to take much of the credit because Jimmie is a heck of a race car driver. Somebody was going to pick him up and I'm just really thankful that the opportunity presented itself to us. I mean I give Jimmie a lot of the credit. He came to me you know and just asked me some opinions about car owners and teams and what his next move should be and I was really kind of blown away for him to look up to me in that way and to come tap me on the shoulder and ask me for that advice and it just so happened we were thinking about building a fourth team at Hendrick Motorsports. I went to Rick Hendrick and said 'Rick, what do you think of this Jimmie Johnson guy? I think he's got a lot of talent and I think if we put him in some good equipment he could do some great things.' Rick asked if I was willing to put my money where my mouth is (laughs) and I said yes I am. That's where the partnership kind of came together."
ON THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP BEING THE HARDEST AND WHAT HE SEES FOR JIMMIE'S FUTURE:
"I tell you what. What happened was the first year they were kind of surprised to be in it and the next year they're like 'yeah, we're capable of doing this' and then the third year it was like wait a minute every time we get to the end here it seems to fall apart so they started to maybe second guess themselves a little bit. This year they had the opportunity to really pull it off and they did. That's only going to make that team and their confidence level that much stronger for next season."
WHAT WILL BE THE LEGACY OF JIMMIE'S SEASON?
"It's hard to pick one thing. The guy won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the championship. If you really look at the 10 races in the Chase it really said it all about the No. 48 race team. The guys are solid, they're strong, they never give up and they know how to pull the team together when they need to. Chad Knaus is a great leader and Jimmie is just a solid, consistent race car driver who knows how to get the job done when he needs to. Those guys just fought back and that's the type of race team that it takes to win a championships. They're fighters.
They got down and that's a championship caliber team. They earned it and they deserve it. They've been in contention for the last several years and finally pulled it off."
ON WHAT KIND OF CHAMPION JIMMIE WILL BE:
"I think he'll be one of the best champions we've ever had because he cares so much about it. It means a tremendous amount to him. He's a great spokesperson. He's comfortable in front of people and the cameras. I think that Jimmie is really going to help take our sport to another level and going to be a great representative."
ON ANYTHING JIMMIE MAY HAVE DONE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR THAT HELPED HIM WINTHE CHAMPIONSHIP
"I think that it's just the determination they've had. They've really been good when they need to be good. Maybe in the past like at the start of the Chase when things started to go wrong and they just never gave up on it but they never had in the past either. They never just finished it all off and this year they finished it off. It all depends on how everybody else runs and what happens to everybody else too. Even when they started bad and it wasn't looking good they never gave up but then other things started to happening to other guys that put them right back into it and all the sudden they're like all right here we go, now let's get it done and they did."
ON JIMMIE'S CHAMPIONSHIP AND WHAT IT MEANS TO MR. HENDRICK AND WITH RICKY NOT BEING HERE:
"Well honestly I think Ricky was probably one of the first guys that pointed out Jimmie Johnson to Rick Hendrick. I think they gave him a ride home from a race or something one time and I think at that time Ricky said to Rick 'Hey, this guy is somebody you may want to hire one day.' There's a lot of those moments that come back into your mind when a moment like this happens. I know how proud Rick is and I know much he would have loved to share this with Rick, with John, with family members that were lost. He's excited. It's a great moment but I know how much better it could have been and we're just going to try to make the most of it and just try to keep a smile on Rick's face because he deserves it. He's a great car owner. He provides all of us with everything we could ever ask for and to have three cars in the Chase and all four of them in the top 15 and one is the championship, that tells you what kind of organization we have."
DID YOU HAVE A PEP TALK WITH JIMMIE?
"I did not. I really just wanted to stay away from saying too much and letting him over think it. I kind of let him do his thing. I don't feel like mentally any of that has been the reason that he hasn't won the championship. I think that he's a talented driver. When you fire up the engine you put your helmet on, go out there and do your job and all I said to him last night was get a good night sleep and then today I just told him there's nobody out there any better, just do what you know how to do and that was it."
