JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT 20 YEARS CELEBRATORY CHEVROLET – WINNER
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO END THE SEASON IN VICTORY LANE?
“Oh my gosh, it means so much. This is for DUPONT right here. 20 years. That is a long time to be together with a sponsor. For them to commemorate that with this awesome paint scheme, this silver car means so much. I knew we had a great race car going into the race. At times I didn’t think we had a winning car, but you know what, we played the strategy perfectly, and we had a really good car. It is just unbelievable to experience this. After last week, then to come here and battle like this and end up in Victory Lane, just unreal. Have to thank Drive To End Hunger, DUPONT, Pepsi, Quaker State, Chevrolet. This team is just awesome. I love Alan Gustafson (crew chief). This is a great way for us to end this season. I know it’s about the championship, so turn it over to the champion.”
 
YOU AND CLINT BOWYER BATTLED AT THE END. IS THIS REDEMPTION AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK?
“Can you believe that? There was one restart where I had Joey (Logano) and maybe Aric (Almirola) and Clint right there surrounding me. That thing is going to work itself out some way through racing. I felt terrible how I went about it, and I still regret the way I went about it. But, I can’t take it back. But what we can do is look forward and race guys as hard and clean as we possibly can. This is a great way to get some positive things going because this year has been really up and down. It’s awesome to be able to have my family here in Victory Lane. Have to thank Sprint, all the fans. What an amazing turnout this has been for this final race, and the championship battle. I’ve got to take my hat off to Jimmie Johnson and that team. They did an excellent job battling for the championship. I know they didn’t win it, but you know what, they were up against somebody really incredible in Brad (Keselowski). They did an excellent job. Paul Wolfe and the guys. I have got to say congratulations to Roger Penske on his first championship. I know how much that means to Roger being in the sport as long as he has.”
 
WHAT A SEASON IT’S BEEN. TO GIVE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS IT’S FIRST WIN AND YOUR FIRST WIN AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY IS GREAT. DESCRIBE HOW YOU FEEL
“This is just huge. Man, it’s been an emotional week and a hard one; one of the hardest ones I’ve ever gone through just looking back on my decision. So, to come here and focus on trying to win this race on 20 years of DuPont, that’s awesome to have them on the car here in Homestead with this silver commemorative paint scheme and for all that they’ve done. And this is half of my live that I’ve been at Hendrick Motorsports with DuPont. And I’ve got to thank Drive to End Hunger and Pepsi and Quaker State as well. But what an unbelievable week. There were so many ups and downs this week; and to be able to end in Victory Lane with just an awesome team effort was just awesome.”
 
HOW MUCH DID THE TRACK CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE RACE GIVEN THAT WE STARTED UNDER HOT SUNNY CONDITIONS AND THEN FINISHED AT NIGHT?
“When we took off there, I was a little concerned. My car was really good in practice; especially in slick conditions on the long runs and we struggled a little bit there in traffic and then eventually the car really started coming to me and we started getting in some cleaner air and made some good adjustments and man, we were up there I think as good as the leaders. And then we had a little bobble on a pit stop and some other things that didn’t go our way, but the fuel mileage did. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made a great call by coming in.  I don’t know what happened to the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and it was just us and the No. 15 (Clint Bowyer) and I got him in traffic and it was just adjustments there. The car was great and saved a little fuel and it felt amazing.”
 
WHERE DOES THIS WIN STACK UP IN YOUR CAREER WINS?
“Well, this is huge. We won in Pocono and it was not the kind of way you want to win a race. This is the way you want to win a race, by just going to battle with them and having a good race car and playing it all out really smart. Having my family in Victory Lane means more to me than anything. It’s something that (during) those 13 win seasons and all those things, I didn’t have. So, this is just an amazing feeling to get my first win at Homestead as well as Rick Hendrick’s first win at Homestead. And to do it with this 20th Anniversary DuPont car, especially after what happened last weekend, is incredible. I didn’t think we’d be able to get to Victory Lane this weekend.”
 
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 U.S. ARMY CHEVROLET – FINISHED THIRD
THIS IS A VERY SOLID END TO YOUR 2012 SEASON. TELL US ABOUT YOUR RACE HERE TODAY AT HOMESTEAD
“I’m just proud of the guys. We had a horrible short-run car but we had an awesome long-run car. The U.S. Army Chevrolet, four years strong, and we’re proud to represent them and proud of their support and we wanted to finish on a great note. We’re just happy we can end the season on a good note and go into the off-season and build momentum for 2013.”
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – FINISHED EIGHTH
ON HIS RACE:
“That was a battle. We just kept working on our car all day, and we were able to get it better. Just pitted at the right time, and were able to save enough gas to get in our pit window. We’ve worked hard on fuel mileage, and it paid off for us today.”

KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW RACING/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – FINISHED NINTH:
ON HIS RACE:
“I just can’t thank the guys enough for putting me in position for a top-five but the balance wasn’t there at the end.  We had radio issues and did not have two-way communication and that made it difficult to dial in the car. I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me. I was not aware of a fuel issue  — had I known I could have saved two positions. We ran out of fuel coming into Turn 4 on the final lap. It appears we had a short in the wire.  All-in-all we finished the season strong with three straight top-10s and four straight 10 15s. You can’t ask for much more in a short period of time together. We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress in six weeks. Some of the handling issues we’ve had have been narrowed down in these six weeks and that’s a big plus heading into the offseason. Congratulations to Brad and Penske Racing.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 20TH
ON HIS RACE:
“We had a pretty good car today, we just battled with the car being really loose on entry and tight through the middle most of the race.  Our last fuel run, we saved some fuel and managed to pick up a few positions in the closing laps.  I am proud of the effort from all of the guys on the Bass Pro Shops team today and all year.  I also want to say thanks to all of our partners on the No. 1 team for everything this year.  We look forward to enjoying a few days off and then we will be right back to work focusing on having a strong 2013.”  
 
KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 FARMERS INSURANCE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 21ST
SUM UP YOUR FIRST SEASON WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
“It was a pretty good season really.  I mean it could have been better.  I could have finished better tonight.  I’m more thinking about tonight’s race than the season.  I sped on pit road and that lost us a little bit of time there at the end.  We just got off, we had to pit more than the other guys. So it is kind of what it is.  With Farmers Insurance, Chevrolet, Quaker State, Hendrickcars.com, everybody did a great job.  Fourth is okay.”
 
HOW AWARE WERE YOU OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NO. 48?
“I have no clue.  I was just trying to learn more about what went on.  That last run was forever.  So I just had no clue what was going on.”
 
HE HAD SOME PROBLEMS ON PIT ROAD, A LOOSE LUG NUT.  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT
THAT POTENTIALLY COSTING HIM A CHAMPIONSHIP?
“Where did Brad finish?”
 
15th…
“So it would have been close, but Brad (Keselowski) was probably saving and stuff there at the end.  So it’s hard to say, hard to just blame it on that.  I didn’t realize it was that close.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – FINISHED 28TH
ON HIS RACE:
“It wasn’t the weekend we had hoped for or the way we wanted to close out the 2012 season. What a tough year for the Target team. We still have a lot of testing coming up and with the new car and new motors next year I’m looking forward to a fresh start. I’d like to thank Target and all the partners for their support this year and we’ll go chase that championship next year.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – FINISHED 36TH
NOT THE WAY YOU WANTED TO END.  PUT A BOW AROUND YOUR SEASON AND YOUR DAY HERE AT HOMESTEAD:
“Definitely a disappointing finish to it all.  We were putting the pressure on like we need to.  We had strategy on our side.  Really in position to make it interesting there at the end.  A couple of little problems, well, one problem then a fatal issue got us at the end.  We are not sure why we lost the rear-end gear.  There is oil everywhere something happened back there.  Disappointing for sure, but I’ve got to reflect back on an amazing year and a year where we won a lot of races, led a lot of laps, so I need to thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for their efforts.  Lowe’s and their support, my family, Chevrolet and my wife and daughter for their great support too.”
 
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE THE LAST 20 MINUTES?
“Pretty heartbreaking, you know. We were doing what we needed to, and certainly in position to put a lot of pressure on the No. 2 car. It’s racing. Stuff happens. It’s out of my control certainly. I just have to reflect back on an amazing year. A ton of effort from everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, especially this No. 48 team. Great support from Lowes, Chevrolet, my fan base, my wife and daughter. Definitely not the result we wanted. But, I’m very proud of how we raced in all year long; the success we had on track; the pace we had on track. We didn’t get the result, but that’s life. We’ll come back next year again.”

Jeff Gordon Wins at Homestead; Second Victory of Season
Jimmie Johnson Finishes Third in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Jeff Gordon won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2012 season finale’ at Homestead-Miami Speedway to lead five Team Chevy drivers in the top 10. It was Gordon’s second victory of the season, and 87th since making his series debut on Nov. 15, 1992.
 
“I knew we had a great race car going into the race,” said Gordon, driver of the DuPont 20 Years Celebratory Chevrolet. “At times I didn’t think we had a winning car, but you know what, we played the strategy perfectly, and we had a really good car. … This is a great way for us to end this season.”
 
Gordon’s previous best finish at Homestead was third in 2004.
 
“Congratulations to Jeff Gordon on his first victory at Homestead and the 87th of his career,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It was a strong finish to the season for Jeff and Hendrick Motorsports, who are such great partners with Chevrolet.”
 
Jimmie Johnson, who went into the race 20 points behind Brad Keselowski in pursuit of his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver’s championship in seven years, encountered problems on pit road and on the track and finished in 36th-place at Homestead, ending up 43 laps off the pace. Johnson, a five-time series champion, dropped from second to third in the standings, 40 points behind Keselowski and one point behind Clint Bowyer.
 
“Congratulations to Brad Keselowski and team owner Roger Penske on winning the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship,” said Campbell. “Roger is a long-time racer and champion, and the performance of the No. 2 team this season is certainly worthy of a championship.
 
“We are proud of Jimmie and the No. 48 Chevrolet team that never gave up this year, and all of our Chevrolet teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. We are looking forward to starting the 2013 season strong at Daytona.”
 
Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, had been running near the front of the field when he had to return to pit road on lap 212 because of a loose lugnut, losing a lap, and then 13 laps later, a mechanical issue sent the No. 48 to the garage.
 
“Definitely a disappointing finish to it all,” said Johnson, who led three times for 25 laps. “We were putting the pressure on like we needed to. We had strategy on our side. Really in position to make it interesting there at the end. A couple of little problems; well, one problem then a fatal issue got us at the end.”
 
Kasey Kahne, in his first season in the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, ended up in fourth place in the standings, following a 21st-place showing at Homestead.
 
Ryan Newman (No. 39 US Army Chevrolet, third), Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, eighth), Kurt Busch (No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, ninth) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, 10th) also finished in the top-10 for Team Chevy.
 
Chevrolet earlier clinched the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturers’ Championship for the 10th consecutive season, and 36th time overall.
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – FINISHED 36TH IN RACE; 3RD IN FINAL NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES STANDINGS:
POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
            KERRY THARP:  Five‑time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion joins us, finished third in the points.
            Jimmie, certainly disappointing finish to the event here this evening.  Maybe take us through what happened.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, we were in position and putting the pressure on the No. 2 car (Brad Keselowski) like we needed to.  I said at the beginning of the week, 15th isn’t a lay‑up, and I certainly had him in position.  He made it really interesting here at the end of this thing.  It we could have not had the mistake on pitted road and then the gear failure at the end.  Didn’t really catch exactly what happened but I know there was oil under the back of the car.
            So there was oil under the back of the car.  I’m not sure if a fitting busted or was hit by debris or line but something back there allowed the car to puke out gear oil.  So as I was saying, there was oil all over under the back of the car, so something happened from either a line failure or a fitting was hit by debris or something and it puked all the gear oil out and burned up the gear.  So again, disappointing, and we were right there in position and putting pressure on like we needed to.
            But I have a lot to be proud of this year and so does this race team, and I can’t thank everybody ‑‑ I need to thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.  Every man and woman there put in countless hours giving me great equipment, the support from Lowe’s, my fan base, Chevrolet and my family.  We did all we could and came up a little short.
 
            Q.  Do you have any idea whether the oil line, or whatever damage occurred, occurred after you had to come back in?  Was it something that could have been related to the missing lug nut?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON: 
I don’t think so.  When I returned to the track, I could smell gear oil, and my experience is you never smell your own, you smell someone else’s.  But clearly, I was smelling mine.  And maybe something coming down pit road like a loose lug nut or some debris on the apron as I was getting on the track could have.  But again, that’s just speculation.  I don’t know if a line failed or exactly what went on.  But putting a lug nut back on like we had to come down for would not create the problem.
 
            Q.  So maybe the mistake on the pit road was irrelevant, maybe your situation was doomed anyway?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I guess if we find out if a line broke, that could be the case.
 
            Q.  You came into this thing with people not giving you much of a chance.  Would it have been easier to take if you had just never had a chance all day long?  Does it hurt worse when you surge and you can almost taste it again?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  In a lot of ways, yes, but ‑‑ I would have hated to come out here and do the trash talking I did to start the week and run 25th all night long.  You know, I’m proud of the fact that we went out there and backed up what we said we could do and we put the pressure on.  It doesn’t take the sting away from losing the championship.  It helps in some ways and stings in others, so it balances out, I guess.
 
            Q.  If you could just talk, all of this happened within what felt like a five‑minute period.  You were leading, Brad had his trouble, you were ahead in the points, and then boom, the lug nut, and then boom, this.  If you could just speak to your emotions, because this all went down in a very tight time frame.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yes, it all unraveled pretty quick.  You know, the pit road thing, I was just kind of dealing with it, the first two or three laps I got on the track and trying to think through what was going on.  Chad had some optimism left in his voice.  I wasn’t sure why or what.  Maybe he was just doing a good job of being a cheerleader.
            But I ran a handful of laps and then I could smell some oil.  And when the gear failed, I mean, there was a lot of shaking in the car.  I knew it was big and going to be fatal.
            First I thought it was the engine, but it was the gear.  It was still running.  We came in the pits and I fired up the engine and the engine was running.
            Definitely disappointing, but again, I feel that we had the speed; we had 80 percent of the Chase that we needed to have.  So it’s hard to be real down on myself or real down on where we finished.  These championships are special, and it takes an entire 10‑race ‑‑ clean 10 races to win one of these things.  We hurt ourselves in Phoenix, and then today didn’t help.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You know, I felt so calm and relaxed all day long because I didn’t have anything to protect.  But it was as much like a normal race for me as ever.  And that’s something that I enjoyed, it allowed me to stay loose in the car and communicate what I needed and we made the car better.
            I didn’t see Brad, but I wasn’t ‑‑ I didn’t have the tingles of a championship feeling.  I didn’t even know where Brad finished and had to ask Jamie before we went on the air, and at first she said 21st, and about lost my lunch when I heard that.  She said, Well, he got to 15th.  I said, well, it would have been interesting.
 
