Everything that we've done over the past four weeks, testing twice at (Las) Vegas, and at Phoenix and running at Pomona, all of those runs will certainly benefit us as we go down the road this season. |
Everything went very smoothly today, ... On the first run, the car smoked the tires instantly. We made an adjustment, went back up and I drove it to 1,000-feet and it ran 4.64. We were trying some different equipment and on the last run they said to take it to the first light at the finish line and we ran 4.55. Tomorrow I think that we'll try some different things with the engine and clutch to make our car better for Indy next weekend. |
He's only seen me win live one other time. This is his win. |
I feel good about going into the next race this weekend at Phoenix. I think Donnie (Bender), being a new crew chief, has learned some things to do and not to do. We hope to improve upon what we did at Pomona (Calif.) two weeks ago. |
I think it's a little different when you're in the middle of the points deal for the championship going into Pomona with everything going on, |
I think that '01 was different because we led and then were behind, and in 2002 and '03, I don't think we didn't lead. This year, the highest we've been (in the standings) is third. From my standpoint, you're hoping that you haven't peaked and that you'll peak towards the end of the season, and we'll have to if we're going to have any chance to move up further in the standings. |
I was saying that in April, 'Don't lose sight of them,' ... The cars that are in front of us are great cars. For them to stumble, they're not going to do it to many times. If we don't make moves on our merits ... we can't really wait on them to stumble because those are cars that don't stumble, |
I'm not sure what Donnie (Bender) was trying to run on that pass, but it spun the tires early; I know he wasn't happy about that. He knew that he had to make some adjustments, but we got the win light. |
I'm proud and ecstatic and everything. This race is everything to anybody who drag races. |
I'm so glad he was able to see me win this. |
If two people were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary. |
It's especially good to win against the Schumacher team that has dominated here this decade. Any time you can beat him it's great. I even tried to beat him to the turnoff. I told him the other day I was going to get behind him and draft just to get a better qualifying time. |
It's one of those racetracks that if the weather is cool, you will absolutely see the quickest runs in the history of the sport. If it's not cool, the crew chiefs have their work cut out for them. |
So I got what I wanted. With six races left, if we've got a capable car, we've got plenty of time to catch up. If we don't have the car, there isn't much point talking about it. |
Sometimes it's been good, sometimes it's not been so good. I can't really say (why we've done so well in Memphis), I don't have a lot to justify why, kind of like our run on Father's Day (five consecutive wins on Father's Day). It's one of those things that, for whatever reason, we have a setup that seems to work when we're there. |