(But) I really enjoy qualifying here at night. The car was pretty stout. |
[Asked if he believed it was standard procedure for inspectors to allow cars that fail an initial height inspection to] settle ... It all depends on what mood the inspectors are in. |
[NASCAR was quick to defend its procedures -- and they actually make a pretty good point about not dispatching crews while cars are on the track. But this is as good a time as any to get into an issue that comes up at least once a summer: having a dedicated, traveling medical and safety crew. Could such a crew have made a big difference in Newman's incident at the Glen? Who knows? But would they have made things worse? No way.] Once the team got there, they didn't have a clue what to do. I'm laying in the car, not knowing if fuel is spilling out of it, ... They asked me if the power was off. I'm trying to tell them they need to hold the car so I can get out. Communication was not there, and it needs to be there. I'm not trying to shoot down the safety crew. I just want it to be so we can communicate better and they can understand what they're doing. If there's not going to be a team that travels with NASCAR, then there needs to be better communication with the teams that are at the specific racetracks. That's all I'm saying. |
[So, what penalties were given to Jarrett? He had to serve a two-lap penalty for rough driving. Is it enough? It is pretty much a guarantee that a top ten finish isn't going to happen. This close to the close of the Chase, every position means something. So, although not a harsh punishment, it was fitting. What do the other drivers think about what Jarrett did? Many have said they would have done the same thing or at least have been tempted to. Evidently they felt that Jarrett was justified. I don't think Harvick or Newman would agree though.] Mine was unintentional and his was intentional and that's all I'm saying, ... NASCAR can do what they want with it. |
Any judgment call is not good in racing. That's the bottom line. They could penalize you for good racing. |
Being stuck back there all day in dirty air just worked against us, ... We had a top-five finish at Charlotte [a fifth in the wreck-plagued Coca-Cola 600], so hopefully we'll turn this performance around next weekend. We're still in the hunt for the title, so we'll just put this one behind us. |
Biffle has a ton of talent, ... He's obviously a very, very car-control style of driver. He likes to hang the car out, which is totally cool as long as you can control it. He's proven this year for sure that he can. |
Casey gave me a good shove to get me out of the way and then he decided not to go with us. |
Every race is equal as far as the points go, so you keep doing the best job you can. It can all change in one day, one weekend. We could come out of Louden, N.H., with the points lead, you just never know. |
Everyone has had their tail whipped at some time. Our definitely has taken a beating lately, but you have to get back up and try harder. |
Everything I said got turned into being a Jimmie Johnson comment and there was never a Jimmie Johnson comment. It was about his crew chief and that's the bad thing about how everything went down Sunday evening at Daytona. |
Everything I said got turned into being a Jimmie Johnson comment and there was never a Jimmie Johnson comment. It was about his crew chief and that's the bad thing about how everything went down Sunday evening at Daytona. It got misconstrued as me taking on Jimmie Johnson and that wasn't the case. |
For the first time in my career, I'm looking forward to going to Talladega, ... If we can qualify well again and stay up front all day, the racing is actually fun. |
Going into California, just because we're in third (in points), we can come out of California 33rd in points. |
Going into Texas, I look forward to going back as the defending winner, but that doesn't mean a whole lot when it comes to different teams and another opportunity to win the race. I just look forward to that as well as the IROC race. |