            Q.  You guys, the crew even after you went to the garage worked until the very end and you wouldn’t get out of the car.  Kind of go through what’s going through your mind at that point and what’s that say about the team that they just wanted to get the car back out on the track?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, it’s just one of those things that teams do, and certainly the 48 team does, to get back out there and try not to have a DNF.  In the event that somebody has a problem or if the 2 did, we could capitalize on it.  But our troubles were pretty big, and there weren’t many laps left.
            It was more about going through the motions and trying from a pride standpoint to get out on the track and run the final lap of the season.
 
            Q.  In Brad’s earliest introduction to this sport, did you have any run‑ins with him at all, and can you talk about the progress he’s made over his three years and just your impression of what he’s done this year?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, I haven’t had any run‑ins with him.  We were teammates for a handful of years.  He was in Jr.’s car, and when you’re teammates with someone you get to know someone on a different level and your guard is down and it’s much more friendly than meeting somebody out on the racetrack door to door for the first time.  We had a good relationship then, and I can’t go without saying congratulations to Brad and the entire team.  I’ve known Paul for a lot of years, and through my disappointment, I’m happy for him.  I’m happy for Brad, and very good friends with Roger and happy that he was able to come out with the championship.
 
            Q.  Assuming career‑wise seven or eight championships is something you want to achieve, how tough is it to finish so close this year and come short?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You know, to be close is just ‑‑ it sucks to be close and not get it.  That’s just the way it is.  The statement I made about the eight championships is on that big wish list that ‑‑ we all have a wish list.  The reality of that isn’t something that motivates me, and I’m not focused on it or think about that number.  It was really to give everybody an answer because everybody would ask me, What next?
            So I thought it would bide me some time to have to come up with some type of answer.
            But I’m just disappointed that we came so close.  We had 80 percent of the Chase that we wanted to have, a ton of momentum late in the season, and then those final two races bit us.
 
            Q.  You said you almost lost your lunch when Jamie (Little) told you Brad had finished what she thought was 21st.  How did you feel when you had the lug nut issue, and is there any sort of consolation that even if you didn’t have that issue that that gear would have broken anyway?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  That’s hard to say on the gear.  We lost the oil, so until I understand why we lost the oil or the gear grease, I don’t k
now.  But we were in position to win the race.  We were ahead of the 24, and the 24 won the race.  We had a great strategy, called me to pit road to top off, and it seemed like we were definitely in the catbird seat.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I was eerily calm for whatever reason.  Flat lined.  Had the lug nut on, came back out and then we had our other problem.
 
            Q.  The same strategy that you were on ended up winning Jeff the race, and just wondered if you were surprised or Chad was surprised that Brad didn’t cover your move when you came to pit road to top off.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I was surprised, and they I think were trying for track position and probably a little frustrated with being stuck in the middle of the pack.  You know, it’s tough to really race hard when you come down here and you have something to protect.  I’ve been through it enough, and I definitely think those guys were feeling it today.
            Maybe outside of their game a little bit and going for the fuel mileage perspective, and it gave us an opportunity.  It was definitely going to make things interesting.  Unfortunately we couldn’t execute at the end.
            KERRY THARP:  Jimmie, thank you so much.  You’ve had a good season, five‑time champion.  Thank you for coming in.
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 20 YEARS CELEBRATORY CHEVROLET, RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF NO. 24 CHEVROLET – RACE WINNERS
 
 
KERRY THARP:  Our race winner is here with us.  That’s Jeff Gordon.  He drove the No. 24 DUPONT 20‑year celebratory Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.  He’s joined by his crew chief Alan Gustafson.
            What a way to win here, your 20th anniversary with DUPONT and Hendrick Motorsports, your 87th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, your first win here at Homestead Miami Speedway. You have now won at least one race at every active Sprint Cup Series track except Kentucky Speedway, and the only reason you haven’t won there is because you’ve only raced there twice.
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, somebody tell them to stop adding tracks.
            KERRY THARP:  Listen, congratulations, Jeff.  Maybe just talk about the win, talk about how that has got to be special, 20 years with DUPONT, 20 years with Hendrick Motorsports.
            JEFF GORDON:  There’s a lot of reasons why it’s special.  This is a big win.  I mean, we’ve been really close here in the past years with some good race cars, but just coming up a little bit short.  And today we just did all the right things.  With the way this team has handled things and fought through things and some great moments and some pretty low moments, to be able to end the season like this, pretty amazing.
            But I think what I’m most excited about is DUPONT.  To be able to have a special paint scheme commemorating 20 years together, it’s such an incredible accomplishment, and then to be able to kind of pay them back or give them thanks by pulling that car into victory lane, I know how pumped they were.  They were very, very excited, as well as I can’t believe ‑‑ it’s not very often you get Hendrick Motorsports a first for Rick Hendrick.  We got to do it together, Buddy.  I appreciate that.
            KERRY THARP:  Crew chief Alan Gustafson, talk about the win here today.
            ALAN GUSTAFSON:  Yeah, it was a really good race.  To echo Jeff’s sentiments, to be able to win DUPONT’s 20th anniversary and Jeff’s 20th anniversary with that silver car, which I think is gorgeous, it looks really good on the racetrack and even better in victory lane.
            It was a good race, had a solid car.  I think we made the right decision there pitting.  That was obviously a pivotal moment there for us to be able to contend for the win and had a really good car and a solid day.
            Big deal for the team.  We’ve been through a lot and are in a position that we wish we were in a lot better position in points right now, and we’re closer to contending, but we know to contend you have to win races in the Chase, and we were able to do that today, so that’s a big deal.
            KERRY THARP:  And Rick, you finished the season, now you have 209 ‑‑ your racing organization has 209 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories.  You had the big 200th win earlier this season at Darlington.  You finished the year with a big win.  Just talk about how special that has to be.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, you know, our goal is to win every race when we can, and the cars all ran well today.  Jeff was fast.  I think he had the fastest 10‑lap average yesterday.
            You know, it was a great day for us, a great day for DUPONT.  You don’t have sponsors that come on board and stay with you that long. To look at the number of wins Jeff has, 87 now?  87 out of 209, that’s pretty good.
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, that is good.
            RICK HENDRICK:  But it was a great race.  I went over and congratulated Roger and Brad ‑‑ Roger is actually wearing my hat and I’m wearing his.  And he’s a great friend.  And Brad did a good job, so we’re happy for them.
            We talked about it before the race started.  We wanted momentum out of this race carrying into next year.  And I think I’m real proud of Jeff; he had the bit in his mouth today, and Alan made all the right calls.  Good to get one here at Homestead because this is one of the other tracks we never won at.
            Q.  Jeff, can you take us through the emotions of the week, obviously starting in Phoenix and having to deal with the aftermath, and here you are, victory and having finished second to Bowyer without any incident.  Just take us through that if you can.
            JEFF GORDON:  It’s like our whole season wrapped up in one week.  Yeah, you know, I mean, definitely the emotions, and you can try all you want to try to move past the moment, but man, it just ate me up inside all week.  I just kept going back and forth about the decisions that I made and wishing I had made different decisions to backing up reasons why I made the decisions I made, and I just kept going back and forth from being disappointed, being angry, feeling that I had a right.  I didn’t have a right.  So that just ate me up all week.  It meant the world to me to have Rick stand here by my side not just in the media center but all week as well as Alan and the team, and I think that
was what was so special today was to go into victory lane.  And I think it started in our team meeting before the race; I apologized to those guys for some of the things that transpired that they had to get involved with that wasn’t their doing last week, and I put them in that position, and I apologized to them and I thanked them at the same time for having my back.
            That’s the kind of team that we’ve been this year.  We’ve had to have one another’s backs because we’ve all made mistakes this year.
            And so to be able to celebrate with them in victory lane was very special, very meaningful, and gives a tremendous amount of momentum to go into 2013 with the new race car.
            Q.  For Rick and Jeff, obviously Jimmie would have had a chance to win if he didn’t have his problems.  What’s it like to see him have those problems?  You’ve never seen those problems in the past Chases that he’s been in.  Is that just the odds catching up to them?
            RICK HENDRICK:  I think so.  A pinhole in that line, that could have ‑‑ something hit it or I don’t know how it happened, but I think about that.  I mean, we had to run a bunch of perfect races to win five in a row, and Jeff to win his four, I mean, we’ve ‑‑ I saw Terry break his hand and come back and win a race.  And today, this Chase setting we have with the points as tight as they are, you just can’t have a problem, and I know it wasn’t from the lack of effort.  We had a lug nut that started and then we had the hole in the line.  But that’s just racing.
            If you let that destroy you, you’ll never be able to win again, and I think we go back and figure out what happened and try to prevent it from happening on any of other cars again.  That’s the way we usually work together.
            It’s disappointing, but at the same time it’s racing.  The tire blew in Phoenix; you can’t help that.  And those kind of things happen.  You just have to accept it if you’ve been racing as long as I have.  I’ve had a lot of them on white flag and something happens, and you just have to go on and race again the next day.
            Q.  Kind of following up on that, you came into the day kind of hoping to be in both victory lanes or at least one celebrating a championship. What were the mixed emotions you had celebrating the win with Jeff knowing that the 48 team had kind of blown the championship?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I think, again, I feel awful blessed to be able to have won as many as I’ve won, and after a while you just do the best you can and prepare the best you can.  And if somebody just beats you, then you know you’ve got to go to work.  If things happen outside of your control, then that’s just the breaks of the game.
            I thought it was a long shot anyway coming in here tonight.  Brad as good as he’s been, he’s run a flawless Chase, and unless he had the same kind of problem we had tonight, and that could have happened with a lug nut or run over something or an oil line or whatever, could have happened to him.  So you know what can happen, but the likelihood, the way their year has been going, for that to happen was pretty remote.
            It wasn’t a total shock.  I thought that the 48 and the 24 were strong and could make it on fuel and we were going to be ‑‑ probably about 10, 12 points, 10, 11 points, something like that.  Unless they had the same kind of problem the 48 had we weren’t going to do it.
            We talked about this again on the radio before the race with Jeff and Alan, we need to go out and get the job done today, and that’s what they did.  So I’m celebrating that one and letting the other deal go.
            Q.  For Rick, I notice you have the Shell hat on.  I understand you and Roger switched hats out there.  Did you say anything or can you share what you said with him out there?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, you know, he and I watched a race together not long ago when we were out of town.  He’s one of my best friends, and I wanted to congratulate him, and he reached for my hat when I got to him and said, “I want to wear that hat.”  And so I was happy to swap with him.
            You know, I respect him so much, and he is such a good friend.  So I’m real happy for him.  I’m very, very ‑‑ he’s paid his dues, he’s won a bunch of championships, and he’s done a lot of hard work in this sport.
            And Brad, he was with our organization for a while, and he’s got a lot of talent.  So you want to see friends do well.  That doesn’t mean I don’t want to ‑‑ this is it, that one is enough.  Next year is not going to be that way.  We talked about it, we laughed ‑‑ we were actually texting before the race.  Keep it in the family; that’s what we said.
            If we both get the win tonight, that was pretty good.
            Q.  Jeff, were you close on fuel at the end, and if you were, how close were you?
            JEFF GORDON:  You need to ask Alan.  He’s the one that gambled on it.  I was saving a lot, I know that.  I just kept looking at the gap ‑‑ what made me concerned was that the run before that I had gotten really, really tight in the center and loose off, and so I lost some speed at the end of the run, and the 15 was able to run me down, and I didn’t want to see that same thing happen.
            And so when he started saying save fuel, save fuel, I said, well, how many laps are we short?  He said, no, we’re good, but we want to pad it a little bit.  I kept thinking, I don’t want to pad anything because the last run we gave up a lot at the end.  But they made an adjustment to the car, the car stayed good throughout the whole run.  It was hard to break up the momentum or the rhythm that I was in on my entry and getting to the gas in the middle, but we started working with it and keeping that gap.  But I don’t know, how close were we?
            ALAN GUSTAFSON:  We had probably a lap to be good.  We had a two‑second lead, and there was no reason ‑‑ you don’t have to win it by just a foot.  So we knew we had two seconds to spare, and shame on us if we’re out there trying to stretch a lead and run out of gas.  That’s not very smart.  We kept the two seconds as close as we could, and within that two‑second window I had a thought in my mind if he got to one second we’d turn him back loose, but he never did.
            Q.  This is more of a career question or for Mr. Hendrick:  In light of what Mr. Smith said a couple of years ago about Miami and now that you’ve finally won here, could you shed some light or Mr. Hendrick shed light on how over the last two decades NASCAR has changed from a southern
‑rooted sport to one that’s trying to extend its outreach to across borders, across the United States and across different foreign borders?
            JEFF GORDON:  I mean, I think we feel the same way as NASCAR does, that we want everybody to be a NASCAR fan.  The more fans, the better reach that we have to bring crowds and entertain them as well as sponsorship opportunities.  I think that’s just the way the world is working, certainly in the marketing world, as well, of who the customer is out there.
            But definitely this race, I’d say probably the Phoenix race, as well, just really reaching out and broadening the fan base.  And it’s great to see.  It’s really grown over the years.  You see the Latino fans and Hispanic market growing here each race that we come here, and it’s very cool because typically they probably wouldn’t follow NASCAR.  But if this track wasn’t here, or the fact that it is here, I think it really displays our racing at its best.  It’s a great racetrack.  It’s very entertaining.  It’s a great weekend of racing with the trucks, the Nationwide and the Sprint Cup Series battling for the championship.
            So it doesn’t get much better than this.  And the fans that I come across, they just love the fact that they’re able to come here to this racetrack and see NASCAR racing at its best, that they don’t always get a chance to in other parts of the country.  So yeah, that’s definitely an area that’s really grown.
            RICK HENDRICK:  You know, we had two fans from Israel that came, were in victory lane tonight, and we didn’t know them until they spoke to my wife.  But they were wearing Gordon stuff, and they were telling us that ‑‑ we were telling them that we visited there a couple years ago.
            JEFF GORDON:  Was it the couple with the little boy?  Yeah, so at the airport this morning, we were at the airport, my wife and my kids and myself, getting ready to helicopter out, and they were sitting right next to us.  But they didn’t say anything, and I didn’t really see anything.  And then all of a sudden they were walking out to go get on this bus, and the little boy had a 24 backpack on.  And so I said hi to him, and I was kind of struck that they didn’t say anything to me or get a picture or an autograph or anything.
            And so my wife saw them at victory lane, or outside of victory lane, and she recognized them from this morning and said come up into victory lane.  So I’m glad you got a chance to say hi to them and see them and learn more about who they are.  I know the little boy was a big fan, so to get to go to victory lane was pretty cool.
            Q.  Clint was in here a little while ago, and he said it had obviously gone through his mind that you were the one ahead of him and I’m sure it was going through your mind that he was coming from behind.  Was there any thought about that, or were you just more worried about keeping your distance to win the race, or were you thinking at all about Bowyer?
            JEFF GORDON:  I thought a little bit more about him when I was passing him for what could possibly have been for the lead because Alan told me that if this thing goes green, you’re racing the 15.  So we came into some lap traffic, and I could tell he was pretty anxious and running hard.  He knew the same thing that I knew.  I was able to get to the outside of him and get by him.  But I had to race with him a couple of times, and there were no issues.
            It didn’t matter who was behind me.  I’ll be honest, I wanted to win the race, and Alan put us in the position to win the race.  We had a great race car, and I didn’t want to give it up to anybody.
            But I thought it was pretty ironic.  I mean, there was one time where it was a restart, it was me, Joey and Clint, and I’m like, isn’t that just the way it goes.  And so we just really tried to focus on our car, our team, our position and get the most out of it.
            After it was over, I thought, you know, wow, I can’t believe that we just finished first and second after what happened last week.
            Q.  Jeff, you’ve been a four‑time champion obviously, and you congratulated Brad after the win tonight.  What kind of champion do you think he’ll be for the sport?  That’s a pretty big ambassador role, and he’s obviously the first guy born I think in the 1980s to be a champion in the sport and kind of looks at the world a little bit differently.  How do you think he’ll do as the lead face?
            JEFF GORDON:  And I think because of that, he’ll do great.  His ability to reach out to the social media and the younger crowd, you know, I think that he’s ‑‑ he’s somebody that takes it ‑‑ wants to take it and wants to be that, and he’ll ‑‑ because of that, he’ll put a lot of effort into it.
            He’s entertaining.  You know, that’s for ‑‑ you never know what you’re going to get with Brad.  I enjoy or look forward to watching him, and I think this experience, he will just mature to a whole ‘nother level because of being in this position and carrying this responsibility.  When he sees all that’s involved ‑‑ every champion that I’ve ever seen win their first one, they always come out of it with a whole new perspective on past champions.  And I remember when Jimmie won his, he was overwhelmed with everything that comes along with it.  It makes you grow up.
            If you’re ready for it or not ready for it, it doesn’t matter; it’s there, and there’s a lot to take in, and it makes you really look at things a lot differently and recognize that responsibility that you have.
            So I think he’ll do a very good job.
            Q.  Rick, your season has been unusually erratic.  You went 10 races at the beginning without winning, then you won seven of the next 11, then the next 11 without a win and won three of the last four.  Was that all just happenstance and the way things happen, or is consistency something that your team needs to shore up?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, you know, I don’t really know how to answer that.  We’ve run good every week.  We had all four cars in the Chase.  Everybody won a race.  I think we had 11 poles and 10 wins, and we finished ‑‑ I don’t know where we finished in the points.  We could have ‑‑ we had a shot to finish one, three and five two weeks ago, and I don’t really think we’re erratic.  I think the competition is pretty stiff.
            You look at Greg Biffle, who led the points going into the Chase, and so I just think it’s the level of competition, if you are short on fuel, you go from 1st to 12th.  If you have a tire go down or you have to come back in on a speeding penalty, like Kasey, you lead the race and then you end up 20th, it’s just so many good car
s out there.
            I don’t think anybody can just be perfect for the whole year.  I’d say if I can go every year and get them all in the Chase and win 10, 11 races and 10, 11 poles, I want to win a lot of championships, but if you run like that, you’ll win your share.
            Q.  For Rick, at one point Brad was in the Hendrick stable with JR Motorsports, and I guess the thought was eventually he may get a ride with Hendrick and he left.  But did you see this potential in him back then and any thoughts you wish you could have retained him at that time?
            RICK HENDRICK:  You know, I knew Brad had a lot of talent, and we looked at ways to try to keep him.  I told Roger he was on loan. Now he won’t want to come back.
            But no, you know, sometimes guys really blossom, and they are really way ahead of the curve and the timing isn’t right, but I wish him all the luck in the world.
            And you know, he’s a great talent, and if ‑‑ we worked to get him in the Nationwide car and then his first win in the Cup car with James was one of our cars.  You know, if we kind of helped him get there, that’s great.  But I ‑‑ you just never know what turns life takes, and I’m happy for him, but I’m happy with our lineup.
            Q.  That was part of my question.  He won his championship in his 125th start, and the guy who did it in the fewest starts is Jeff in 93 starts.  I guess that’s an impressive start, and I think it’s impressive because I don’t think anybody thought three years ago that Brad could do that, he was sort of raw and aggressive.  Would you agree with that?  Did you think that he could turn it around that quickly?  And my second question since you know Roger so well, does that guy ever show emotion?
            RICK HENDRICK:  He was pretty emotional tonight when I was with him.  He was ‑‑ he genuinely was happy, Roger was.  Brad, and Jeff worked with Brad, Brad, he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but he was very aggressive. But he learned how to control that and how to race, and he did it in a hurry.  And he did it almost in a year.
            And you know, and I think Paul Wolfe has been a great influence, and that’s a great combination.
            You see guys ‑‑ I remember Kyle Busch, and Alan was the guy that had him, first race he ever ran in the Nationwide car, he should have won.  When you’ve got a lot of talent ‑‑ a lot of guys you see guys with talent and they get too aggressive or they just don’t know when to race, and he figured it out in a hurry.  He’s been very, very ‑‑ he’s been a very smart while he was aggressive racer this year.
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, I mean, when he was with us, I don’t know if I saw this much potential out of him, but he certainly had talent.  I think he races smart, like Rick said, and a lot of times when you look at champions in any series, you have to have talent and know how to get the most out of the car, but you have to be smart.
            To me, and Alan might even be able to talk to this point a little bit, what impressed me so much this year is that there were times when there was some back and forth between whether they were missing something or didn’t have what we had, and those guys went to work, and they made their stuff really strong, and it takes engineering, good crew chief, fabricators as well as a solid driver to pull together like that and make improvements.
            You’ve got to give them credit.
            Q.  You’ve been the champion four times; Rick, you’ve had numerous championships.  Could you talk about the mental toughness in Brad to ‑‑ when you guys go full court press, you guys go full court press.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I’ll tell you, I remember just like yesterday Brad sitting in my office, and he eats, sleeps and drinks wanting to be a race car driver, and he ‑‑ when he was with the Nationwide team, he was all under the car, all around the car with the guys, and he brings a level of intensity that I see in very few people, just that determined.
            And I think he’s matured in a hurry, and he learned how to race, and race 500 miles and race against guys and know when to race and the gas mileage thing.  They figured it out.  I guess they were first, weren’t they?  They kind of had the gas mileage thing down first.  They won a couple races that way where everybody was saying, hey, can they go that far.  So that was planning with he and the crew chief, and I think he spends a lot of time over there, and he’s made that whole organization better.
            Again, I think like Jeff said, he’s ‑‑ I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anybody mature as quickly ‑‑ not so much mature but learn how to race and accept racing with guys that were champions and looked at as being the best but wanting to beat the best.
            He deserves it.  They deserve it this year.  They had a great year.
            KERRY THARP:  Jeff, Alan and Rick, congratulations on this win, congratulations on a good season.  Happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll see you in Las Vegas.
 