HAVE YOU SEEN ENOUGH OUT OF YOUR TEAM MAKING THE CHASE AND IN THE CHASE TO TAKE YOUR TEAM TO THE NEXT LEVEL TO COMPETE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR?
"I'll tell you what, ever since the Chase started this team stepped up, other than tonight. We were horrible. It reminds me of Richmond. That's what's scary is that you never know when those bad days can come like that. But nine out of the 10 races in the Chase we ran awesome so that has got me really pumped up. With a championship team there and Casey Mears coming on board next year, Kyle Busch and that team as good as they are, I think all four teams are going to be really solid and it's only going to take us to that next level."
ON MAKING THE CHASE THIS YEAR:
"Well you've got to earn it. It doesn't just come because the car has the 24 on the side (or) because you won four in the past. That doesn't mean anything. You've got to go out there and earn it and be a solid good team and know how to build that chemistry with good race cars. It's all got to come together. Just like Jimmie, when things start to happen that get you down you've got to be able to fight right back and get back up on top right away. That's what I started to see our team have at the end of the year but tonight wasn't one of those moments. We know we've got to still work on a few things. You always got to work on making your cars perform."
ON IF THINGS CHANGE WITH JIMMIE NOW HAVING A CHAMPIONSHIP:
"You know what, if it is that's fine by me because I love what Jimmie Johnson brings to Hendrick Motorsports. I'm excited to be a part of it and you know what, we've had some great years and I feel like we have great years still in us. I feel like we had a car capable of winning the championship this year if we hadn't had problems. I just like not being the guy that has to carry all the reigns because I felt like in the past so many things have been on our shoulders and now that weight is being distributed out and we have other teams that are capable of doing that too. Next year I think we'll see that. I want to do the best that I can for my team and make sure we have a team capable of winning the championship. If we win it, we win it. If we don't, we don't. We can say that because we have four. We've never had an A, B, C or D team. There's never been any ranking order. It's been here's all the best equipment you can possibly have, go do the best with it and those guys have been doing a great job with it and it forces us to have to step up."
CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) - Finished 32nd
"It's disappointing because we didn't run as well as we thought we were going to run here. It started coming to life a little bit when the sun went down and got a little bit of grip in the track. It looked like we were going forward and were going to have a halfway decent finish to end the year. Everybody has worked real hard. I guess you don't always get the fairytale story, but it would have been nice to finish and go out on a high note. These guys all worked hard, and it's been a lot of fun over here. I don't think we've had a motor blow up in the last two years. The engine shop does a great job. We just had a little bad luck this weekend."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 30 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) - Finished 34th
"It's a shame. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was a great car today. Everybody worked so hard, and it was a great racecar. I screwed up once. I was trying to make up time at the end and clipped the wall and cut really tight. The guys fixed it.
"That's just one of those things. When he spun, we didn't even touch. He came up to me and if that's what he wanted to do, I don't care. I'm not racing for points or anything here. I think it was fine today. It was same as the Busch, no big deal. The crew we had did a fantastic job, and it was great.
"I did accomplish what I was looking for. I got experience and got to know the guys and it was good.
"I really don't know what happened. I think the 12 got me in the back, but I'm not sure which car got me. I don't care. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge today worked really well. Everybody at Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates did an awesome job for me. It's going to be hard. I knew when I signed with Chip that it wasn't going to be easy. I'm racing against great drivers, and it was awesome racing against them today. I think it's been getting better and better race by race."
ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) - Finished 36th
"We had some good calls on pit strategy which got us the track position we needed .At the same time, Josh (Browne, team director) and the team kept making the right adjustments on the car to free it up. Once we got out front, we had the car handling the best it had all night. I thought we were going to finish the season with a good top-five finish, but once again we had mechanical problems which put us out of the race. It's disappointing, but we've got a little time to get things sorted out and be ready when we head to Daytona for the start of the 2007 season."
