CAN YOU TALK ABOUT LAST YEAR'S
RACE AND IT'S IMPORTANCE IN YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP AND
HOW IMPORTANT IT WILL BE THIS YEAR?
"Last year's
race was important to us in being able to go on
and win the championship. We had a lot of
problems throughout the day. One, the car didn't
drive very good. Two, we had a flat tire and
almost got a lap down. We fought from the back a
couple of times and then to come in fifth at the
end of the day was a big boost for us. It helped
us mentally, but it also helped us in a way that
we could have lost about 60 or 70 points and that
makes a big difference, so this is a big race for
us too. As I've taken the last day or so to
really look back over our season to this point, I
look at it in that we have performed better this
year than what we did last year to this point,
but we don't have the finishes to show that.
Therefore, we're sitting here I guess a couple of
hundred points out of first, but we have
performance well so that gives me confidence that
we can get the job done. We have a lot of racing
left to do, but California is gonna be an
important race to us. This is the type of race
track that we've done well at in the past and we
need a boost right now and that boost would be
getting back into victory lane. I realize that
nobody has done it more than once at this point,
but that would help us to kind of put an end to a
day where we've had good days. We've had good
days a lot this year, but the finishes don't show
it and I think it would help everybody's
confidence. We're all still very confident that
we can get the job done, but the race there in a
couple of weeks is gonna be very important to
us."
IS IT A SHOCK TO NOT BE DOMINATING NOW LIKE YOU
DID LAST YEAR?
"We've run well, it just been that
we knew we had a lot of good fortune last year
and we have over the last four years basically.
We've also had our share of problems at certain
times, so as I look at it I say these are some of
the things we got into at the end of last year
and now they're happening at the beginning of
this year. But I still feel very good about what
we're doing. We are running better, it's just
that it's very competitive. I'm sure whoever has
been on here (the teleconference) before me has
probably said the same thing. You have to have
everything exactly right every week and if you're
off just a little bit, it seems to be magnified
right now because so many cars are finishing on
the lead lap that it shows the competition that
is there. I've just gotten myself in some spots
that I didn't before. I got caught speeding on
pit road a couple of times, even though I didn't
agree with the one on Sunday, it just looks like
it's worse than it really is. It's disappointing
because we're coming off a championship season,
but we realize that we're still right in the
middle of everything, that we're one good race
away and the others having a down day of being
less than one hundred points out. So, that can be
made up easily and if we just do our job
everything will be just fine."
DO YOU VIEW JEFF GORDON AS BEING STILL DOMINANT LIKE HE USED TO OR IS HE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE NOW?
"I don't know that he's like everybody else. I
think Jeff Gordon is capable of changing things
around in a hurry, but it does take time when you
change people for all of that to get back to what
he had. They certainly had a very organized
group, one with good leadership and with Jeff's
ability it was very dominating. But I think even
if they had everything back in place as it was
before, the competition has caught up a lot, so
it would be more difficult for them to be that
dominating. They still have the opportunity to
win a championship with where they're at and to
win races, but, again the competition is catching
up because we have some people branching out and
taking that knowledge elsewhere and that's just
gonna continue to make things more competitive.
And as these people stay together longer it's
gonna become even more difficult to what you
would call dominate these races for a long period
of time."
WHEN HE USED TO WIN EVERY WEEK AND PEOPLE BOOED,
WHAT DID YOU THINK?
"I always wondered why they
were booing him because it wasn't like Jeff had
ever done anything to anyone. He was just doing
his job. He was in a very enviable position of
everyone, I think, because we would have all like
to have had that opportunity to dominate like
that. But I had never seen what he had done to
deserve any of the boos. It's just that the race
fans want to see good racing and they want to see
different people winning, I believe. It makes it
more interesting to go to the race track and not
know who is gonna win and who is gonna come out
on top. It's nice that now they're changing
around. It's kind of been that pattern over the
years. I mean, when Darrell was winning they were
booing him and now over the last few years he's
gotten a lot of the praise and a lot of the
years, and Earnhardt was the same way. They used
to boo him and call him all kinds of names
because he was winning and doing it his way, but
now it seems that after he's struggled for a few
years that people are cheering him much more than
they used to. I think Gordon is gonna be a lot
the same way and it's nice because he's a
terrific champion and deserves a lot better."
DO YOU FEEL THIS CHAMPIONSHIP IS STILL FOR THE
TAKING BECAUSE NOBODY HAS TAKEN CHARGE YET?
"Yeah, I think you're exactly right. I was
thinking that exact thing that it seems to be
there for the taking, but nobody seems to be able
to jump up right now and be able to do that.
Everybody has kind of been in an accident or had
some type of problem. I guess Mark's probably had
the fewest problems and that's why he's on top.
It just doesn't seem like anybody's been able to
be that consistent week after week and, again, I
think a lot of it is the competition -- it's
tough. It makes you do things to try to get on
top and sometimes they work and sometimes they
backfire, but what we're seeing is so many cars
being in the mix that it's making you take two
tires at times and that's getting everything kind
of off kilter and it's making it more difficult
to run a 500-mile or 500-lap race and do all the
right things throughout the day to get yourself
in a position at the end."
IS THAT A RALLYING POINT FOR YOUR TEAM?