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
FORD ECOBOOST 400
HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 17, 2012
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed his mindset going into the final race tomorrow, what type of race we should expect to see on Sunday and other topics.  Full Transcript:
 
WHERE IS YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW AFTER ALL THE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING IT’S TIME TO RACE?
“Yeah ready to race for sure.  Very pleased with how our car finished up.  It’s really nothing for me to lose sleep about tonight.  It’s an easy night for me.  I got my training in this morning.  I know I’m going to be tired and ready for bed.  We finished on a high note in practice and just got to bed, get up and get to work tomorrow.  Easy from my stand point, because I’ve got nothing to lose.  We will see what they do on the other side.”
 
WE SAW SOME GUYS CRASH IN PRACTICE RACING SIDE-BY-SIDE. WHAT TYPE OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE ON SUNDAY?
“The crash that we had I think there was just some confusion and it kind of looked to me like people thought they were two-wide, but they were three-wide.  There was just some confusion there that led to the crash on the front stretch.  That happens anywhere.  It’s kind of odd to happen in racing, but I think spotters might have a tough view in turn four.  Turn four is a tricky corner.  The car turns so strong through the center of the turn and then as you come up onto the straightaway you can lose the front end a lot.  So, I think that is why we see issues over there.  The race should be good.  We are going to be on the line to the wall.  This progressive banking makes for a really good race.”
 
WILL WHAT HAPPENED CHANGE THINGS? BRAD (KESELOWSKI) WILL NOW MOVE UP AND BE ON THE INSIDE TO START THE RACE ON THE FRONT ROW.  CHANCES ARE HE WILL LEAD THE FIRST LAP…
“I hope he tries really, really, really hard to lead that first lap.  I know (Marcos) Ambrose next to him is going to try hard too.  That could be good for me.”
 
DOES THIS TRACK LEND ITSELF TO A LOT OF CHANGE DURING THE RACE AS FAR AS IF YOU ARE BAD EARLY CAN YOU GET YOUR CAR BETTER THROUGHOUT THE RACE OR IS IT MORE WHAT YOU’VE GOT IS WHAT YOU’VE GOT?
“If we have cautions you will have a chance to work on your car.  That is biggest problem is when we got to these tracks, especially 1.5-mile tracks, and we don’t have many cautions you don’t get chances to work on your car.  It’s tough to tune yourself in.  I hope that we are close and we don’t need the cautions to work on our car, but that is really what sets the pace for the race and allows people to get back into it. The more cautions the more opportunities to improve your race car.”
 
I KNOW THE CONDITIONS CHANGE HEADING INTO TOMORROW BUT GIVEN WHAT YOU SAW FROM THE OTHER GUYS AND WHAT YOU FELT IN YOUR OWN CAR HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU IT IS A WINNING CAR?
“I think we are a top-five car right now, winning we will work on that tonight and put some final touches on it.  I knew coming into this weekend I was going to have a big hill to climb with the No. 2 car and the points lead that they have.  They have done their part and have been very competitive all weekend long.  We will just have to see how that race goes tomorrow.  I feel we have made our car a lot better through the course of the weekend.  The last two race runs we had were pretty strong and in the mix.”

James Buescher Crowned 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – James Buescher, driver of the No. 31 Great Clips Chevrolet Silverado, claimed the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship with a 13th-place finish in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His title, the first for Buescher and team owner Steve Turner, clinched Chevrolet’s 12th driver’s title since the Series’ 1995 inception.

“On behalf of Chevrolet, congratulations to James Buescher and the No. 31 Chevrolet Silverado crew on winning the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “James and his team demonstrated determination, perseverance and that never-give-up attitude to win their first championship. Congratulations to Steve Turner and his entire Turner Motorsports organization on this accomplishment.”

The 22 year-old driver led the series with four wins, 10 top-five’s and 14 top-10’s in 22 races this season.

Buescher, who carried an 11-point lead into the season finale, is the seventh Chevrolet Silverado driver to win the NCWTS championship, joining Austin Dillon (2011), Ron Hornaday Jr. (2009, 2007, 1998 and 1996), Jack Sprague (2001, 1999, and 1997), Travis Kvapil (2003), Mike Bliss (2002) and Mike Skinner (1995).

In addition to winning the championship, Turner Motorsports has amassed seven NCWTS wins with drivers Buescher, Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Kasey Kahne. 

“This caps a very successful season for Chevrolet in the Camping World Truck Series,” Campbell said. “We’d also like to congratulate Ty Dillon for winning the Series’ Sunoco Rookie-of-the-Year title.”

Chevrolet earlier clinched the NCWTS Manufacturers’ Championship for the eighth time.

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed what last week’s win at Phoenix does for him and his team, how he feels the evolution of safety has come with the Car of Tomorrow, what it is like to run multiple races in a weekend and much more. Full transcript.
 
GETTING THAT WIN, WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR THE TEAM MORAL WISE?
“Well I think everybody knows we are going to go out and try to be competitive and win races. For us as a whole it shows that we can still go out and make it happen. It’s great to have that momentum at the end of the year. It will do a lot for the off season.”
 
THIS IS THE LAST RACE FOR THE CAR OF TOMORROW, IT’S NEVER REALLY BEEN BELOVED, WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT IT DID IN TERMS OF SAFETY DID IT KIND OF DO ITS JOB?
“I think so. I think the safety evolution has been pretty remarkably fast as far as how fast it has taken place over the years. The evolution of whether it be cars, or seats, or rules, or whatever the case may be it’s not something that NASCAR has let their guard down on. I think that part of it has been great. It’s definitely started the path and accomplished a lot of things that they wanted to accomplish from that standpoint.”
 
WHEN YOU ARE IN THE COCKPIT OF THE CAR, IS IT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THE PREVIOUS CAR?
“Oh yeah, absolutely. The roll bars are not sitting next to your head. In speedway races the roll bar would actually be touching the left side of your head because you couldn’t get the seat down low enough with where the truck arms were. So, just from a driver’s standpoint as far as room in the car is a remarkable difference.”
 
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO RUN MULTIPLE SERIES IN A WEEKEND?
“It just depends on a lot of things. It depends on how they are running. A lot of it depends on where you are at in a season as far as how you feel and things like that. When you know you are going to run every race and you know you’re going to have to go through the dead of summer, that’s really the hardest part is going through the dead of summer and run both of those races and keep yourself hydrated. You have to be in tune with how you are physically with your body. It’s a challenge for sure. When we first did that back in 2001 everybody thought we were crazy and now it’s just kind of normal to run a lot of races.”
 
