JEFF GORDON
(No. 24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Monte Carlo)
"Considering all the changes we've made and the struggles we had earlier
in the season, I'm pretty proud of the way we've come through some of the not
so good runs and the way that we've really come around here recently with
some good finishes, some good qualifying efforts and it's very promising for
what we're looking to do during the off season to get prepared for next year.
I think one thing we learned earlier in the year is that qualifying is very
important. Track position this year has been tough to come by, so we focused
on qualifying. We got our qualifying package better. We started working on
keeping the race car up front. We learned a lot about the new Monte Carlo,
getting more horsepower. There have been new setups that have come along.
Those things we had in the past just don't work the way they used to, so I
think just knowing we're prepared and maybe even getting ahead instead of
being as far behind as we were when we started this season. We have a pretty
good idea of where we're going. The communication process with Robbie and
myself and the team, our pit crew is solid, basically the whole team is
becoming solid right now and that's what we look forward to getting started
next year.
"I do enjoy racing at Rockingham. It's one of my favorite tracks. I like
tracks that have a bottom groove, have a top groove, a lot of different ways
to get around the race track. As a driver, if your car is not working in one
place you can maybe search around the race track and find a place that works
well. I look at how we ran there earlier in the year and we qualified well,
but we struggled with getting the grip and traction up off the corner. Right
now, I'm looking forward to a lot of places because I just really feel like
we've hit on some things with our bodies, we've hit on some things with our
setups, horsepower is there, communication is there, we're just trying to
build on some consistency and some good runs. I feel like Rockingham is one
of those places we can do that.
"I'm still trying to catch my breath from Talladega. That was probably
one of the most intense races I've ever run, just never a second to breathe
and to relax which typically you do get every once in awhile at a two and a
half or 2.66-mile race track. I can't say that that was the most enjoyable
race I ever drove. I think it was definitely probably one of the most
enjoyable races for me once it was over because I knew it was a great race. I
knew it was a great race for the fans. There was a lot of action, a lot of
passing going on there. I get paid to do a job. Going to Talladega and
running three or four wide all day long is part of my job, and I race with
however the rules are. I felt like the drivers did a good job using their
heads for the most part. There were times out there I thought we were going
to have a big wreck, but we didn't. If we can continue to use our heads like
we did there on Sunday, we can continue to go by these rules and have great
races there.
"I think I was more in shock that I was having as much success as I was
because I knew that it would end. You don't have that type of success and
think that it's going to continue on forever. Even if we had made no changes
this year and Ray Evernham was still there, it was getting tougher and
tougher for us to dominant the way we did. There are just times when you hit
on things. You put a team together and it gels and it comes together and goes
extremely well. You try to hold on to it as long as you can. We did that, and
now it's time to move on, rebuild and try to get that back and hold on to it
as long as we can if we get it back.
"In some ways, yeah, it's been a different type of year for me. I've been
more involved with the team, more involved with the decision making, just
seeing it grow, seeing it come together has been very satisfying for me. I've
also learned not to judge my happiness and my peace of mind on what happens
on Sunday because you know not every weekend are you going to be happy with
your results on the race track. I've just come to realize that racing is a
part of my life, but it doesn't run my life. I have had a great year. I've
enjoyed myself many times this year, but not all of them have been on Sunday.
You've got to take the good with the bad.
"I don't think we're really looking at any major changes. We just need to
look and find our weaknesses. We've already done a lot of that this year.
Earlier in the year we weren't running competitive enough. The car just
didn't handle, didn't feel the way I wanted it to feel, didn't have the
balance. Some of that was the way I was driving the car, and some of it was
how we set up the car and how we put bodies on the car. Just the same way we
make fine tune adjustments throughout the season, we'll continue to do that
during the off season. I don't see any major changes coming along unless we
get the OK to make some changes on the body of our Monte Carlo. I think there
are definitely some ways we can improve it.
"I've said all along that Daytona is night and day to Talladega. I know a
lot of people find that hard to believe, but it really is a different place.
Daytona, the corners are much sharper, the way you turn the car through the
corners, you use a lot more steering wheel, which makes the handling of the
car much more important. That's where we're really going to have to focus for
Daytona. I think these rules can be good for Daytona because I think we need
something like that. Maybe even the one-inch restrictor plate might be good
for Daytona. I just don't think they go hand in hand. You can't have the same
thing at Daytona that you have at Talladega. The closing rate won't be near
as fast (at) Daytona as it was at Talladega. The biggest thing the teams have
to adjust to is how to get the car to be comfortable and handle well in a
large pack. That's really why there's not as much passing at Daytona. It's
because the handling goes away and even if you gain momentum and get a run on
the guy in front of you, if you get underneath him you can't stay in the
throttle because your car is going to drift up the track. Trying to find that
happy medium is going to be tough, but I thought we had a good handle on it
with all that testing that we did to come up with these rules. They were
really designed for Daytona, not necessarily for Talladega.