"That's
exactly what we told them. Todd was talking to
them yesterday and as I was talking to Todd and
Robert, I mean they kind of relayed that to our
guys that, 'Hey, we're doing the things we need
to do, we just need to get more consistent at
it.' We know that we can do it. We've proven that
we can do it over the last few years and,
especially, last year. We're by no means out of
this and, if we just step up right now and make
these things happen, then we'll be OK and we'll
be in good shape."
WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF ADDING MORE RACES NEXT
SEASON, HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THINGS AS FAR AS
HAVING OFF WEEKENDS?
"Well, it will certainly
change things and you'll have to make time a
little bit more valuable and just make sure that
you schedule that time properly. What it's gonna
do, if we keep racing more, you're gonna have to
look at your personal schedule and all the
endorsements and things that you're doing. The
one thing I've had to do is cut back some of the
associates on the number of appearances that I
do. I just have to be able to spend some more
time at home and away from the racing side of it,
but we're going off and leaving Thursday and
actually won't be back until late next Wednesday.
Then, we'll turn right around and leave for
California on Thursday morning, so we're gonna
get away and totally away from racing and just
try to be a family here for about five or six
days and try to enjoy that. But we realize that
it's coming next year, that we're gonna have
another race or two, and that's another couple of
weekends that'll be gone so we just have to make
better use of our time."
WHAT ABOUT THESE TODD PARROTT RUMORS OF HIM
LOOKING FOR ANOTHER JOB?
"We were in a meeting
just yesterday and talking and everything is
fine. We laughed about it. Certainly, people talk
to Todd and come to him with offers, just like
most of the top crew chief and drivers. People
talk to them all the time and you're always
getting opportunities out there. I think that
Todd may sit and listen, just sitting around
talking with friends, but he's not going
anywhere. Todd and I both have contracts and not
that you can't break those, but we discussed
things. We're very happy with each other and I
feel like we have a lot of races to win, so
there's nothing going on there."
DO YOU FEEL ANYMORE RULES CHANGES AT DAYTONA AND
TALLADEGA WOULD HURT THE ADVANTAGE YOU SEEM TO
HAVE THERE?
"I don't know. We've always had a
very good program at Robert Yates Racing and even
when I was at Joe Gibbs we had a good restrictor
program. I think that no matter what takes place
and what shakes out, you're still gonna see a lot
of the guys that understand and enjoy the draft
and what it's about, they're still gonna do well.
I think no matter what takes place with the
rules, if we can make better racing that we had
Sunday. I don't know how that would be really
possible, but I think if we do get it more in the
driver's hands that you'll see those guys that
have done well continue to do well."
SO IF YOU HAD MORE AT YOUR DISPOSAL YOU COULD USE
WHAT YOU KNOW MORE?
"I think so. Then again,
depending on exactly the changes and what it's
gonna do to the cars, it may help others in that
maybe you won't have to have that knowledge of
the draft quite as much. You can just use your
race car more than what you have to use your head
in making the calculated passes and the timing of
those may not be quite as critical, so it may
make it easier for drivers depending on exactly
what they do."
IS THE WAY YOU WON THE TITLE LAST YEAR THE WAY
YOU HAVE TO DO IT NOW? WILL WE SEE ANYONE WIN 13
RACES AGAIN IN ONE YEAR AGAIN ANYTIME SOON?
"I
don't see that happening just because of the
competition that is there. We're seeing more
teams stay together -- and I'm talking about the
core part of the team with the crew chiefs and
the people they have surrounded themselves with
-- stay together more. As those drivers and crew
chiefs and teams work together more they just
naturally become better. I think Ward Burton and
Tommy Baldwin are a perfect example. They did OK
when they started and Bill Davis has had a good
team there, but as Tommy spends more time there
and he and Ward work together more, they've only
become a better team and they're just gonna get
better. I see that from a number of teams, so I
find it very hard to believe that somebody is
gonna be able to win that many races again in a
season. I'm sure they'll probably prove me wrong
as soon as I say that, but I just see the
competition as being too good. You're not just
having to beat eight or 10 cars now and really
not even 15. There are a good 20 to 25 cars out
there that have the capabilities of running up
front and then on that any given Sunday they make
all the right moves and hit the right setup, then
they're gonna be up there and what you might have
thought was gonna be a victory gets taken away.
It's too difficult, I believe, for that kind of
thing to happen. You do have to be very
consistent. It's hard to say that you can't have
any problems because everybody is gonna have
problems along the way, you just have to minimize
those. That's what we did last year and I think
that's kind of what everybody has looked to with
that being the best way to go about winning this
championship."
SOME DRIVERS HAVE SAID THEY'RE JUST STAYING HOME
ON THE WEEKEND OFF BECAUSE THEY WANT TO GET AWAY
FROM TRAVEL. YOU SAID YOU ARE TRAVELING?
"Yeah,
we are and obviously this is more for the kids
than Kelley and myself. The kids are around here
a lot and we discussed just staying at home, but
we wanted it to be kind of a special time for
them. Because of my girls' involvement in AAU
basketball this year in particular, they've been
to fewer races than what they ever have and we
just haven't had that much time. Even though
they're traveling with that, we wanted to get
away somewhere that we know we can spend time
outside in a warm place that they could really
enjoy and that we could have time as a family
there. So, yeah, we're gonna travel. It seems
kind of crazy. We like to stay home a lot, but
this is just an opportunity. Actually, this is
kind of a trip we had scheduled for last year
right after the season was over and we had to
cancel that because we won the championship, so
we had to promise to take them back."