IN REGARDS TO THE 2001 SEASON AND FILLING IN, HOW DIFFICULT IS IT COMING IN AND RUNNING THE CUP SERIES WHEN YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING TO RUN IT?
“I always tell people that my career started backwards. You start out with a lot of attention and fans, just in a very unique situation. Then you go through the years trying to figure out and learn how to whether its manage your time, or manage your money, or manage your team, whatever the case may be, there’s just a lot of challenges that come with this level of races. It becomes a lot harder than you think it should be after the first year and you learn as you go. I think as we did that, it was definitely different starting the way that we do.”
 
THIS IS SAM HORNISH’S SECOND GO AROUND IN CUP, WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IF ANYTHING A DIFFERENCE IN HIM AS HE’S RACING ON THE TRACK?
“He just crashes a lot less. I think that’s the biggest difference. I think the first time that he came around he didn’t have a great feel for the cars and had a lot of pressure put on him to go out and perform. The cars weren’t running near as good as they run now. As he’s had the opportunity this time to come around, he’s got a much better feel for the cars. You’ve got to have experience to be successful at Nationwide or Cup. To have that feel for the cars and know where it’s going to spin out and know when to let people go, and he takes care of his equipment really well now. You can race door to door with him and not have to worry about who you are racing. So, he’s made a pretty tremendous turn around since he started.”
 
WHEN THE CHASE DEVELOPED, DID YOU EVER THINK THAT SOMEBODY WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND WIN FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW?
“No, I think the Chase was developed so it would be more competitive. But, I think that goes to show you just how competitive that those No. 48 guys have been. Jimmie (Johnson) is obviously a great driver and got a great team. It’s been pretty remarkable to watch.”
 
BACK IN 2010 YOU FINISHED THIRD BUT YOU HAD A BETTER AVERAGE FINISH THAN THE TWO GUYS IN FRONT OF YOU. KNOWING WHAT YOU KNOW NOW BACK THEN, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE DIFFERENT?
“Win more races. That’s what it boils down to is wins.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 OFFICE DEPOT/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed making his 500th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, the high and low points of the season and other topics.  Full Transcript:  
 
500TH START THIS WEEKEND CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT MILESTONE?
“It means I’m getting old (laughs).  I’m pretty proud of that.  It’s a cool accomplishment.  I remember when I came in the series watching guys get recognized for their 500th start.  That is pretty neat.”
 
LAST RACE WITH OFFICE DEPOT TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY HAVE MEANT TO YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION:
“They have been awesome.  They were the first company that came and wanted to be a part of this program when it started.  Even before I actually signed my deal with Gene (Haas) was when they came and say ‘hey we don’t know if what we are hearing you are doing you are going to do, but if you are we want to be a part of it.’  That was nice to have that kind of vote of confidence from somebody like Office Depot.”
 
IN YOUR MIND WHAT ARE THE HIGH POINTS AND LOW POINTS OF THIS SEASON?
“I think the high point is probably winning at Las Vegas, winning at a track we hadn’t won at before was definitely a high point.  A lot of places that we were so good at last year in the Chase, not being good this time and this year around was a little disappointing.”
 
DO YOU FEEL DISCOURAGED GOING INTO NEXT YEAR GIVING THAT YOU RECENTLY HAVEN’T BEEN RUNNING WELL AT THE SAME PLACES YOU RAN WELL AT LAST YEAR?
“We’ve got such a different car and different package next year, everybody just kind of starts over.  I am discouraged that we are finishing this way, but not because of what it’s going to lead to next year.  Everybody is going to start with stuff that is totally different package wise than what we have.  A totally new body that is obvious to everybody, but things underneath the car that the guys are doing to the cars this year that we are not going to be allowed to do next year. There are a lot of changes and it’s going to be a whole new learning process starting over in Daytona.”
 
WHAT TYPE OF RACE DO YOU THINK WE ARE GOING TO SEE ON SUNDAY?
“You always ask that after practice when nobody has ran around each other.  I honestly have no idea.  When we went on the race track there was rubber all the way across from the bottom to the top so they are obviously using the whole race track before we even started.  That is a good sign that the race track still moves around.”
 
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT JEFF (GORDON) DID LAST WEEK?
“I’m not going to get involved in that.”
 
THE ELDORA RUMOR HEATED UP AGAIN CAN YOU SAY ANYTHING ON THAT?
“When we have something to say we will tell you guys. It’s starting to get annoying every week it’s like we don’t even know answers and you guys want answers that we don’t even have answers to.  When we have answers we will come to you guys I promise we will not let you be left out of this.”
 
LAST YEAR GOING INTO THE FINAL WEEKEND YOU AND CARL (EDWARDS) KIND OF TOOK SOME JABS AT EACH OTHER IN YOUR ESTIMATION WHAT IMPACT CAN THAT HAVE SAY BETWEEN BRAD (KESELOWSKI) AND JIMMIE (JOHNSON)?
“I don’t know I haven’t been p
aying attention to what they are doing.  It affects different guys different ways.”
 
DOES THE CHASE GET MORE DIFFICULT OR EASIER WHEN YOU HAVE SOME WHAT OF A CUSHION OR IS IT BETTER IF YOU DON’T HAVE A CUSHION AND JUST RACE KNOWING YOU NEED TO PUSH IT EVERYTHING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE THE WHOLE WAY?
“I don’t know.  We’ve been in both situations.  The whole day is evenly as tough no matter where you are at it’s a tough day.  There is nothing easy about it.”