"It was good to see him (Dave Marcis) up there (at Talladega). There were
times I could tell that Dave had not been up in the top five or 10 in awhile
in a draft like that. You can tell when there's guys who have a lot of
experience like Earnhardt working the draft and working in traffic. Then
sometimes you can tell some guys who haven't, but I know it was a good
experience for him. It was great to see a guy like Dave, who has been around
this sport for so long, running that well. I hope that we see it more in the
future.
"You just try to spend more time with your family and friends and try to
take a day off a week. Monday, I always spend time with Brooke and we go do
things that are totally as far away from racing as possible. Sometimes we
won't even think or talk about the race coming up or the race we just run.
Also, with the very few number of off weekends we have, I try to mark days
off on the calendar to go take a vacation, get away and relax. It's getting
tougher and tougher all the time. There are more demands, there's going to be
more races next year. Trying to do the same number of appearances and things
I have for my sponsors now and try to do 'em next year when we have less to
do 'em is going to be tough, but to me, I think one of the most important
things I do throughout the off season is planning and scheduling ahead and
making sure I have enough time to do the things I'm required to do --
testing, racing and the things for the sponsors and fans -- and also making
sure I have enough time to get away and relax and trying to balance it out.
That's the most important thing."
ROBBIE LOOMIS
(Crew chief No. 24 DuPont Automotive Finishes Monte Carlo)
"It's been real exciting for me. The great part coming into it was I knew
I was getting one of the greatest drivers out there. Brian (Whitesell) had
been with the team since they started the deal, so I was getting to work with
a guy who had won the three championships along with them, so that made the
transition a lot easier.
"Terrible, after starting dead last. I think I had the best speedway day
and the worst speedway day of my life between Friday and Saturday, but it was
really exciting. I said I needed oxygen after the race (at Talladega). It was
like every lap you just didn't know what to do. We started the race and I
think in like 11 or 12 laps Jeff took the lead, and I was like, 'that
starting position (last) wasn't so bad after all.' Before you'd know it you'd
get shuffled back to 15th or 20th. For the most part, I think NASCAR really
accomplished what they wanted as far as a lot of lead changes and passing. It
was exciting. I probably haven't been that tense at a race in a while.
"It keeps getting more and more demanding. It's like each year when they
add races we have always stuck with the same system we've had for working the
people preparing the cars. Brian and I have been talking about that a lot
lately. I think he's working on scheduling stuff right now. How do we give
these guys more of a break and how do we get a little break ourselves and
still be able to keep the intensity level and focus in it? That's what we're
looking at right now, trying to be able to find that balance. Basically, when
you make the decision to come into Winston Cup racing, it's your life and you
have to love it and you have to enjoy it. I've learned to enjoy every moment
and not just wait for an off weekend or wait until I get out of the race
track. If I'm at the race track, I'm going to enjoy it while I'm there. I
think that makes it a lot easier.
"One of the greatest things, looking at the race the other day, it
brought back memories of how the races used to be before the restrictor
plates. It brought back some of those feelings about how a guy could pass and
not really knowing until the last lap who was going to win the race, or
really right there through the tri-oval before it was decided. It is a tough
balance because you want to keep the drivers safe, and that's one of our main
concerns right now is how can we keep making things safer for these guys in
the sport.
"We're going to be trying to do some off track testing, but mainly we'll
be spending some time in the wind tunnel and on the chassis dyno trying to
figure out where we can get better with these Chevrolet Monte Carlos. That's
going to be the biggest thing. We're working hard on the schedule and stuff,
trying to figure out how we can get a weekly schedule for the guys so they
can get a life to take care of their stuff and all they need so they'll be
fresh and ready to go when we get to the race track on Friday.
"We're going to get ready to win Phoenix. Really, I'll probably go
golfing (on off weekend) and just take a break, not wake up at 5:30. I might
sleep until 6:30.
"We've kicked around all sorts of ideas like that of having a crew that's
just for the race track, having a crew just for the shop. We've talked about
mixing them and it's really hard. When you get to the race track, you've got
one hour of practice or two hours of practice before qualifying. That's when
you have to be the most efficient, so it really helps if you keep the same
guys together. Right now, we're really kicking around a lot of different
ideas that's going to balance it out where everybody can still accomplish
things and have a family life, too.
"Right now, I don't think so. I'm not anticipating it (testing in
December). There hasn't been a lot of rumblings about it. I think they were
pretty happy with the results of the race. I think they'll go to the wind
tunnel and look at the results from that and they might make a rule change
and then look at everything in January, but as far as a December test, I
haven't heard anything on that."
