Tuesday, July 19, 2005
TONY STEWART (No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet): "It's still a racetrack. (The) grinded track is done the right way. And that's Tony George's m.o.: When he does something, he does it the right way here. It's phenomenal, there's hardly a bump on the track right now. Makes it really fun for us as drivers, and as teams it makes it a little easier. The grip's higher, but at the end of the day you still push the car as hard as you can and go as fast as the setup will let it go." (How would you describe your season in recent weeks?): "The last five weeks have just been phenomenal for us. I keep thinking I'm in a dream, and it's going to not happen. The good thing is it is happening and it's happening at the right time for us, and the timing couldn't be better in terms of coming here in a couple of weeks." (Assuming you keep on this streak, will your confidence be as high coming here as it has been in a long time?): "Yeah, if we were going a little better in practice right now I'd say the confidence is real high, but we've got to keep doing what we're doing. The thing about this series, you can be on top one minute and be on the bottom the next week." (Testing this track, have you thought about testing the fence?): "Let's just worry about getting to the checkered flag, then we'll worry about testing the fence. Good thought, though. We've got to get through phase one before we get to phase two. If I bust my butt at that point, who cares, at least I have the trophy." (How would you describe your stats here in a stock car?): "Not near as impressive as I'd like it to be. Obviously, we've learned how to lead laps here; we can lead the first half, we just can't lead the last half of the race like we've been doing the last five weeks. We start a race strong, we can finish a race strong, so it's a matter of finding the right package to do that here also." (Are you as confident coming here, thanks to this streak, as you've ever been?): "It's the hottest five-week streak I've been on. Like I said, it can all change this week at Pocono, we could run 30th here when we come back and be scratching our heads wondering what happened. This series is tough. If it were that easy we wouldn't even came testing. We'd just say, 'Hey, we're where we need to be,' and would have taken a couple days off. That's why we're out here sweating our guts out today trying to figure out how to go fast."
DALE EARNHARDT JR. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet): "We were back and forth, and the car would be great one run, (bad) the next. It's got a lot of grip, but it's hard to get the front end to stop pushing. Real tight, but we'll figure it out."
MARK MARTIN (No. 6 Viagra Ford): (About track): "It may have a little bit more grip, but it was fine the way it was for us guys. We didn't feel any bumps out there before, so it's just smoother now than ever." (How is your test going and what are you looking for?): "We're just looking for the competitive edge." (What more can you learn after running here so many times?): "We're about full up, right now, so we're going to do a little baseline qualifying stuff and then pack it in." (Do you like this track?): "This is not my favorite track, but we've learned to put on a good show here, so it's OK, but I run a lot of laps because we're working real hard. When I go to test, I don't go to mess around. We're on the racetrack at 9 a.m. when it opens, and we run more laps then anybody ever does, so that's why we go test. Otherwise we'd stay home. We feel pretty good about our stuff and our car." (Is there a chance you could stay in the No. 6 car next year?): "Only if Jamie McMurray doesn't become available, in the 6 car. I have pretty much made the commitment to Jack (Roush) that I would drive the car until Jamie took over. And hopefully that will be in 2006." (You lived in Indiana back in your American Speed Association driving days?): "Yes, North Liberty." (Does Indiana hold any special place to come back to?): "I never see anything but this racetrack (Indianapolis), it never crosses my mind. But if I came up here on my own time, I certainly would, but I don't ever get a chance to do anything or go anywhere that reminds of what I used to do. This is all-consuming, what we do at this point, but someday, certainly. The best times of my life were in the ASA days, for sure. Life was a lot more simple, and racing was a lot more pure."
JEFF GORDON (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet): "Pretty good test. We're real happy with things, have a great car to come back here with. We did the Goodyear tire test (in April), so we just wanted to come back and get one more day in, especially with the heat today and having a couple races run on the track since we were here. It changes the conditions, so we're pretty happy." (Did the surface change much from the Goodyear test?): "Definitely a little bit slower, lost some grip, which is what we expected to happen. It was fresh pavement, really cool conditions, (and) the track was extremely fast." (Some guys have said the track's more grippy and there could be more side-by-side racing. Your take on that?): "I hope so. With the way the track is ground, it's got a lot of grip. We'll see some tire wear there and push the groove out, so hopefully you'll see more side-by-side racing. For us, we need to pavement to continue to wear out and age. Tony George likes it to be nice and fresh and new, (and) any time we come to a track that has fresh pavement like that, it's not going to widen out as much over time." (Are you looking forward to this race in a different way since you could become a five-time winner?): "Last year we were inspired. To get number four was a great moment for me and this team. If the media wants to keep pumping it up, that's fine. For me, growing up as a kid and watching the Indy 500, I recognize that there's a different between the two races. It's not that I wouldn't want to be compared to A.J. (Foyt), (Al) Unser and (Rick) Mears, it's just a different race and different circumstances." (With your tough luck in the last few weeks, does this race play any different this year, given the championship implications each race now has?): "No, because every track we've been to pretty much, we've run well and had success, and this track has been good to us. Everywhere we've tested this year, we've run well. Winning a big race like this definitely can help the morale of the team and build some momentum. Right now we're looking at a stretch of races coming up that we have to run well to get in the top 10, and Indianapolis is one. It's an important race for us already, but it's one that we'd love to win."
BOBBY HAMILTON (No. 04 Bobby Hamilton Racing Dodge): "We were actually up doing some chassis stuff for my truck and ended up running good. Obviously, if everything goes right we've got time to paint the car and all. It's an in-house car. We built it ourselves; we bought the chassis from PPI (Motorsports) and then put on our front and rear clips. We tried some old truck stuff on it, and it seems to be drive good. We need to make sure the templates fit. We're pretty sure about all that (and) we'll see if NASCAR can check it before we come back. We just worked with PPI and us, and they ran good today too. It's a joint venture between us." (How does the new surface feel?): "Man, this place is always the top of the notch. I remember coming here in '95 or '96, and any flaw in this place, they fix it. You can't ask for any better. Bobby (Hamilton) Jr. had never been here before this test, and when we pulled in he said, 'Man, this is a nice-looking place.' It's hard to believe when it was built, as old as it is." (What would it mean to you to run well here?): "We have a very good truck organization, but I'm smart enough to know that experience is what counts, and running a Cup team week in and week out is huge. We know we're against all odds coming here. My guys are just doing it for a lot of fun. It's actually Bobby Jr. wife's car, so she thought she'd like to try it. We'll try to come up here and have a good time. We'd like to run good, but we don't want to get in the way of the guys running for the Chase. But, we buy our pit passes just like they do."
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