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT 20-YEAR CELEBRATORY CHEVROLET, AND RICK HENDRICK, OWNER OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, met with members of the media at Homestead-Miami Speedway and discussed the 20-year relationship with DUPONT, the incident at Phoenix International Raceway and other topics.  Full transcript:
An Interview With:
JEFF GORDON
RICK HENDRICK
            KERRY THARP:  We have a special availability in here this afternoon at Homestead Miami Speedway.  We have Jeff Gordon.  He’s driving the No. 24 DUPONT 20‑year Celebratory Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and we’re pleased to be joined by Jeff and his team owner Rick Hendrick.  This is 20 years for Jeff Gordon in the DUPONT Chevrolet with Hendrick Motorsports, a terrific accomplishment in any walk of life to be together for 20 years.
            Jeff, congratulations.  Four‑time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, also getting ready to start your 689th straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday.  That’s third all‑time, and Rick Hendrick will be going for his 11th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship as an owner on Sunday afternoon with the 48 car of Jimmie Johnson.
            Jeff, let me ask you first, 20 years with DUPONT, a terrific organization.  We have many of those folks today in the back row.  Thank you for being here today.  Just talk about the relationship you’ve had with DUPONT and the relationship you’ve had with Hendrick Motorsports.
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, it’s obviously been a phenomenal relationship and really a partnership.  We saw them in the Nationwide Series getting involved with NASCAR racing.  Rick can tell you more about the meetings that they had from the beginning that were interesting and what eventually led to the sponsorship.  And once they came on board and took a chance on a rookie driver and a new team, kind of the rest is history.  But those early days and our excitement of getting out there into the Cup Series and their excitement about what they could do for their customers and their business, and seeing those two come together, I think they’ve entertained more than 250,000 people at races over the years and really kind of set the benchmark for how sponsors go about entertaining their clients, their customers at track and how valuable that is from a business standpoint.
            It’s been really amazing all the great success.  A lot of great memories and championships and wins, but this weekend that car really means a lot to me.  It’s a very cool‑looking car.  To have 20 years with one company and to be with Rick for 20 years is something that I’m very proud of, and we look forward to a great weekend.
            KERRY THARP:  Rick, certainly you’ve won a lot of championships, four of them with the gentleman sitting to your right, but talk about the relationship not only with Jeff Gordon but also with DUPONT.
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I think everyone has heard the story of me seeing Jeff in Atlanta, and I have to thank Andy Graves, his roommate, for ‑‑ I just happened to say in front of Jimmy Johnson, who was the Jimmy Johnson that ran Hendrick Motorsports that it was a shame that this kid that I saw driving that Nationwide or Busch Car back then had a contract with Ford, and Andy Graves said he doesn’t have a contract.  So we went to work and we designed a deal without a sponsor.
            I was talking to the folks at DUPONT because I was using their products in the dealerships, and I was asking them about an associate sponsorship and had no idea they’d go for ‑‑ they said, well, how about us sponsoring a whole car.  And you look back at them taking a chance on Jeff and what they ‑‑ like Jeff said, the way they have entertained at the track and the paints that they’ve brought to the track, from the day glows to all the wild colors, then we’ve rolled that into SEMA shows.  So it’s been an unbelievable journey.
            And I think 20 years has gone by in a hurry.  But we really appreciate them because they have been there from the very beginning and they took a chance, and they deserve to have the success that they’ve had over the years.  We’re just proud to carry them on board, and you’re right, to have a sponsor that sticks with you for 20 years, that’s an awful long time.
            Q.  Is there something that Rick doesn’t know about you after 20 years?
            JEFF GORDON:  There might be a couple things but not many (laughing).  We’ve gotten pretty close.  If you guys had a chance to see “Beyond 200,” which I’ve got to say thank you to SPEED Channel for bringing all that together, Rick did a great job hosting it.  But I was so impressed with that show.  A lot of laughs, a lot of tears, but I think even those quick little bytes there in that show, I think it showed how Rick and I have bonded over the years through a lot of ups and downs.
            I don’t know, can you ‑‑ I can’t think of anything that I’m willing to admit right here that he doesn’t know.  There’s quite a bit.
            Rick usually knows more than most of us think that he knows.  I think he’s got a pretty good idea about it.
            Q.  After Sunday and before the penalties were announced Monday, were you ever concerned that you wouldn’t be here this week or this event?
            JEFF GORDON:  You know, I tried not to think about that.  I know the folks at DUPONT were worried about it.  They put a lot into this paint scheme and planning.  This has been out ‑‑ really we’ve been talking about this for about 10 weeks, commemorating this moment with this car.  Until I heard that they were worried about it, I wasn’t too concerned about it.  I knew there would be fines and penalties, but I felt like I’d be in the seat of that DUPONT Chevrolet this weekend.
            Q.  How do you feel after last week?  And what lessons have you learned from Rick about ‑‑ he hasn’t really had to work with you on anger or something over the 20 years you’ve been together.
            JEFF GORDON:  Not that you know of.
            Q.  Yeah, really.  Behind closed doors maybe, huh?  How do you feel after last weekend, and what have you learned from Rick about dealing with that sort of thing?
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, you know, I mean, the one thing that I’ll say ‑ it probably wo
n’t be the one thing because I have a feeling that we are going there now ‑ is that last week, the thing that I regret and the thing that I messed up on is that I allowed my anger and my emotions to put me in a position to make a bad choice.  I felt like that Clint needed to be dealt with, but that wasn’t the right way to go about it, certainly not the right time.  And what I hate most about it is that other guys were involved with it and it affected their day.
            I certainly look back on it and wish I had done things different, and all I can do now is look ahead and look forward and try to come in here and do the best that I can to close out the season on a positive note and put this 20th anniversary DUPONT Chevrolet into victory lane.
            Q.  What did you tell him?  How did you deal with it with him as the owner?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Let me try to frame this up for you the best I can:  Here sits a guy that’s done more for the sport than anybody I know.  He’s opened the doors for all the young guys, the open‑wheel guys.  He’s done things like Saturday Night Live, he’s done the cover of Fortune.  Never seen him have a problem ‑‑ not a major problem in 20 years, and mentored a lot of young guys along the way.  You know, I think he just said it:  His emotions got control on Sunday.
            But I think you’ve got to go back, and I don’t expect anybody in here to really understand this as much as maybe Jeff and I do, but at Martinsville this year, we was going for our 200th win.  It was the first time I had my brother’s wife there and the first time Jan Jackson, the representative of DUPONT, was there since the crash.  We had a photo session before the race, and we were all wanting to win more than anything, more than any championship.  The 200th win at Martinsville meant so much to all of us because we lost so much there.
            And that was taken away from us.  Both of our cars were wrecked on the last lap and next‑to‑last lap and it was by the 15 car.  You didn’t see our guys go down there and fight in the pits; we didn’t do any of that.  I have never hurt as bad in my life leaving the racetrack as I did that day.  It took me a week or so to get over it just because we had it in our grasp.  And that’s just emotions that we carry and nobody else.
            So I think that situation along with some other things that happened along the way, you know, you don’t forget it.  What happened happened, and I agree with Jeff, I like Michael Waltrip, I like Rob Kauffman, I like Richard Petty, I like Clint Bowyer, I like all those guys.  If we had to do it all over again, could it have been handled a different way?  I don’t think Jeff intended to wreck him that bad or wreck him at all; move him, let him know he didn’t like it, sure didn’t want to get the other cars involved.  But you’ve got to go with the emotions that happened at that time, and there’s a lot of things that happened along the way, and this guy has as much right to race for fifth or sixth in the points as somebody has to race for second.
            So I stand behind him no different than my son got in trouble at school for a bully beating on him and he stuck up for himself.  So that’s the way I feel about it.
            Q.  Jeff, seems like one thing that might make this situation kind of unique is that Bowyer was racing for a championship, and you kind of ended his championship hopes.  Was there any consideration in the car, were you aware that that was going to do him in for the championship, and do you have any regrets over ‑‑ it wasn’t just another driver but it was a guy that was contending?
            JEFF GORDON:  You know, I’ve always said this as it relates to the Chase, the championship, that if you’re contending for the championship, you’ve got to be as smart about the things you do on the racetrack as the guys that you’re racing that might be outside the championship.  And there was absolutely no reason to run into me.  That’s the thing is you’ve got to understand each guy you’re racing along the way, and you’ve got to understand if they’re a guy that needs a ride next year, you’ve got to understand if they’re a guy that is trying to finish 10th or 12th in the points or whether they’re a guy that’s racing for the championship.  And it goes both ways.  It’s not just a one‑way street.  We were racing for fourth in points in that race, and so there was a lot on the line for us as well as for them, and so I think that it just wasn’t very smart of Clint to run into me coming off of Turn 2 on the straightaway, almost cut my left rear tire down, and know that we had past history this year.
            And so afterwards, did it sit well with me knowing that that took his hopes out?  No.  He’s also a guy I would consider a friend.  There’s a lot of things that didn’t sit well with me after the fact.  But at the moment, it’s hard to kind of bring all that into your mind when you’re upset about a situation.  And that’s why I said, what I regret the most is that the situation got escalated because I lost control of my emotions and let that put me into a decision that obviously wasn’t a good one.
            I think everybody thinks I just intentionally went down there and wrecked him, and that’s not the case.  I wanted to make his life really miserable, and I wanted to make my car really, really wide, but I wasn’t expecting him to go diving down the inside on the apron, and when he did, it caused us to hook and caused what ended up being a terrible accident.
            Q.  Rick just addressed that the niche in the history of NASCAR is preserved well, four championships, five championships or more, and nobody questions the competitiveness, but could you have imagined going this many years without a championship after you got your fourth?  And what kind of an impact on you is that?
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, it’s definitely been tough.  Gosh, I look at the ‑‑ and a lot of people go through some incredible runs in the sport, and we went through one of the most amazing ones from ’95 through 2001.  I look back at the wins and the championships and the way things were going, and there was no stopping us.
            We’ve been close a couple of times.  The Chase has changed things a little bit for us, and there’s been a few changes here and there that we’ve had ‑‑ I’ve had to personally adapt to as a race car driver that have made it a little more challenging, but I think that’s what happens when you’re in the sport for a long period of time.
            I thought that we had a shot at winning one or two more over the years that would have been nice to have.  But hey, four is still pretty good.  I love how competitive this team is every year, going out there and battling for race wins and being in the Chase and battling for championships, no different than like what we did to make it into this year’s Chase.
            Q.  Jeff, after the race and the incident, Joey had some comme
nts I guess on Twitter and other places and Clint, and some of the themes were that it wasn’t very champion‑like and they’d lost a lot of respect for you.  Sort of a two‑part question.  Do you think your reputation has taken a hit either in the general public or amongst your peers, and now as the father of two young children I assume maybe Ella is old enough to have seen it or maybe have an understanding.  Have you had to have any conversation with her?  I know she saw the incident with Burton at Texas last year and you had to have a conversation with her.  Is this something as a father you’ve had to talk about?
            JEFF GORDON:  Yeah, they didn’t get a chance to see this one, so I haven’t had to have that conversation with her.  She knew that I was in a wreck, and like I have any conversations with her after I’ve had a wreck, explain to her how I’m fine and others were fine, but we didn’t have to get into all the details.
            Yeah, you know, I’ve been through a lot of moments throughout my career, some that I was more proud of than others.  This is definitely not one of my proudest moments, but I also understand what kind of led up to it and I stand by that.
            Will it take away from ‑‑ yeah, guys are going to ‑‑ if they get into incidents with you you’re going to tarnish your respect among guys.  I don’t think they’re going to be messing with me for a little while.  I think they realize that that message was sent pretty clear.  And I think that’s something, too.  It’s been a real up‑and‑down year for us, and I go on Twitter, too, and I interact with my fans.
            Throughout the last couple years I feel like one thing that maybe I haven’t done enough of is show the fire inside me that I have to want to win and want to win championships.  And I think that while I would have liked to have gone about it differently on Sunday, I think it did show that that fire and passion is inside of me in a big way.
            I would have liked the caution to be thrown, gotten our tires and gone back out and raced for a top‑15 spot in the race and tried to come in here and get as high up in the points as we possibly could and dealt with it with Clint at another time.  I feel like I race guys the way they race me, and nobody likes to get wrecked.  And so I think that for me there were some things that I had been taking advantage of, and so obviously enough was enough.  I usually like to make a mental note of them and hold onto those things and be patient with it and try to just outrace guys and move them out of the way and do things and wear them down that way and remind them of those things over a long period of time instead of taking them out right there at the moment.
            Q.  Rick, I apologize for going back to something that you said a few minutes ago, but I just had to ask about it.  Realizing, understanding the sad legacy of Martinsville, but when you said that winning the 200th race at Martinsville was more important than any championship, did you mean that across the big picture or just that day?
            RICK HENDRICK:  Well, I meant ‑‑ maybe I didn’t say it exactly right.  The disappointment of being that close to having ‑‑ let me rephrase it.  The low that I felt leaving that day was worse, it deeper down hurt more than the joy in some of the championships.  That’s what I meant.  I can’t explain how ‑‑ the disappointment that day, in all of the times that I have gone away from the track feeling bad and taken a long time to get over it.  That’s a personal thing, and all I’m saying to you folks is that that was a day that he and I had time together, he’s an emotional guy, he’s like a son, and we don’t carry it on our sleeves, but those people were there for the first time.  And so that’s what made it kind of double tough.
            Q.  Jeff, I’m just curious, have you had a chance or have you spoken to Clint or Joey?  Has there been any communication between the three of y’all?
            JEFF GORDON:  I have not spoken to Clint other than at the track on Sunday after the event in the NASCAR hauler.  And with Joey, you know, I’m not one that calls right away.  I like things to kind of settle down.  I’d really rather do face to face, but he called me and so I called him back, and I can’t say it went exactly very well.  I reached out to him again to try to get together with him here at the track, and I have not been able to speak with him.
            Q.  Are you happy the season is coming to an end?  Would you like to see it go on?  Do you need a recharge for the next couple of months?
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, I feel like this has been one of those seasons where I think we’re going to get momentum and things are going to start happening positively and we start to put some races together to find our way up further in the points, something just kind of reaches out and gets a hold of us and kind of knocks us back a little bit again.
            You know, our team has worked so hard this year, and I’m so proud of them.  We’ve had great race cars this year.  But yeah, we kind of do need a reset, and I’m looking forward to the 2013 car.  I tested it a couple weeks ago.  I thought it went really well.  I think we’ve got some great things in store for that.
            I think Hendrick Motorsports in general has shown how well they prepare when a new challenge is thrown at us like this new car.  So I think we’ve got some great things in store for us for next year.  This is a good track for us.  I look forward to this weekend.
            But I always ‑ it doesn’t matter how the season has gone ‑ look forward to taking a little time off.  Our season is long, but when you’ve had a season like I’ve had, then yeah, you’re definitely looking forward to taking a little break, spending some time with family.  But it’s also a very busy time.  It’s just not a busy time at the racetrack preparing for a race.
            Q.  How disappointing would it be if you weren’t in the top 10?
            JEFF GORDON:  Well, at this point, being 10th or 11th is ‑‑ to me that’s not what it’s all about.  I’m more disappointed that we don’t have a shot at being fifth because I felt like we had a legitimate shot at being in the top 5, and I think that would have been one incredible accomplishment for us the way our season has gone, even the way our Chase has gone, to be able to say that we finished in the top 5 this year.  At this point the difference between 10th and 11th or 12th is kind of insignificant.
            Q.  My question is about your being a champion.  As far as championships in general, that’s what this week is all about.  What would you think a contender must do to rise above or a few things a contender must do to rise above and become a champion?
            JEFF GORDON:  In t
his particular weekend or just in general?
            Q.  Yeah, in general, any champion.
            JEFF GORDON:  It’s the same ingredients I feel like that the champion has that comes out on top every year, and that’s teamwork, commitment, great leadership, and just a lot of hard work and effort that goes into building that team up to be ready to go do what you have to do for those 10 weeks in the Chase.  And I always believe that the best overall team wins the championship.  We’ll see what happens on Sunday, who that is, but I think that the best two are definitely up there.
            It’s not surprising to me that Brad is where he’s at.  Last year I thought that he showed a lot of maturity, I think that team showed a lot of strength, and they’re up against, what more can you say about the 48 team and what they’ve gone out and shown and do every year.
            Q.  When you said that you don’t think anybody would be messing with you, do you feel like this is over as far as between you and Clint, and then also, when you said it wasn’t kind of the right place or right time, do you feel like these things need to be handled on the track or off the track?
            JEFF GORDON:  Oh, there’s the million‑dollar question.  Well, obviously with the way the penalties are put out there, you can’t handle them on the racetrack.  But I think that you’ve got to handle it through how you race.  I mean, that’s ‑‑ I guess I’m a little old school when it comes to this.  Talking about 20 years, I’ve been wrecked, I’ve been caught up in other people’s wrecks, I’ve been on both sides of it, all sides of it throughout all these years, and I didn’t expect a phone call, I didn’t expect somebody to come and spend an hour with me explaining things, and usually the ones that did were the ones that did it just because they didn’t want you to wreck them back.
            So to me, you’ve got to understand the situation, and to me, like Joey getting caught up in it, I’m definitely sorry about that, and I take responsibility for that.  I want to try to make it up to him best I can.
            Another example I can give you is I wrecked Martin Truex a couple years ago at Sonoma, and I was racing Juan Pablo behind me, got in the corner two deep and ran into him, completely my fault, and I reached out to him because I did, I felt bad about it.  It had nothing to do with him, it wasn’t a racing ‑‑ like us racing hard or me having any animosity towards him at all.
            You know what, he and I never spoke.  I left him a voicemail, but we never spoke, never spoke at a racetrack, nothing, and we raced hard for, shoot, a year and a half of me racing him for position, sliding inside, doing everything I could not to wreck him to show him that this is how I’m going to treat you, and he raced me as hard as you can possibly race me knowing that he had that against me.
            And so, you know, that’s kind of the way that I like to go about things.  Somebody does something to me, I’m either going to ‑‑ if it’s a racing incident, I’m going to try to race them back in the same way they raced me.  If something happened by accident, then I’m going to understand that ‑‑ I’m going to make them kind of pay the price for making a dumb move, but at the same time, I’m going to be as respectful as I can over the situation.
            You know, every situation is unique, and I can’t control what’s going to happen out there or what other guys are going to do against me this weekend.  I’m going to focus on what I can do, and if ‑‑ I’m pretty sure if they’re having a good day, they’re not going to mess with me.  If they’re having a really bad day and feel like they have nothing to lose, then maybe they will.  We’ll see.  I prefer it to be handled on the racetrack, though.  I’m not the biggest guy in the world, and kind of one of the reasons I got into racing.  We’re all the same out there.
            Q.  It’s a little hypothetical here, but take yourself out, and if you were an outsider looking at what happened last week and somebody else was in your role, how do you think you would react to the whole situation and everything?
            JEFF GORDON:  I would tune in the following Sunday and see what happens.
            Q.  Given that, you think it is good for the ‑‑ has some validity to being good for the sport?
            JEFF GORDON:  They wouldn’t be advertising for the race using all those clips if it weren’t, I guess.  Nobody intends to go out and do that for that reason, but I mean, I’ve gained a lot of Twitter followers this week, and there’s certainly been a lot of talk, a lot of buzz, and I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of buzz around this race on Sunday for a lot of different reasons, not just that.
          
 
 

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET – BREAKOUT PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPTS:
 
Q. I know there’s so many people trying to downplay the mind games, but are you just trying to plant a seed in Brad’s (Keselowski)  mind?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, you definitely want to plant a seed, but the thing that I know is regardless of the prodding or poking I can do, that moment is coming.  The aha moment comes for everybody that’s in that championship battle.  It’s easy right now to focus on just the drivers because we’re here with the mics and doing this whole press conference.  But every guy that goes over the wall to perform the pit stops can have that moment and will have that moment.  Every guy turning a screw, a nut, putting fuel in the car, crew chiefing the race, engineering the race, everybody has the same thing on their mind.  You’re protecting something.  It is something we have all worked for our whole lives to get to this point.  It is a huge, huge moment.
            So regardless of what I say or needling I can do, those moments are going to show up, and if I can plant that seed and help spur that moment along, then cool.  But I’m not ‑‑ I didn’t come in here with a huge agenda today thinking that I was going to make a difference in that because I know those moments are going to come.  I’ve been there.
 
            Q.  So what is your mindset coming into this weekend?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  For whatever reason, I’m at peace with my situation.  I mean, I don’t want to be in this situation, but I am strangely optimistic, and I can’t explain why.  There’s just feelings that people have, and I’ll see if this feeling comes true Sunday evening.
 
            Q.  Does it work in your favor to be a five‑time champion?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I don’t feel forgotten by any means, but the truth of it is there’s 20 points, 20 positions on the track.  If it was tighter there would probably be more concern, but the best part, and it came to me during the press conference, to help spur along any thoughts and to help distract the 2 team and especially Brad and his mindset, the questions that come and the focus, that helps the magnitude of this situation come along and brings that to the forefront of his mind quicker and quicker.
            I was smiling to hear family questions asked, and what this might mean and all that, because it’s very easy in your controlled environment to ignore all of those thoughts.  But when you’re in these situations you want to know, the fans want to know, those questions come out, and it makes you think about things that you don’t want to think about or talk about and maybe haven’t yet because why would you.  As a racer you don’t want to assume things.
            I was enjoying the questions and I enjoy the fact the spotlight is over there.  In fact, what the hell are you all doing over here?  Get over there and ask some questions.
 
            Q.  Everybody talks about Brad Keselowski being discovered in 2007.  A lot of young drivers don’t get a break.  Is it just a question of being in the right place at the right time for guys that gets them to where they are now?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, it is so tough to get noticed.  I mean, I have two younger brothers that would love to be in this sport and are talented, and you’d think I could pull strings, and I’ve tried.  It’s just weird what spurs it along, and in today’s world if you don’t have a sponsor, you’re not going to race.  And the era I came through, it was like that for sure, but team owners still had some flexibility for whatever reason and sponsors were kind of around, and if a team owner believed in you, they could sell you, and I had that with Stan and Randy Herzog.
            In today’s world, even Childress, you see the Nationwide sponsors change and drivers change and on and on, even on the Cup side.  Just because an owner believes in a driver, it doesn’t impact the sponsors like it did years ago, and you have to stand out so well or bring money.
            In this era, I don’t know how I would have stood out.  I mean, I barely made it through the system as I did, and very fortunate to have made it.  But I had the manufacturers carrying me.  I had Chevy carrying me along.
            I’m not sure people ‑‑ I’m not sure the manufacturers have the impact that they did at that point in time to even help me get here.
 
