>>> Continued from previous message
ON FUEL MILEAGE: "We were really nervous today as everybody was. NASCAR kept
going and going and going. I'm like, red flag it or something. I just
couldn't believe they kept going. But at the end of the day it worked out for
us and our fuel mileage was good and I'm proud of our guys for being able to
get that mileage. We've jus got to keep fighting and I'm proud of my guys
because we weren't that good yesterday. They made this car a top five car."

ON BEING THIRD IN THE POINTS: "I know we're third in points, but what we're
worried about is discontinuing our trend. Obviously we want to be in the top
10 in points. And the better we do, the better chance we have of doing that.
That's our goal is to race hard and go get all we can. That's what we did
today. We raced hard and we're going to continue to do that. We're not good
enough to lay back. Nobody is. We're just going to keep digging and try to
make some good things happen for us.

DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT'S GIVEN YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A COMFORT LEVEL? "I
don't feel any more comfortable today than I did yesterday. Talk to me at
Richmond if we're in the Chase. But I'm smart enough to know. I've seen stuff
go wrong quickly. I've been around enough to know that can happen. Your
competition is so tough. These guys just don't make mistakes. Just look at
the No. 99 car. He's teetering back and forth to being able to be in and he
finishes 2nd or 3rd today. You just can't count anybody out. When your
competition is good, you've got to be better."

WASN'T THIS KIND OF A STRANGE RACE? "Well, this race has a tendency to be
strange with pit stops and everything else and different sequences. It was a
normal, strange race today."

***

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 GM GOODWRENCH MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 5th

"We came out on the right side of the fuel thing there at the end and (crew
chief) Todd (Berrier) and all the guys did a great job today. I thought we
were on the wrong side of things but he kept telling me it was going to be
fine and to just keep going and everything worked out really good."

HOW MUCH FUEL DID YOU HAVE THERE AT THE END? Man, I don't know. It was just
one of those deals where they kept telling me, 'Keep saving gas. Keep saving
gas.' There was a lot of hard work back at the shop to make sure this thing
gets all the gas it can in it. I just can't thank Todd (Berrier) and all
those guys enough on this GM Goodwrench Chevy. They did a great job. I said
to Todd, 'We should have pitted,' and he said," Awe, you'll be alright. See
what you can get.' I got back up there and everything worked out really good.

DENNY HAMLIN RAN OUT OF FUEL AT THE FINISH. COULD YOU TELL YOU PASSED HIM AT
THE LINE? My spotter said I got him but I couldn't tell. All in all it was a
good day and we just had to keep going until the end.

TALK ABOUT THE MOMENTUM. We've always run really good here, but we always
seemed to come up a little but short. It was a good day for us today.

ON A GOOD SOLID TOP FIVE FINISH WITH THE CHASE GETTING CLOSER: "Yeah, that's
what we've got to do. Obviously we want to win, but we've got to have solid
days to make everything keep going around for this Chase."

***

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 15th

A 15TH PLACE FINISH DOESN'T SOUND TOO GOOD, BUT IT WAS NOT TOO SHABBY
CONSIDERING THE DAY: "Yeah, it certainly was a pretty decent finish for the
day we went through. I'm just really proud of this race team and how hard
they are fighting right now and every weekend. They're just putting out an
awesome effort. We didn't have the best car today. We had track position and
that was maintaining a decent run there early in the race. And then we missed
a couple of wrecks and had to come in and make a few adjustments and lost
track position. We surprisingly fought our way back up to the top 10 there at
one time. But we just didn't have it for them to keep going forward there at
the end."

YOU'RE 11TH POINTS OVER 11TH IN THE STANDINGS..NOT MUCH BREATHING ROOM THERE
"No, that's why with the day we had to finish 15th and to gain a spot in the
points. You've got to be happy with that. We'll go to Pocono and hope for
better results than we had there last time."

WAS THIS A STRANGE RACE WITH MOST OF THE FAVORITES BEING KNOCKED OUT BY
WRECKS? "It was very difficult with conditions today. The track was very hot
with this weather. The tires weren't holding up very well at all. Cars were
slipping and sliding around. It was just very difficult to pass on this
track. Any time you have those types of conditions, you're going to see a lot
of guys losing control and you're going to see them getting into one another."

---
 * SLMR 2.1a * Home of AutoSportsNet * 502/875-8938 * cco.ath.cx


--- GTMail 1.26