STERLING MARLIN, NO. 14 GINN CLUBS & RESORTS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 37th
"I felt the motor start missing and knew right then we had an engine problem. Kyle (Petty) and I have been racing for the top 35 the last couple of weeks and this is the kind of luck we continue to have. Kyle's been real classy about it and we've been racing hard and clean on the track--we both wanted to the decision made on the racetrack, not by bad luck.
"But things happen. Hendrick Motorsports provides us with great motors each and every week and it's very rare that they have a malfunction. I hate it for the team and for everyone at Ginn and Waste Management. We had a good car today, but we can't gain points sitting in the garage.
"Everyone on this No. 14 car has kept their heads up and kept fighting and working hard but things just haven't worked out for us lately. We'll come back next year and try it again."
RICHARD "SLUGGER" LABBE, CREW CHIEF NO. 14 GINN CLUBS & RESORTS MONTE CARLO SS
"This team's performances have improved every week over the last couple of months-- we just haven't been able to get away from the bad luck. It's frustrating, but we know that if we can keep improving each week and being competitive like we've been doing lately, the finishes will start improving too.
"I'm very proud of everyone on this race team. It isn't the way we wanted to end the season, but we're going to get things turned around and be better next year. All the guys on the team and at the shop are excited and prepared to start working hard in the off season to be sure the way we've been performing lately will carry over to the entire season next year."
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 38th
"I just got loose going in to one, it is the first time I have been in loose all day long. I slapped the wall, it hurt the front end and must have broken the brake rotor because I went in to next time around and just had no brakes. Tough break for all the guys on the Kellogg's Chevrolet team, they never give up, obviously, we can see that. The No. 8, he got by the No. 20 pretty easily there, he let him go, but when I got to the No. 20, he must be mad at me for last week, talking bad about him, but whatever. Daytona 500, 2007, here we come."
BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Chex Party Mix Dodge Charger) - Finished 41st
"The 2 car stopped somehow or anything. I don't know what happened to him. Our car was really loose. We were just hanging on, and I think we could have made it better. I was following the 66 car of Jeff Green, and we came off turn two. Something happened to the 2 car because he swerved really fast to miss him. I wanted to miss him also, but I just didn't miss him. That's not the way we wanted to end the season. It's kinda frustrating. I feel like a lot of good things are going to happen to this team next season. We just didn't have long enough today to find out how we were going to be today. We'll hang out in the off season and get ready for next year."
KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) - Finished 43rd
"There in the first crash the right front just blew and sent me straight into the wall. I felt sorry for Bobby Labonte because he had nowhere to go. They thought it was fixed and sent me back out there. Evidently there was still something rubbing and we popped another right front. That was a really hard shot. It could have been a really bad deal, happening there right in front of the leaders."
NOTE: After experiencing a severe headache, Busch later went to the infield medical center where he was checked out and released.
Previous page
YOUR THOUGHTS? "I don't know. I guess I'm glad that one's over with. Pat and all the guys tried to make something happen here today. We really thought we had something better than that, but we struggled around in the middle all day. The car was good on the long runs, but we didn't get much of that when we needed it. We certainly got some in the middle and got right up to the top 10, but we couldn't restart with any of them, so that one's off the list and we're done."
A MEMORABLE RUN WITH JACK ROUSH.
"Yeah, it's been a long time and a lot of water under the bridge. We've done a lot together and nothing will ever change that. We'll probably always look back on that as the good old days."
YOU ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH WITH THEM.
"Yeah, it was just a disappointing day. It didn't turn out quite like Friday night did. We hoped it would, but it didn't."
SOME PEOPLE DON'T STAY MARRIED 19 YEARS.
"That's right. It doesn't make it wrong for me to do something else, it makes it weird. It's not wrong just because I stayed there that long. My cup has been running over all year. That's it. I don't know what else to say. If it was half-full, I'd be crying right now."
JIMMIE JOHNSON WON THE TITLE TONIGHT. YOUR THOUGHTS.
"You couldn't beat him and you can't take that away from them. They went out there and earned that one."
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 19th
"I can't express how proud I am of this team. I just have a tremendous team behind me. They just never gave up all year. We battled back when we are down race after race. We battled back today and got a good finish.