            Q.  Can you think of any examples during the years you won the championships of questions that got asked that may have affected you?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Out of my Cup experience, today starts it.  Today really does, because when you leave the race in Phoenix typically, you answer some questions, you go through some media stuff, and then you go to your bubble.  You go to your place where you can control the elements.  Family typically lays back, friends, you have all this encouragement.  You go to the shop, there’s a vibe you pick up on and all of that, but you come to the press conference and it changes that dynamic.
            And this is just the start of it because we’re available to everybody multiple times through the weekend.  Every camera in Florida will be on us in every practice session.  Every time I walk to and from the transporter, what are their moves, what are they thinking, how’s it going, I heard this on the radio.  All of that just ramps up.  Sunday of Phoenix until today it’s easy to create the environment you want, but from here moving forward it’s tough, and you have to do some things that make you uncomfortable, and that’s when that moment can kick in.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I remember in qualifying for the year with Mark, so was that 2009, we didn’t have a very good practice session.  I was setting my car up to run the bottom of the racetrack, wasn’t all that fast.  Mark ran a blistering lap to be on the pole at the time, and I ran the top of the racetrack, which was kind of new down here for qualifying, and leading up to that, the pressure was on me to qualify well because qualifying is so important.  And then we go out there, never ran a lap around the top in qualifying trim, had no clue how the balance of the race car would be and sat it on the pole.  That was really from one extreme to the other, from being concerned and worried about how we were going to qualify and feeling the pressure to complete and utter relief that we pulled off a heck of a lap.
 
            Q.  Last week Brad was pretty outspoken.  I’m sure even if you tried to stay in your bubble I’m sure you heard it, about the competition on the track.  Do you expect some more of that this week?  It was kind of a crazy week last week even if you took w
hat happened to you out.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, the last 10 laps or five laps, whatever that was, pretty wild.  You know, I still haven’t seen the clip.  I understand if you watch it on television there’s going to be a lot of beeps because you can’t hear it all.  But he has a point, and he wanted to make a point, and he did.  So the thing that ‑‑ that’s all relative to Phoenix.  The thing I didn’t understand was maybe some of the criticism he took for racing me at Texas.  I guess I was in my bubble and didn’t really see any of that.
            But I mean, it was just hard racing there.  I was shocked to hear that he was hazed for some of that.
 
            Q.  Do you think that this week they’ll worry about the other people around?  You guys are in your control when you’re that good at racing, it’s really pretty much what happens around you guys unless you two are racing each other.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, if we’re racing each other I’m in trouble.  We need a big gap between where I am and where he is.  That’s really the bottom line.  You know, this is a different championship battle for me, and I have no problem doing things that I typically wouldn’t do.  I mean, if I was coming down here as the points leader I would want to limit these moments, and since I’m not, I’ll do anything you guys want and need.  It’s different.  I’ve got to play the hand that’s dealt to me, and anything I can do to be effective, I’m going to take that opportunity to do it.
 
            Q.  Just to follow up on earlier, you said you’re coming into this weekend optimistic.  Do you believe you can still win this thing?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I do believe.  I do believe we can win our sixth title.  The IndyCar championship is the best example of that this isn’t over until the checkered flag falls.  A lot can happen.  So we just need to make sure we’re buttoned up and do the best job we can and see where the chips fall.
 
            Q.  You noted earlier how the unexpected (inaudible) what was the unexpected or variable that stood out to you?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  For me it was answering questions that I wasn’t ready for.  When you’re asked questions specific about the race and your setup and your mindset, you’ve been geared up for that knowing this press conference is coming, and you’re ready for that.  But the left field questions about your family and what that means to you and what it might mean to your community, your neighborhood where you’re born and raised, those are things you just never think of.  And it didn’t dawn on me until we were in there and the questions were asked that I’m like, these are those moments, this is when it becomes real and the magnitude of this race starts to set in.
 
            Q.  Do people treat you differently this time of year than they do at the beginning of the Chase?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I think my personal life, family, home situation has evolved, and some of it is due to the fact that I personally have been able to relax a lot more in the space.  In 2006 we still laugh, my wife and I do, my friends, my attorney Allen Miller, Kristine (Curley), how tense it was in ’06 trying to get the first one.  Really ’04 and ’05 leading up to it, and then it had all the pressure on us in ’06.  We know what to expect on most levels, and this year going into the Chase we talked about things, and I just ‑‑ it’s unlike me to be selfish, so I shared with my wife, I said, look, there are going to be aspects of this where I’m going to need some me time and do this, this and this and spend time training, spend time at the shop, spend time here and there, and of course she’s 100 percent supportive and understanding of it all.
            But as we all know, communication is everything.  Just to kind of lay that out there and say I might be a little different for 10 weeks, you know why, and she certainly knows why and is extremely supportive.  It’s been great, and I had that moment and talk, and we communicated about how I thought these next 10 weeks would be very intense and blinders on.  But we’ve been performing so well that I’ve been far more relaxed than any other championship.
            And then with a two year old in the house, I mean, it lightens any mood, and it’s been ‑‑ sure, there’s work and it’s very important, but home is so much fun.  I mean, we are having a total blast, and it’s been a great kind of tension breaker through the course of the week.
 
            Q.  The first time I ever heard your name you had gone (inaudible) and climbed out.  Would you mind giving me chapter and verse your memory of that moment?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, I was convinced it was the end of me when I was flying through the air and saw the white wall.  I thought it was concrete.  Fortunately it was two layers of styrofoam and some other soft stuff behind it.  The car caught on fire.  My neck muscles were not working.  I couldn’t hold my neck up to kind of look out the windshield and see where I was.  My chin was on my sternum.  I could feel the heat, I could see kind of a fire and I knew I needed to get out, and as I got out of the car my neck started to work again, and when I got up and out of the car, the fans were jumping up and down and happy to see me climb out of the race car, and that led to my excitement to climb on the roof and jump up and down like I did.
 
            Q.  Did that have an impact on the way people recognize you or the way you were moving through the ranks at the time?  Was there a recognition factor?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You might ask (Jeff) Gordon more in depth, but I think that was a moment where Jeff like put a face with a name for me.  Then later on there were other things that helped put together the relationship with Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet being a part of that and then Rick’s son Ricky.  But Jeff told me a story a long time ago that that really helped me, oh, that’s Jimmie Johnson.  He knew there was a name, knew there was a car out there but didn’t know much about me, and that kind of framed that in.
 
            Q.  First time you saw it on film what did you think?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Same thing I think about now when I see it on film, I can’t believe I made it through that.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  I’m just not that smart, so I can only focus on a couple things at a time, so it helps.  I’m curious.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON
:  I’m still lost on the conspiracy theory.  To take out third place?  I haven’t seen the video.  I don’t know.  NASCAR has it fixed; I’m supposed to win anyways, which always confuses me.  If they have it fixed and want me to win so badly, why the hell do they bust Chad like they do?  Their conspiracy idea just makes no sense.
 
            Q.  Is there any discussion that you’ll have with Jeff or Kasey?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, no.  There is ‑‑ I mean, sure, they probably won’t make it easy.  I wouldn’t expect Sam to make it easy on me.  The thing about racing is, sure, there isn’t a race next weekend, so I might feel like you can get away with something more, but there’s just some unwritten rules, and the integrity and the type of place that Hendrick Motorsports is, that game is not going to be played.  I don’t think it really ever has, even with some pretty rough‑and‑tumble organizations.  You don’t commission someone to go out and torpedo your competition.  It just doesn’t happen.
            You know, I hope my teammates race him hard.  I hope everybody on the racetrack races him hard.  But typically when you get to Homestead and if the championship contenders put pressure on someone, nine times out of ten they point them by, and that’s something I had in years past when we had something to protect.  I knew if I put pressure on someone they’d let me go.  There were a couple that wouldn’t but most would let you go.  That’s one thing that isn’t working in my favor for this weekend.
 
            Q.  It’s interesting when you look at a lot of the champions, they were raised by fathers whose attention that they seek really bad.  I was interested to hear Brad talking about he doesn’t hear compliments about himself unless behind the scenes.  Earnhardt was like that to Dale Jr.  A lot of the driven drivers in our sport have fathers like that.  But your dad is such a wonderful, hugging, genteel kind of guy as you see him walk down pit road.  I’m wondering if you sense any kind of a feeling that you had that, kind of striving to prove yourself to your own dad that you see from a lot of the competitors at the elite level.
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  No, I had all the support, and even if I wasn’t feeling up for a race that weekend ‑‑ there’s a point when I was in grade school, middle school where we had raced so many times, and I watched all my friends develop and be good at baseball, basketball, football, have a social life, and I got to a point where I said, look, I want to be a kid, and the last thing my parents ever wanted to do was pressure me, so we stopped.  We stopped.  And that was really the end of my motocross racing at that point.
            The thing that got me was it took ‑‑ usually takes me a while to figure something out, and once I have it, I have it.  I would watch my other friends that I would grow up with out‑race me on a dirt bike, and it would just motivate me to try harder.  Then I got into the off‑road ranks and I was really young racing against 30‑somethings all the time, and here I am at 15, 16, 18, all that kind of stuff, and I just really internalized it all and found my own drive inside to do it.  It wasn’t to prove a point to anyone but myself that I could do it.  That’s really what it’s all been about.
 
            Q.  (No microphone.)
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Not specifically.  I mean, at one point he was the leader of the race, and we had never talked about the 2 all day long on the radio.  You know, when I got to seventh eighth and couldn’t go any further and sold out in my mind, all I wanted was a shot down here, and if we came in tied one up, one down, whatever we did, that’s fine by me.  I just didn’t want to be in this position and be 20 down.
            They didn’t force our hand.  The run before that on the racetrack we made up three seconds on the leader.  That run the car was a lot tighter with that set of tires we put on, and I was just driving hard.  Goodyear claimed that it was the bead, which it could be, but the damage to the tire was so severe it’s hard for us to really pinpoint what it was.  We had some high wear on sets that came off earlier, so it could have been a combination of things.  We saw the 31 Cup car, 31 truck, the 88 had a tire issue and came to pit road just before my crash.  So I’m not saying it was a bad tire, but I think that if you were abusing a tire you could have hurt it, and that’s certainly what we did, and we hurt the tire and hit the fence.
            It wasn’t Brad related, it was just trying to run hard and get a good finish because I wanted to come in here close.
 
            Q.  While you were up on stage with Brad, you both displayed a lot of class.  What do you think a contender needs to be able to have to become a champion?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, I don’t think ‑‑ there’s no prerequisite.  There’s no requirements for anybody.  You know, I think people ‑‑ as you progress as a driver and become a champion, you start to assume the role, you start to better understand the role.  But somebody could be very disliked and not be the ‑‑ people might look at them and say there’s no way that champion’s material and they’ll still be the champion.  That’s what I’m getting at.
            I’m sure people looked at me in ’06 and said he’s not going to be a good champion for our sport.  But you learn that role when you’re in the middle of it, and some people get aggressive with it and are strong‑minded with it, and others kind of take their time with it.  Which over five championships I finally felt like I had a voice.  I feel like from my standpoint I’ve always had to earn that right.  Others are much quicker to it.
 
            Q.  Do you see any of that in Brad?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Just a little.  (Laughter.)
 
            Q.  Does this championship feel like such a different scenario for you?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I mean, there was ‑‑ in ’05 we came down here behind Tony, and I think Tony had to finish 25th or better and we were running near the front, had a tire blow going into Turn 3 and crashed, and I think Tony finished like 23rd or 24th in the race and did not have a good race.  I think he got lapped at some point.  So when I look back on ’05, I hate that we had that problem.  I felt like I had a tire going down and an issue and didn’t come to pit road.  So there is a lesson in that, that again, it isn’t over until the checkered falls.  If we would have stayed in the race, even if we went down a lap from pitting ‑‑ I don’t think there were lucky dogs then, but maybe we could have got a lap back, or whatever it was, but keep the pressure on is the bottom line.  That’s my goal all weekend long, keep the pressure on and see what happens.
  I mean, it isn’t over until the checkered falls.
 
ADDITIONAL JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES FROM EARLIER BREAKOUT SESSION MONITORED BY KRISTA VODA AND KERRY THARP:
 
Q.  Jimmie, a somewhat strange position for you this weekend because in four out of five years you’ve won the championship you’ve come into Homestead leading the points.  Now similar to 2010, you come in as the chaser.  I know the answer to this question, but I’m going to ask it anyway:  Can you pull off another late‑race comeback?
 
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, I definitely think it’s possible.  You look at our bad luck last weekend, there’s still a race here, and there’s still tires on these race cars, and something can happen there.  There’s still a lot of very tough competition on the track.  This just isn’t any other race; this is the championship race, and there’s a lot that comes with that.
            I’m very optimistic.  I think that we’ll have a very fast race car, and we’ll go out onto the racetrack and do all that we can each and every lap of every practice session qualifying and race, and see how things play out.
            I find another point of motivation and optimism; we look at the IndyCar championship and how it unfolded at Fontana.  It seemed like it was a lay‑up race, and things can happen.  This is racing.  I think either way we’ll be in good shape.  We’ll have a fast race car and go out and race hard, and then if some luck comes our way, we’ll hopefully be ready to capitalize on that, as well.
 
Q.  Jimmie, given the deficit, do you feel like you have to root for something bad to happen to Brad Keselowski, or would you consider roughing him up in order to put him back somewhere in the back of the field?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, I think that to think that a top‑15 finish is a lay‑up is tough.  This garage area is tough, the weight of this race, I don’t care who you are, it’ll show up at some point in time and thoughts will run through your head, and with all that being said, a 15th place finish is not a lay‑up for these guys.  So I have a little bit of stock in that, and we’ll see how they respond.  Their trends this year have been strong, but this is a different race.
            Then as far as the luck category, we were unlucky as anybody can be.  There’s that element that exists out there, and we’ll just see where it all unfolds.  There’s a line of racing hard, to answer your final part of your question, and we both have proven we’re willing to race hard, and I certainly am willing to race hard down here.  It’s not my style to go drive through somebody and create the opportunity; that’s not me.  So I’m going to race as hard as I possibly can and see where things fall.
 
Q.  Will you have your teams let you know how you stand, or is that too much to think about during the race?  Do you want to know where the other guy is, how many positions you’ve got to get, or do you kind of wait until you get down to the last 50 laps to start thinking about stuff like that?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Yeah, if we get to the end of the race and they’re not having the day that they would hope to have, that information could ‑‑ it’s really probably not going to change anything that I do.  I still need every spot I can get on the track.  But I’m sure information will come in, and even if it isn’t specific, I can tell ‑‑ I will be able to tell by the tone in Chad’s voice if we’re in the good or the bad.  (Laughter.)
 
