Long Pond: Chevy Saturday quotes

Following Happy Hour Practice: JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (fourth in Happy Hour practice): "The track is a lot different than when we tested. So we felt very, very good with the setup coming into the race here. With ...

Following Happy Hour Practice:

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (fourth in Happy Hour practice):

"The track is a lot different than when we tested. So we felt very, very good with the setup coming into the race here. With the sun being out and all the cars running on the track putting down a lot of rubber, the track's really loosened up, and we posted some quick times, but the car isn't exactly right, and we're going to make some changes overnight, look back on some notes from the 24. It's just so deceiving when you're here on a green race track compared to the race track with a lot of rubber on it; how much it can change. We'll make some changes overnight, start from second and see what happens with the Lowe's Monte Carlo."

ON TURN 3: "Turn 3 started off pretty slick, where they had the jet dryer sitting on the track. It pretty much charred the asphalt, and the asphalt is starting to peel up and come up but now that we've started to put some rubber down on it it's come around for us. The first few laps was pretty exciting."

DO YOU SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS IN THE RACE? "If it tears up and starts pulling the asphalt up it will really make it a single groove on the exit. It already is to a point, because there's just not a lot of banking down there, but if the track starts to come apart down there that would definitely be an issue. We'll get a good feel for it after the ARCA race here and see if what a group of cars will do to it over a long run."

DID IT FEEL DIFFERENT GOING OVER IT? "At first it didn't really upset the car too much, except the right rear tire just slid it really bad coming off, made it exciting out to the wall, definitely. There's not any holes or divots or anything to really upset the suspension of the car, just a lack of grip from where the jet dryer charred the asphalt."

ANY MOISTURE? "No; it looks like they did a great job getting all the moisture up. I think we will be in good shape as long as the rain stays away." TOUGHEST CARS OUT THERE: "It seems like the 28 and the 88 are running really strong, the 12. We feel that we're pretty good; the 24 feels that they're pretty good. The 40 is really good. It's hard to tell, because in some cases drafting will help you out to run a faster lap here, in other cases it will slow you down. You find yourself in a variety of different situations out there, but I think you'll see the normal contenders up front at the end of the day. Hopefully we will be one of the new guys in there to mix it up."

CHAD KNAUS, NO. 48 CREW CHIEF:

"It's just a dream. Everything has gone exceptionally well for us. We've got some great, great race cars. The 24-48 team combination deal is working wonderfully as you can see, with both of them second and third in points right now. Jimmie has done a tremendous job. His maturity level is far greater than what anyone had expected and his talent level is obviously a little better than what most people expected too. I tell you, everything is just going great. To come here to Pocono and run well in "race" practice I think we're going to be OK in the race. It's looking good."

THESE TWO CHEVYS ARE UP FRONT IN HAPPY HOUR; THE NEXT CHEVY IS 17TH: "The Chevrolets are at an aerodynamic disadvantage right now. And we know this. So we're working really hard to try to get our cars better. It's a lot of extra effort; it's a lot of time, but it's definitely working better for us."

WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT THE OTHER CHEVYS DON'T HAVE? "Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon."

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (third in Happy Hour practice):

"I think we're running real good. This morning there were cars that were faster than us and the track temperatures were cooler, but now we've got some rubber (and) it's heated up a little bit. I'm pretty happy."

SAME SETUP AS 48? "We're a little different. Again, you got to go with not only what they (the 48) learned from testing, but you've got to go with what the driver is feeling and what you know works well. We're close to them, but we're off a little bit."

ON STARTING POSITION: "This is a tricky place to get qualified in, you got to be really aggressive and it takes quite a combination to qualify up front here. I really haven't qualified way up front here in a little while. To be starting third, I'm really happy with that. That's a great track position. Track position means a lot; a good place on pit road is important and with the car running well I'm really happy to be starting third."

WHAT ARE YOUR CONCERNS? "We're turning a lot of rpm, really abusing the motor and I've definitely got some concerns on what gear we've got in there right now and we're going to look at everything real close after this practice, just evaluate it and decide what gear we want to go with for tomorrow."

HOW HARD IS IT TO WIN HERE? "It's real hard. We dominated both races here last year and didn't win either one of them. So, it doesn't seem to be one factor. You can have a fast race car but a lot of times you have a fast race car and when you get out front it's hard to lead if you get someone behind you. You can have a fast race car and all of a sudden the caution comes out and pit strategy changes. It's a very difficult place to win at; it's a fun place to race on. I think we've got as good a car as we've had here in the past so anything is possible as to who's going to win. I think the 28 is going to be good, I think the 48, the 40, the 88; I think those guys seem to be real good. Guys that have good horsepower and know how to get their cars hooked up through the corners are going to be real good here."

ON THE TRACK: "It's fine. Where the water was really seeping out coming off of turn 3 I can tell that it's a little bit rough through there. I don't know if it broke up at all. Other than that everything is good."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (17th, next Chevrolet in Happy Hour after Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in third and fourth):

ON THE WATER SEEPAGE: "Well, there are some spots over there that looks like it's been wet, but it ain't bothering us any."

ON TEAMMATE MICHAEL WALTRIP'S BEING MORE OPTIMISTIC RECENTLY DESPITE RUMORS OF HIS LEAVING THE TEAM: "He's been running a lot better. It's been a tough situation over the past several of weeks for us. We tried to deal with it as best we can. A lot of people, the media and fans, have got a lot more things going on than there really is truth to it. We definitely did tell Michael that we were looking at other drivers. His job was in his hands, so to speak. I think he had a lot of things on his mind and stuff and hopefully instead of racing being a burden to him he's using it in a positive way, and trying to get it off his mind. I'm real happy with how he's doing now; I'm real happy with the communication that I'm getting from him as a teammate. We've worked together real well in the past. The chemistry hadn't been there for a long time in several months."

WITH "SLUGGER" (CREW CHIEF RICHARD LABBE) IS THE CHEMISTRY THERE NOW? "They work well together. They're starting to believe in each other a little more and more each week."

ON STEVE PARK: "It's not going too good right now for Steve. They can't really get results, of course. They can't get their cars to do what they need them to do. It's very easy to point a finger at Steve and everybody including myself are trying our hardest to really be optimistic about that. But we're definitely going to have to look hard at that situation too over the next several months because we've had Steve for two or three years and we haven't had really a full season of him in the car, (in) every race. We've just had a lot of misfortune, a lot of injuries, but the thing you worry about is him getting out of your car and going and getting in another car and whipping your butt. If we can't make it work, we've got to make a change and nobody is immune to change. I don't care if he's a driver or a crew chief or a tire changer. We've got to do what we've got to do to make the business work."

THIS IS BUSINESS, ISN'T IT? "It is. You want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'll be honest with you, it takes a couple of weeks to get over concussions and stuff like that; I've had three or four now. I know just dealing with something like that ain't easy, and I can't imagine coming back from the injuries he's had. He probably has a lot of self doubt in himself, whether he's got the ability or whether he's 100 percent. He's admitted to not being 100 percent, but he still is capable of getting the car around the race track right now. It's hard to say, whether the fact of him being out of the car so long (that) they've lost communication between him and Paul (Andrews, crew chief). The so-called chemistry isn't there, obviously. Hopefully they'll get it back and get to working well together again. Sometimes that stuff doesn't happen, sometimes it does."

MIKE SKINNER, NO. 4 KODAK FILMS CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO (40th):

"It must be an improvement from yesterday. They had a lot of rain. The race track seems like it's always been. We've had a little bit of problem with our race car, so I really haven't been able to critique it too much."