"We didn't have the best car today but we just kept making it better and better.
"We made the Chase and we fought hard and we are going to try and do that next year, we have a great team, just a really, really great team.
"It is a definitely a great year for him (Jimmie Johnson) to win the particular races that he won and the championship. It has got to be a dream for him. They are a great team, just on the verge of doing something like this for a long time. If they realize exactly what they have as a unit, they will have a lot of success if they stay together."
We had a really, really good car when the sun was out and led some laps, but as soon as the sun went down, it was like a switch and we just weren't that good. I got to tell you, man, my team, I am real proud of them. They have got a lot to proud of over what they have been able to accomplish this year, the kind of cars they have been able to build, they are kind of down on themselves about tonight. But they have a lot to be proud of; they realize that.
"I just got tight and drove it in the fence. Oh well, that is just the way it goes sometimes, man.
"I am excited about 2007. My guys are kind of bummed out tonight, we had a great car tonight and they are really bummed out about how we finished but we have had a great team all year long and we have so much to look forward. We just have to maintain a great positive attitude going in through this off-season. Just get some work done, get some good cars built and put it to them next year."
JEFF GREEN, NO. 66 BEST BUY MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 22nd
"(The car) was a beast. I'd go into the turns and it would be loose, then tight in the middle, then loose off. I couldn't do a lot with it. My hat's off to Harold (Holly, crew chief of the No. 66 team) and the crew. They never lost faith, and kept making changes to try and make it better. I know they're looking forward to having some time away from the track to work on the cars and get them where they want them. I'm looking forward to 2007."
RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) - Finished 23rd
MONTOYA SAID HE DID NOT RUN INTO THE BACK OF YOU. IS THAT WHAT SPUN YOU OUT EARLIER IN THE RACE?
"He never touched me other than when we were both going for the same real estate. His bumper went across my nose and that spun him right around. What happened off turn four was totally my fault. I lost the car. I got into him and we got door to door and that spun me around. Down here, it was anybody but racing's fault in my opinion. His car came across the nose of mine. I felt bad for the situation because, obviously, it looked like I was retaliating, but that's not the case. That's what we just talked about."
IF NASCAR THOUGHT YOU WERE RETALIATING, WOULDN'T YOU HAVE GOTTEN A PENALTY DURING THE RACE?
"That's the way it usually works. That's the way it worked in Martinsville. I felt for Juan. I felt bad for the situation and him catching on fire and everything. I did not crash him on purpose and we'll go on."
WHY WERE YOU CALLED INTO THE NASCAR TRAILER?
"There was direct conversation about what happened and to make sure it wasn't intentional."
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 24th
ON THE HISTORY OF JIMMIE JOHNSON'S SEASON:
"Well I had the pleasure of flying back and forth to the race track with Jimmie this weekend. It was a cool moment for me because I felt like those guys really had it in their grasp and were going to do it. I didn't want to say anything that was going to make him nervous or anything but we did talk about the type of season that he's had. He's had an amazing year. He's had one of those championship caliber years. You know the Chase just makes things more challenging and sometimes no matter how great of a season you've had it doesn't always going to mean you're always going to win a championship. So for those guys to win the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and have the type of season they've had and to win (the championship) and the seasons they've had in the past. They've been so close. I'm just proud of Jimmie. He's a great friend of mine and one heck of a race car driver. We're proud to have him there at Hendrick Motorsports and to get Rick Hendrick his sixth championship is something that is very, very special. That entire Lowe's team, Chad Knaus and all of them have done an amazing job since they started really. It's awesome to see him get it."
ON JIMMIE'S COMEBACK AND IF HE THOUGHT JIMMIE WAS DONE AFTER TALLADEGA:
"You know I thought ah man here we go again. The Chase starts and those guys had their problems. The one thing about those guys is you never count them out. Sometimes they do better when they're down. This Chase, 10 races is a lot longer than you think it is, and I'm pretty happy that we finished sixth in points. We had a lot of trouble and still finished sixth in points. It's a lot of racing out there and those guys never gave up."