Q.  As the psych major or the pretend psych major of the group, Jimmie, I can’t help but notice you brought up the IndyCar championship and what happened there.  You said a top 15 finish is no lay‑up.  It seems you’re kind of tweaking it a little bit, maybe intentional, maybe not, and we know from the past, I guess, two championships you guys messed with Denny Hamlin a little bit up there, Carl Edwards got a little rattled from Tony Stewart.  Maybe you’re doing it on purpose, maybe you’re not.  Is that the intent, to put the weight on Brad Keselowski?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  You know, of course I’m going to find points that give myself motivation and my team, and if there’s anything I can do, and Brad, if you’d like me to call later and remind you of any other examples, I certainly can, of guys that didn’t pull off the season finale as they would hope.
            But one thing I’ve learned is that regardless of how experienced anyone is in this championship battle, at some point the magnitude of it hits you.  At some point, he may be very comfortable and calm now, it may not happen until he’s in the car, but at some point that magnitude hits, and I’ve lived through it five times.  That’s a turning moment, and we’ll see how he responds.  It also carries over to guys changing tires.  There’s some point where every member on that race team goes, this is it, this is what I’ve worked so hard far.  I’ll be glad to point out those moments as needed.
 
Q.  Jimmie, you said that at some point the magnitude hits you for everybody, and it affects the contenders in some way.  A few weeks ago Dale Earnhardt Jr. said about Brad Keselowski that he’s so mentally tough he didn’t think he was going to crack.  Is there something you see from Brad that makes you think otherwise, and what happens in that moment when the magnitude does hit you?  How do you respond to it?  What makes that championship mettle that you need to win a championship?
            JIMMIE JOHNSON:  Well, me trying to explain what it’s like and how I’ve handled it would probably be kind of stupid of me right now, so I’m going to not answer the second part of your question.
            The first part is the magnitude sets in at some point.  I mean, he just answered a question about family, and I’ve been there, and I’ve been the guy leading the points, and people are so curious to know all these what‑ifs, what if it happens, and you’re forced to answer questions that you’re not used to answering, that you don’t want to answer, and it builds through the course of the week.
            Again, it hits everybody differently, and there’s no guarantees how it’ll hit him.  But I know from my own experience that there have been those moments.  Fortunately I responded well to them.  We’ll see how the weekend goes.
 

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – WINNER: THAT FINAL RESTART YOU HAD A SLICK RACE TRACK LOTS OF OIL DRY YOU ARE ALMOST OUT OF GAS AND A FIRED UP KYLE BUSCH BESIDE YOU.  WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?
“Well, I thought as crazy as this year has been for our Budweiser Chevy, I’m just thinking about not over driving the first corner, whether we were going to run out of gas or not, how far the No. 18 was going to drive it in.  Then they were really quick to throw the caution and then just let us race through oil.  I don’t know I guess it’s hard for them to be right.  I’ve got to thank all the fans and Sprint, Budweiser, Rheem, Jimmy Johns, Chevrolet, Okuma, Realtree, Bad Boy Buggies, Hunt Brothers, everybody who helps us and thank you to all who have served this country we wouldn’t be able to do what we do today without that.”
 
THE WEEKEND BEGAN WITH EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN 2014, BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS TO END THE RCR DROUGHT AND A DROUGHT FOR YOU IN VICTORY LANE THAT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR: “Well, it has been a struggle for the year.  It has been an interesting weekend to say the least, but I know that these guys all want to win.  I know Richard (Childress) wants to win and regardless of what happens in 2014 we have the end of this year and we’ve got all of next year.  We want to win races and we want to be competitive and that is what we are here to do.”
 
ON HIS RACE: “What a great day.  The car was really tight to start with and these guys did a great job on pit road.  Gil (Martin, crew chief) did a great job with strategy and just gave us a chance.  From there we raced and were able to put ourselves in position to race for the win.  On the restarts we were able to get going pretty good and that last one was a little tense regardless and then we had to dirt track it through the oil there off of turn four.  Regardless, it’s a great day for our Budweiser Chevy and just glad to be in Victory Lane.”

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 39 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 5TH:  HE BRINGS HOME A BEATEN UP RACE CAR WITH A TOP-FIVE TODAY WHAT ABOUT THOSE LAST LAPS? “Well my race car is junk.  That was a good run for our Quicken Loans Chevrolet, Veterans Day a special paint scheme really proud of everything there, but really disappointed in the way NASCAR handled that last lap there.  That was not fair to the drivers at all.”
 
KURT BUSCH, NO. 78 FURNITURE ROW/FARM AMERICAN CHEVROLET – FINISHED 8TH: ON HIS RACE: “That was a wild ending, not sure at the time what was happening. I just stayed on the gas to get to the finish line. Everything was going smoothly and it was looking like a sixth-place finish for the Furniture Row car. But then all of a sudden all heck broke loose. I saw the door of the No. 16 car (Greg Biffle) come across my left front, and from there I went on to smack the wall. I kept on going and was able to nudge (Paul) Menard for eighth.  We had a great run going today until a loose lug nut put us a lap down. We definitely had a car that was capable of winning, but you can’t afford those kinds of mistakes. However, we did battle back to notch our second straight top-10 finish. We keep on making progress. I like everything I see about this Furniture Row team.”
 
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – FINISHED 12TH: ON HIS RACE: “The Target Chevy was good all weekend. We struggled a little bit on the long runs. The car would start to get really tight but otherwise it wasn’t a bad day for us. We managed to stay out of trouble and stay on the lead lap all day. We’re making gains every weekend.”
 
DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – FINISHED 17th: WHAT HAPPENED IN TURNS THREE AND FOUR? “We had a green-white-checkered it was a nice exciting finish for the fans.  Got around (turns) one and two and came off had decent distance on the No. 31 and he went down and took the apron got down into (turn) three and I did not think he was near close enough to be on me going into (turn) three.  I left a little bit of room, not a ton of room for sure, but I think, Tony Gibson (crew chief) said he went down and talked to him and he said he just went in too deep.  Clipped my left-rear, spun me around and I just tried to limp back to the line.  I didn’t know exactly how much damage I had or what it was, but just trying to limp to the line and get the finish on the lead lap, whatever that was.  Still our best finish, but you always want more. I was 13th I think or something right around there and that would have been a really good finish.  Shoot, some days I would take that in a Nationwide car.”
 
HARD HIT ON THE FRONT STRETCH ARE YOU OKAY? “Yes, everything is fine.  Obviously, there was the glance in (turn) three and four, but I definitely got airborne down the front straight.  What is unfortunate is I’m pretty sure that the No. 39 was one of them.  I hope I didn’t cause a problem, but I think we have different cars for Homestead hopefully.  We don’t run our short-track cars on the big track right?  And we get new ones next year.  This will make for good charity crash damage body work.”
 
ON INCIDENT: “Green-white-checkered at the end. It was an exciting race at the end. Man, we save it all at the end in these Cup races. Came out of two on the back-straight, and with the No. 31 (Jeff Burton), and he took the apron. I already had a good distance coming out of two. The apron was not quicker all day long to make a pass, unless you had a big run going. So, got into three, and I think Tony Gibson (Crew Chief) went down and talked to him, and he (Burton) said ‘I’m sorry, I just bonzaied. I just went in too deep.” The No. 31 clipped me, I spun around, got it going again. Was on fire I think, and I was trying to get across the line. I was literally trying to drive into the wall then drive along it because I couldn’t see. I don’t know exactly what happened. I heard there might have been oil from me, or something. If so, I definitely wasn’t intending to make a mess. But 17th…we were 13th, that’s pretty good. Short tracks are not my strong suit.”
 
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CAUTION NOT BEING CALLED? “Hmmmm. I’d have to see it. I think NASCAR does a good job of doing what’s safe and what’s right. We are all human though, and you also can’t control the intangibles; anything can happen how there. That’s why we watch right.”
 
TONY GIBSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 10 GODADDY RACING CHEVROLET: ON DANICA’S RACE: “Another great day. Everybody did a really good job today. She raced hard. She had some great runs today. She raced herself to the Lucky Dog there, and got a lap back. Then she was solid, man. She had a top-10, 12 car all day long. She deserved to finish 12th at least. But, she got wrecked by (Jeff) Burton. But, it’s our best finish. 17th. We’ll take that. But we know we were better than that. She’s getting better, and better, and better. It just makes up pumped for next year.  She said herself, I wish we were going to Homestead. It is just pumping everybody up. It’s exciting. I’m glad we got these two races in, because it just shows her she can drive and run with these guys. It puts confidence in our guys, that yes, she can do it. Around the whole table it is awesome.”
 
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/ALLSTATE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 23RD
ON HIS RACE: “We fought with the balance of the Bass Pro Shops/Allstate Chevy all day. The guys did a great job in pits, but the long, green flag runs didn’t play into our strategy. We’ll continue working hard as we head to final race of the season in Miami next weekend.”
 
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 30TH – INVOLVED IN ON-TRACK INCIDENT WITH CLINT BOWYER: ON THE INCIDENT: “Things have gotten escalated over the year and I have just had it.  Clint (Bowyer) has run into me numerous times, wrecked me and h
e got into me on the back straightaway, pretty much ruined our day.  I have had it, was fed up with it and got him back.”
 
IN THE MELEE IN THE GARAGE DID YOU GET HIT? “No.”
 
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ANY PENALTIES? “They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do.  Just like I had to do what I had to do.”
 
ON INCIDENT: “Clint (Bowyer) has run into me numerous times, wrecked me. He got into me on the back straightaway, and pretty much ruined our day. I had it. That was it, and got him back.”
 
WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM IN THE NASCAR HAULER? “I told them what I just told you.”
 
ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT WHAT COMES NEXT? “They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do, and I guess I had to do what I had to do.”
 
ALAN GUSTAFSON, CREW CHIEF, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET, FINISHED 30TH:– COMMENTS FOLLOWING THE ON-TRACK INCIDENT INVOLVING JEFF GORDON AND CLINT BOWYER:
WHY DID JEFF GORDON GET SO UPSET BY THAT MOVE (MADE BY CLINT BOWYER) THEY WERE NOT RACING FOR THE LEAD: “Well I mean it’s about the fifth time that he (Clint Bowyer) has run us over.  After a while you get really frustrated.  We all work really hard on these cars and Jeff (Gordon) races everybody with a lot of respect.  Evidently he had enough.  If you are going to play that way, if you are going to race that way then you shouldn’t be upset when you get it back.”
 
YOU ARE THE ONE THAT HAS TO FIX THIS RACE CAR NOW.  WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS ON JEFF (GORDON) WRECKING THIS CAR?
“I love Jeff Gordon.  I stand by him 100 percent and that is what we had to do.  We will fix them all day long.  He is a great race car driver and he knows, everybody out here will tell you he is as good a race car driver and a competitor as there is.  If he is tired of it, it means it’s time.”
 
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN HIM THAT FIRED UP? “That was pretty fired up.”
 
ON THE CRASH BETWEEN JEFF GORDON AND CLINT BOWYER “We had a pretty good car. It was a good race. And we were having a good top five run and just got used up by the No. 15 (Clint Bowyer) and obviously we take offense to that and it’s not the first time it’s happened. After a while, that adds up and adds up and it’s time to put a stop to it.”
 
CREWS GOT INVOLVED; JEFF GORDON GOT INVOLVED, EVERYBODY GOT INVOLVED “The crew thing is it’s between Jeff and Clint and not those team members. My instructions to the guys was just don’t let anybody get to Jeff. And that’s what that’s about.  We’re going to protect him and stand behind him at all costs. Those guys obviously have tempers running high as are ours, and that’s what happens.”
 
WHY WOULD JEFF GORDON GET SO UPSET BY THAT MOVE? THEY WEREN’T RACING FOR THE WIN?
“Well, it’s about the fifth time that he’s run us over and after a while you get really frustrated with that. We all work really hard on these cars and Jeff races everybody with a lot of respect and evidentially he had enough. If you’re going to play that way, if you’re going to race that way, then you shouldn’t be upset when you get it back.”
 
YOU’RE THE ONE THAT HAS TO FIX THIS RACE CAR NOW. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS ON JEFF WRECKING THIS CAR? “I love Jeff Gordon and I stand by him 100 percent, and that’s what we have to do. We’ll fix them all day long and he’s a great race car driver and everybody out here will tell you he’s as good a race car driver and a competitor as there is and if he’s tired of it, that means he’s tired of it. He was pretty fired up.”
 
MICHAEL WALTRIP SAID THIS WAS CHICKEN-BLANK. HE’S VERY UPSET. “I don’t care.”
 
WHERE DID YOU FEEL LIKE CLINT BOWYER HAS DONE THINGS AGAINST YOU THIS YEAR?
“I can’t sit here and name them all. There are a couple of instances where we got into some difficult situations and both Martinsvilles come to mind right away.  He cost us a win there.”
 
YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY SHAKING MAD NOW. WE CAN TELL BECAUSE YOU ARE USUALLY COOL, CALM, AND COLLECTED. WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF ALL THIS?
“It’s racing man; that’s what happens.”
 
RICK HENDRICK, TEAM OWNER, HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS:
COMMENTS ON THE INCIDENT INVOLVING JEFF GORDON AND CLINT BOWYER:
“I think the best thing for me to do is not say anything right now because you know everybody’s emotions are pretty raw.  I like Clint (Bowyer) a lot he is a good guy.  I like all those guys.”
 
WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU SAW JIMMIE’S (JOHNSON) CAR HIT THE WALL? HOW DEVASTATING IS THAT?
“It’s a tough deal.  You hate that because you hate to have a problem like that.  But that is just… you cut a tire and that happens and you just part of it.  I hate it, but we will go on to Homestead.”
 
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S KOBALT TOOLS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 32nd DUE TO ACCIDENT DUE TO A BLOWN RIGHT FRONT TIRE WITH 77 LAPS TO GO; MADE REPAIRS IN GARAGE, AND RETURNED TO RACE 33 LAPS DOWN
“We still have to go to Homestead and race and anything can happen down there. But this is not the position we want to be in late in Phoenix. I feel terrible for my team and how hard these guys work; everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools and Chevrolet. Across the board there has been a huge effort put in to try to get us a championship and I just hate for our day to turn out as it did today. But, that’s racing and we’ll go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.”
 
WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE RACE CAR AND WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO WITH IT WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED?
“We were cruising along and I think we would have had a top five day or a top 10 day if things worked out at the end. And I had a slight vibration starting in the right front. I didn’t really know where it was coming from but clearly now it was the right front. And as I was coming off of Turn 4, it went down and I went straight in the wall. If I were another 30 or 40 feet around the corner, I probably would just have had a flat and not hit the wall. But, where it let go, I had a direct line to the wall and knocked it down.”
 
FATE USUALLY SMILES ON YOU, BUT IT DIDN’T SEEM TO THAT TIME
“No, that’s the way it goes. Anything can happen in racing. I’m very proud of the year. I’m very proud of the effort my entire Lowe’s team has put in. I hate to see it potentially end this way, but again, that’s racing. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve won a few championships and I’ve lost a lot. Losing isn’t any fun; but we’ll be back next weekend and next year and do the best job we can.”
 
WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE ON THE RACE TRACK?
“We blew a tire coming off Turn 4 and I hit the wall real hard and damaged the race car. I think we would have been in the top five maybe at best; maybe 7th or 8th the way the race was unfolding. It’s unfortunate to have the day end like this and potentially end our season and hopes for a championship this way.”
 
DESCRIBE NOW THE EMOTIONS AND WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE TO DO TO REGROUP TO RALLY BACK WHEN YOU GET TO MIAMI? “Well, that’s what this team is made of. We’ll always rally and regroup and do all we can. Unfortunately we lost a lot of control or all control in the championship. We can go down there and win the race and do everything on our behalf and it still won’t net us a championship. So, we’ll go down and do our part and just see how things unfold. Today was proof that anything can happen in this sport and we’ll see how things shake out in Miami.”
 
YOU DISCUSSED LOSING CONTROL. HOW DOES THIS IMPACT THE WAY YOU APPROACH IT NEXT WEEKEND? “Well, it takes a lot of pressure off. I would much rather have the pressure of trying to win the championship and hang on to the points lead, but the position we’re in now, it really is a go for broke mentality from driving the car and al
l those types of things to try and catch the No. 2 car in this situation. If they have some bad luck it changes our game plan. But right now they have a ton of control going to Homestead.”
 
WITH HOW GOOD BRAD KESELOWSKI WAS, DO YOU THINK HE WAS PUSHING YOU A LITTLE BIT HARDER THAN YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED AT THAT POINT IN TIME? “It wasn’t necessarily on Brad’s behalf. It was just the No. 2.  He was one of six or seven cars in front that had his feet on speed. The run prior to our tire going down, we were really, really fast. And I didn’t see this coming. I knew my car was tight that run the tire exploded, but I didn’t think we were going to have an issue with the tire going down. So, just running hard. It wasn’t driven by the No. 2. We’ve always raced out own race to see where the chips may fall and that was really all we were doing today.”
 
ON HIS CAR “We were just decent all weekend long. Qualifying didn’t go all that well but from there on, we made some improvements on the car and we were a top 10 maybe a top five car in a lot of different situations, but I think Brad started off as like a top 10 car and worked himself into a top five and was racing for the win; and I was content coming out of here within a few points up or down. I thought that was how our day was going to turn out and we would go to Homestead and race like crazy. But that tire going down changed that a lot.”
 
ON CHAMPIONSHIP: “It’s way, way out of our control obviously with the problem we had today.  We still have to go to Homestead and race.  Anything can happen down there, but not the position we want to be in leaving Phoenix.  I feel terrible for my team and how hard these guys work.  Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe’s, KOBALT Tools, Chevrolet, across the board this has been a huge effort put into this to try to get us a championship.  I just hate for our day to turn out as it did today, but that’s racing.  We will go to Homestead and do all we can down there and see how things pan out.”
 
WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH THE RACE CAR?  WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO DO WITH IT WHEN THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED? “We were cruising along and I think going to have a top-10 day maybe a top-five day if things worked out at the end.  I had a slight vibration starting in the right-front, I didn’t know where it was really coming from, but clearly now it was the right front.  Then as I was coming off of turn four it went down and straight in the wall I went.  Another 30, 40 feet around the corner I probably would have just had a flat and not hit the wall.  Where it let go I had a direct line into the wall and knocked it down.”
 
FATE USUALLY SMILES ON YOU IT DIDN’T SEEM TO THAT TIME: “No, it’s the way it goes.  Anything can happen in racing.  I’m very proud of the year and very proud of the effort my entire Lowe’s team has put in.  I hate to see it potentially end this way, but again that’s racing.  I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve won a few championships and I’ve lost a lot.  Loosing isn’t any fun, but we will be back next weekend and next year hungrier than ever and do the best job we can.”
 
DESCRIBE NOW WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO GOING TO HOMESTEAD:
“Well that is what this team is made of we will always rally, regroup and do all we can.  Unfortunately, we lost a lot of control or all control in the championship.  We go down there and win the race and do everything on our behalf and it still won’t net us a championship. We will go down and do our part and just see how things unfold. Today was proof that anything can happen in this sport and we will see how things shake out in Miami.”
 

Harvick wins Phoenix, Johnson Takes Hit in Championship Battle
 
AVONDALE, ARIZ. (NOV. 11, 2012) – When the dust settled from the wild race at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, emerged as the winner of the AdvoCare 500.  It is Harvick’s first win of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season, and the 19th of his career.
 
Harvick, who won at PIR on two previous occasions, led once for 15 laps in the 319-lap race, seven laps longer than the originally advertised distance.
 
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, came into the 35th race of the season leading the points by seven when the green flag dropped.  Working his way through the field from his 24th place starting position, the five-time NSCS champion had skillfully maneuvered to the top-10.  But, with 77 laps to go Johnson’s right front tire blew, sending him into the wall, and then to the garage for repairs. He returned to the race 38 laps down to the leaders.  He was scored in the 32nd finishing position, and heads to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 20-point deficit to leader Brad Keselowski (Dodge).
 
The race ended in a green-white-checkered finish when the race was extended following an on-track altercation involving Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, and Clint Bowyer (Toyota) in the closing laps.  Gordon was unable to finish the final laps, and was scored with a disappointing 30th place finish.
 
The melee continued with a multi-car accident as the field thundered toward the checkered flag. Harvick held off Denny Hamlin (Toyota) and Kyle Busch (Toyota), who finished second and third respectively, as well as Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet in fourth.  Despite being one of the severely damaged cars in the final wreck, Ryan Newman brought his No. 39 Quicken Loans/U.S. Army Chevrolet home in fifth place.
 
Other Team Chevy drivers in the top-10 were: Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet – 8th and Paul Menard, No. 27 Rheem/Menards Chevrolet – 9th. Both Busch and Menard sustained damage to their race cars in the front straightaway wreck.
 
Danica Patrick, No. 10 GoDaddy Racing Chevrolet, was running 13th when the final wreck ensued, and limped to the checkered flag in 17th place in front of her hometown crowd.
 
The remainder of the Team Chevy contenders in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finished as follows: Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet – 19th, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew/AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet -21st.
 
The season will conclude on Sunday, November 18th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
 
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET, GIL MARTIN, CREW CHIEF, AND RICHARD CHILDRESS, OWNER OF RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING – RACE WINNERS
POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
 
THE MODERATOR:  We are now joined by our race winner, Kevin Harvick driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet.  Obviously a big win for you guys, one that you’ve been searching for this season for a long time, so talk a little bit about finally getting to victory lane.
            KEVIN HARVICK:  Yeah, you know, it was an interesting day to say the least, but Gil did a great job of keeping us in the track position game and made our car better all day, and the further we got towards the front, the better the car handled.  They made good adjustments, and there at the end we had a couple restarts and Kyle chose the bottom and we were able to drive around the topside of him and then get control of the race really.
            Obviously we didn’t want to see the red flag.  We were about ‑‑ best I’ve heard is about five feet.  Someone can tell me where the caution came out.  But when I came by, I saw the caution light come on, and I saw the flag before we had gotten to the start‑finish line.  At that point you think about, man, it’s 2012, what’s going to go wrong, where are we going to run out of gas.
       &nbs
p;    Once I got those thoughts out of my head, I just wanted to get a good restart and be able to get into Turn 1 and not have any mistakes and knew if we could get through there without any mistakes that we could at least have a fighting chance of taking control of the bottom of the racetrack in Turn 3 and 4.
 
            Q.  Brad came in here and said he was basically ashamed of the sport, said it was effing bullshit what happened out there at the end on a lot of front between the wrecks and the retaliation.  What are your thoughts on that?
            KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, you can’t throw the caution flag as fast as you can throw it one time and then just let everybody run through a whole straightaway full of oil.  Those are the guys that are going to have to look themselves in the mirror, the guy who’s calling the races, and decide if they’re doing a good job.
 
            Q.  What about the fights?
            KEVIN HARVICK:  The sport was made on fights.  We should have more fights.  I like fights.  (Laughter.)  They’re not always fun to be in.  Sometimes you’re on the wrong end.  But fights are what made NASCAR what it is.
            I can tell you guys because I know the question is going to come, you guys are all going to ask the question, so we’re going to say it in front of each other.
            We can all talk about what’s going to happen in 2014.  We have 2012, we have 2013, and regardless of what happens on a business side of things, Richard Childress and myself will always be friends, good or bad, and may disagree to disagree, but we still have a lot of racing left to do and we owe it to our sponsors and our company to go out and do exactly what we did today and be men and do the best we can for everybody.
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Well said.
            THE MODERATOR:  We are now joined by race‑winning crew chief Gil Martin and team owner Richard Childress, so we’ll continue with questioning for any of the three of these gentlemen.
 
            Q.  Can we have Richard also speak to that?
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Yeah, Kevin said it all, we’re going to go to Homestead, try to win.  We look to everybody in ’13 to go win a championship, and whatever happens, happens.  It’s a business decision.  This is a business sport.
 
            Q.  Can you guys just all three of you talk about today and kind of ‑‑ I guess a lot of people thought that might have been a distraction and today you just went about your business and did it.
            KEVIN HARVICK:  Well, I think it’s ‑‑ there can be distractions, there can be whatever happening around the race track, off the race track, but when you get in that garage and everybody is doing their jobs, I get in the car, he’s up on the trailers, I mean, we’re all just racers in the end.  We want to race cars and it comes with a lot of media, it comes with a lot of things outside of the racetrack.
            But when we actually get to get into our element we all do our jobs regardless, and we all don’t want to go out and embarrass ourselves and not run good.  We want to be exactly where we are, right here, talking to you guys after the race and in Victory Lane and doing the things that make us all happy.  It’s been a frustrating year, but two races to go, here we are.
            GIL MARTIN:  Only thing I can tell you is I’m really glad to be sitting here looking at you guys.
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  Gil Martin, made a great call today, Kevin did a great job conserve fuel when we had to.  Gil told him to go and he could pick up a couple of tenths, and it was really a good race strategy call.  We lost the race we felt here the first one.  We finished second but we ran out of gas catching Denny there.
 
            Q.  I know that you were highly upset about the fact that the race was put into overtime because you felt the caution should have come out before the green‑white checkered was allowed.  Now, are you pleased that what was done was just, or are you only pleased because you won the race anyway?
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  No, I’m really disappointed in the way the race was called, and I asked them ‑‑ Kevin almost wrecked coming off of 4.  We take the white flag, she’s coming across down here, everybody seen what was happening.  I just knew the caution was going to come out, and he races back around and almost wrecks and we lose a car and could have hurt a driver, so I’m just still a little upset about that last not being a caution.
            KEVIN HARVICK:  There was more oil than there was asphalt, I can guarantee you that, and it was very visible.
 
            Q.  Richard, after the weekend that you had here, is this some kind of redemption?  How do you kind of wrap your arms and put a bow on this weekend?
            KEVIN HARVICK:  I feel like it’s a Kentucky weekend.  Remember we went to Kentucky and used to test all the time and we won the first Kentucky race and wrecked 11 cars?  This one, what was it, eight?
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  We wrecked eight cars.  My week got off in a bad start Tuesday night, and from that point on it hasn’t been really great.  But that’s life.
            KEVIN HARVICK:  This week has started off better.
 
            Q.  Just wondering, after the 44‑race drought, Richard, what do you think is the turnaround from where you have been because you guys really struggled and you can’t expect Eric Warren to come in and change things overnight, but what would you point to having three cars that possibly could have finished in the top 10 today before the 31 got taken out?
            RICHARD CHILDRESS:  You know, everybody has worked hard all year long and did a whole lot, and there’s no question about it, we got a little behind on some of this skew and all this stuff that people were doing.  It put us behind, and you know, we didn’t get the year we wanted, but to come out with a win, it was big, and I couldn’t be prouder of this whole team, Budweiser and Kevin and all of these guys.  It was really a good week.
 
            Q.  You’ve been around a while.  This is in reference to Brad came in here and he was very hurt and he said some people in the garage criticized him after a clean race, he raced Jimmie cleanly.  Did you hear anybody, you don’t have to mention names, but did you hear anybody in the garage criticizing Keselowski’s driving?< br>            KEVIN HARVICK:  No, no.  I mean, he races hard.  Why would you criticize a guy that races hard and is in contention to win a championship?  I think there’s maybe a lot of agendas to try to get in his head, but at this point he’s got a 20‑point lead and he’s the only one that controls his head at this point.  If the wheels don’t fall off, he’s going to win the championship.
 
            THE MODERATOR:  Let’s end on a positive note.  Keelan’s first trip to Victory Lane; how did he do?
            KEVIN HARVICK:  He was fine until everybody started screaming.  It made him cry.
            It was great to have everybody here.  We’ve had a great week or had a lot of great foundation events, and changed the lives of a lot of kids in Bakersfield hopefully to better their education and their direction of their lives.  It’s been a great week, and to cap it off like this is a great way.
 
            THE MODERATOR:  We thank you guys.  Congratulations.
 
            GIL MARTIN:  I just want to say one thing to touch on what Richard was saying where we’ve come a long way, but this victory is a big team deal from Paul Menard and Slugger.  We have started working together so hard here in the last month, and I want to put out a big thanks to those guys because they’ve done a great job as far as working teammates.  And try to win Homestead.
            KEVIN HARVICK:  Yeah, halfway through practice we decided to stop and put in everything out of the 27 car, and that’s really the way it’s supposed to work.  We put it in and adjusted it to my driving style, and that’s great to see.
 
            THE MODERATOR:  Congratulations.  We’ll see you guys at Homestead.