WAS JIMMIE MORE NERVOUS THAN WHAT HE WAS LETTING ON TO?
"Yeah, probably. He was pretty quiet and wanted to go home and rest. There wasn't a whole lot of interaction. He's got a lot of friends, a lot of people here that wanted to see him win this thing. He's happy to have them here but he really didn't want to get caught up in all that and be let down or let that affect his thinking process. I thought he did the right thing. He was smart all weekend long and focused on the car and the team. When he left the race track he went home, got his rest, came back solid the next day and today he was ready."
ON JIMMIE WINNING THE DAYTONA 500, THE BRICKYARD AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP. IS THAT LIKE WINNING A TRIPLE CROWN?
"Heck yeah, that's one heck of a year. These are years you dream about. Jimmie and I talked a little bit this weekend when we were traveling back and forth to the race. One of the things we did talk about was that it's been a dream season if they could pull that off, the championship. I mean you can't do it any better than that - the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the championship. That's pretty awesome."
ON HELPING GIVE JIMMIE HIS START AND OWNING THE CAR AND HOW PROUD HE IS:
"I'm very proud. I don't like to take much of the credit because Jimmie is a heck of a race car driver. Somebody was going to pick him up and I'm just really thankful that the opportunity presented itself to us. I mean I give Jimmie a lot of the credit. He came to me you know and just asked me some opinions about car owners and teams and what his next move should be and I was really kind of blown away for him to look up to me in that way and to come tap me on the shoulder and ask me for that advice and it just so happened we were thinking about building a fourth team at Hendrick Motorsports. I went to Rick Hendrick and said 'Rick, what do you think of this Jimmie Johnson guy? I think he's got a lot of talent and I think if we put him in some good equipment he could do some great things.' Rick asked if I was willing to put my money where my mouth is (laughs) and I said yes I am. That's where the partnership kind of came together."
ON THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP BEING THE HARDEST AND WHAT HE SEES FOR JIMMIE'S FUTURE:
"I tell you what. What happened was the first year they were kind of surprised to be in it and the next year they're like 'yeah, we're capable of doing this' and then the third year it was like wait a minute every time we get to the end here it seems to fall apart so they started to maybe second guess themselves a little bit. This year they had the opportunity to really pull it off and they did. That's only going to make that team and their confidence level that much stronger for next season."
WHAT WILL BE THE LEGACY OF JIMMIE'S SEASON?
"It's hard to pick one thing. The guy won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the championship. If you really look at the 10 races in the Chase it really said it all about the No. 48 race team. The guys are solid, they're strong, they never give up and they know how to pull the team together when they need to. Chad Knaus is a great leader and Jimmie is just a solid, consistent race car driver who knows how to get the job done when he needs to. Those guys just fought back and that's the type of race team that it takes to win a championships. They're fighters.
They got down and that's a championship caliber team. They earned it and they deserve it. They've been in contention for the last several years and finally pulled it off."
ON WHAT KIND OF CHAMPION JIMMIE WILL BE:
"I think he'll be one of the best champions we've ever had because he cares so much about it. It means a tremendous amount to him. He's a great spokesperson. He's comfortable in front of people and the cameras. I think that Jimmie is really going to help take our sport to another level and going to be a great representative."
ON ANYTHING JIMMIE MAY HAVE DONE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR THAT HELPED HIM WINTHE CHAMPIONSHIP
"I think that it's just the determination they've had. They've really been good when they need to be good. Maybe in the past like at the start of the Chase when things started to go wrong and they just never gave up on it but they never had in the past either. They never just finished it all off and this year they finished it off. It all depends on how everybody else runs and what happens to everybody else too. Even when they started bad and it wasn't looking good they never gave up but then other things started to happening to other guys that put them right back into it and all the sudden they're like all right here we go, now let's get it done and they did."
ON JIMMIE'S CHAMPIONSHIP AND WHAT IT MEANS TO MR. HENDRICK AND WITH RICKY NOT BEING HERE:
"Well honestly I think Ricky was probably one of the first guys that pointed out Jimmie Johnson to Rick Hendrick. I think they gave him a ride home from a race or something one time and I think at that time Ricky said to Rick 'Hey, this guy is somebody you may want to hire one day.' There's a lot of those moments that come back into your mind when a moment like this happens. I know how proud Rick is and I know much he would have loved to share this with Rick, with John, with family members that were lost. He's excited. It's a great moment but I know how much better it could have been and we're just going to try to make the most of it and just try to keep a smile on Rick's face because he deserves it. He's a great car owner. He provides all of us with everything we could ever ask for and to have three cars in the Chase and all four of them in the top 15 and one is the championship, that tells you what kind of organization we have."
DID YOU HAVE A PEP TALK WITH JIMMIE?
"I did not. I really just wanted to stay away from saying too much and letting him over think it. I kind of let him do his thing. I don't feel like mentally any of that has been the reason that he hasn't won the championship. I think that he's a talented driver. When you fire up the engine you put your helmet on, go out there and do your job and all I said to him last night was get a good night sleep and then today I just told him there's nobody out there any better, just do what you know how to do and that was it."
HAVE YOU SEEN ENOUGH OUT OF YOUR TEAM MAKING THE CHASE AND IN THE CHASE TO TAKE YOUR TEAM TO THE NEXT LEVEL TO COMPETE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR?
"I'll tell you what, ever since the Chase started this team stepped up, other than tonight. We were horrible. It reminds me of Richmond. That's what's scary is that you never know when those bad days can come like that. But nine out of the 10 races in the Chase we ran awesome so that has got me really pumped up. With a championship team there and Casey Mears coming on board next year, Kyle Busch and that team as good as they are, I think all four teams are going to be really solid and it's only going to take us to that next level."
ON MAKING THE CHASE THIS YEAR:
"Well you've got to earn it. It doesn't just come because the car has the 24 on the side (or) because you won four in the past. That doesn't mean anything. You've got to go out there and earn it and be a solid good team and know how to build that chemistry with good race cars. It's all got to come together. Just like Jimmie, when things start to happen that get you down you've got to be able to fight right back and get back up on top right away. That's what I started to see our team have at the end of the year but tonight wasn't one of those moments. We know we've got to still work on a few things. You always got to work on making your cars perform."
ON IF THINGS CHANGE WITH JIMMIE NOW HAVING A CHAMPIONSHIP:
"You know what, if it is that's fine by me because I love what Jimmie Johnson brings to Hendrick Motorsports. I'm excited to be a part of it and you know what, we've had some great years and I feel like we have great years still in us. I feel like we had a car capable of winning the championship this year if we hadn't had problems. I just like not being the guy that has to carry all the reigns because I felt like in the past so many things have been on our shoulders and now that weight is being distributed out and we have other teams that are capable of doing that too. Next year I think we'll see that. I want to do the best that I can for my team and make sure we have a team capable of winning the championship. If we win it, we win it. If we don't, we don't. We can say that because we have four. We've never had an A, B, C or D team. There's never been any ranking order. It's been here's all the best equipment you can possibly have, go do the best with it and those guys have been doing a great job with it and it forces us to have to step up."
CASEY MEARS (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) - Finished 32nd
"It's disappointing because we didn't run as well as we thought we were going to run here. It started coming to life a little bit when the sun went down and got a little bit of grip in the track. It looked like we were going forward and were going to have a halfway decent finish to end the year. Everybody has worked real hard. I guess you don't always get the fairytale story, but it would have been nice to finish and go out on a high note. These guys all worked hard, and it's been a lot of fun over here. I don't think we've had a motor blow up in the last two years. The engine shop does a great job. We just had a little bad luck this weekend."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 30 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger) - Finished 34th
"It's a shame. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was a great car today. Everybody worked so hard, and it was a great racecar. I screwed up once. I was trying to make up time at the end and clipped the wall and cut really tight. The guys fixed it.
"That's just one of those things. When he spun, we didn't even touch. He came up to me and if that's what he wanted to do, I don't care. I'm not racing for points or anything here. I think it was fine today. It was same as the Busch, no big deal. The crew we had did a fantastic job, and it was great.
"I did accomplish what I was looking for. I got experience and got to know the guys and it was good.
"I really don't know what happened. I think the 12 got me in the back, but I'm not sure which car got me. I don't care. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge today worked really well. Everybody at Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates did an awesome job for me. It's going to be hard. I knew when I signed with Chip that it wasn't going to be easy. I'm racing against great drivers, and it was awesome racing against them today. I think it's been getting better and better race by race."
ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) - Finished 36th
"We had some good calls on pit strategy which got us the track position we needed .At the same time, Josh (Browne, team director) and the team kept making the right adjustments on the car to free it up. Once we got out front, we had the car handling the best it had all night. I thought we were going to finish the season with a good top-five finish, but once again we had mechanical problems which put us out of the race. It's disappointing, but we've got a little time to get things sorted out and be ready when we head to Daytona for the start of the 2007 season."
STERLING MARLIN, NO. 14 GINN CLUBS & RESORTS MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 37th
"I felt the motor start missing and knew right then we had an engine problem. Kyle (Petty) and I have been racing for the top 35 the last couple of weeks and this is the kind of luck we continue to have. Kyle's been real classy about it and we've been racing hard and clean on the track--we both wanted to the decision made on the racetrack, not by bad luck.
"But things happen. Hendrick Motorsports provides us with great motors each and every week and it's very rare that they have a malfunction. I hate it for the team and for everyone at Ginn and Waste Management. We had a good car today, but we can't gain points sitting in the garage.
"Everyone on this No. 14 car has kept their heads up and kept fighting and working hard but things just haven't worked out for us lately. We'll come back next year and try it again."
RICHARD "SLUGGER" LABBE, CREW CHIEF NO. 14 GINN CLUBS & RESORTS MONTE CARLO SS
"This team's performances have improved every week over the last couple of months-- we just haven't been able to get away from the bad luck. It's frustrating, but we know that if we can keep improving each week and being competitive like we've been doing lately, the finishes will start improving too.
"I'm very proud of everyone on this race team. It isn't the way we wanted to end the season, but we're going to get things turned around and be better next year. All the guys on the team and at the shop are excited and prepared to start working hard in the off season to be sure the way we've been performing lately will carry over to the entire season next year."
KYLE BUSCH, NO. 5 KELLOGG'S MONTE CARLO SS: Finished 38th
"I just got loose going in to one, it is the first time I have been in loose all day long. I slapped the wall, it hurt the front end and must have broken the brake rotor because I went in to next time around and just had no brakes. Tough break for all the guys on the Kellogg's Chevrolet team, they never give up, obviously, we can see that. The No. 8, he got by the No. 20 pretty easily there, he let him go, but when I got to the No. 20, he must be mad at me for last week, talking bad about him, but whatever. Daytona 500, 2007, here we come."
BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Chex Party Mix Dodge Charger) - Finished 41st
"The 2 car stopped somehow or anything. I don't know what happened to him. Our car was really loose. We were just hanging on, and I think we could have made it better. I was following the 66 car of Jeff Green, and we came off turn two. Something happened to the 2 car because he swerved really fast to miss him. I wanted to miss him also, but I just didn't miss him. That's not the way we wanted to end the season. It's kinda frustrating. I feel like a lot of good things are going to happen to this team next season. We just didn't have long enough today to find out how we were going to be today. We'll hang out in the off season and get ready for next year."
KURT BUSCH (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger) - Finished 43rd
"There in the first crash the right front just blew and sent me straight into the wall. I felt sorry for Bobby Labonte because he had nowhere to go. They thought it was fixed and sent me back out there. Evidently there was still something rubbing and we popped another right front. That was a really hard shot. It could have been a really bad deal, happening there right in front of the leaders."
NOTE: After experiencing a severe headache, Busch later went to the infield medical center where he was checked out and released.
Previous page
Copyright © 2006 MotorsportToday.com
Homestead - Post Race Comments
