Ford 400 Notes & Quotes
Written by John Davison · November 21, 2005
Jack Roush and Ford won the battle at Homestead Miami Speedway but Tony Stewart and Chevrolet won the war. Roush’s driver Greg Biffle edged out teammate Mark Martin for the race win while Tony Stewart drove a strategic race to clinch his second NASCAR championship, joined by Chevrolet’s manufacturer’s crown. Here is the collection of final race notes and quotes from Sunday’s Ford 400.
CHEVROLET NOTES & QUOTES
JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO - Sidelined with a blown right rear tire on lap 125: “It (the right rear tire) just exploded down the backstretch. But I didn’t have a soft tire, so I’m not really sure what happened or why. But maybe it equalized or was coming apart. But either way, we’re out of this deal and I feel terrible for all the guys at Lowe’s and Hendrick Motorsports. I’m very proud of everyone. They put up a strong fight. But that’s big time auto racing. Stuff happens.”
DID YOU FEEL LIKE YOU RAN OVER ANYTHING AT ANY POINT THAT MAY HAVE INDICATED THERE COULD BE A PROBLEM? “No. When I took off on that restart, I started going backwards. Something was up. We were about three seconds off the pace on that restart and had just put new tires on. I was coming down the backstretch going into Turn 3 the right rear just exploded and around I went. It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”
CAN YOU GET BACK OUT THERE? “Yeah, we’re going to take a look at things. The calipers are blown off. There is quite a bit of work. So I’m not sure what we’ll be able to do. We wanted the big trophy. We don’t care about anything else.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CHAMPIONSHIP? “I look back at the season and we did everything we could. I’m disappointed, but very proud of my team and everybody involved. It’s just too bad. We’ll be back next year.”
Dave Blaney - No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chev - Yeah, it was very good all night. We had a top-10 car all night. We just couldn’t get good enough to crack the top 5. We took a gamble there at the end and gained a couple of spots out there. We were pretty happy with that run. It was uneventful and nothing bad happened. We just kept getting a little bit better at the end but not just good enough.
Denny Hamlin - No. 11 FedEx Chev - I got caught up in a wreck. We were coming to the front and we slowed down for a wreck and Vickers just kept on going and ran right in the back of us, so oh well. The important thing is we’re building for next year.
GREG ZIPADELLI, CREW CHIEF, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: “There are an awful lot of employees back at Joe Gibbs Racing that are responsible for this (championship). We’re the lucky guys who get to come to the race track and spray the champagne and enjoy all the fun things that come with winning. I’m really happy for Tony. I’m proud of him. We’ve been through some ups and downs with this whole part of him maturing and we won the championship because of him — because of his attitude and because of his winning ways and his efforts. He could win in any car out there. So we’re just proud to be part of it.”
TONY STEWART SAID HE WANTED TO WIN THIS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR YOU BECAUSE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO MAYBE THINGS WEREN’T AS SMOOTH AS THEY COULD HAVE BEEN: “That’s what friends do. A couple of years ago I would have given up a lot in my life just to see him as happy and content as he is today.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO: “This is exciting. I’m so happy I could give Zippy this championship and do it the right way for him instead of the hell that I put this team through in 2002. This is a nice way to get it done tonight.”
THIS WASN’T THE RACE YOU WANTED, BUT TELL US ABOUT YOUR NIGHT: “We were just way too tight all night. We could start off a little on the free side and just never got the balance. We kept sneaking up on it, but we knew we were better being a little too tight than we were being too free. So we just made small changes. We could have done more to be more aggressive with it, but we did what we needed to do and just kept our minds on the big prize tonight. We knew we didn’t have a car good enough to win so we just did what we had to do to win this championship.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP: “I put this team through a lot of hell. I mean I’ve put this team through a lot of hell the whole time I’ve been with him. But they’ve never given up on me. We sat down at the end of the year last year and had a big team meeting just to see if I was even going to stay with the team and whether they wanted me back or not. And we just had a heart-to-heart. Sometimes that’s what teams have to do to get on track. It was nice to finally do one right and do it right for Zippy.”
YOUR SEASON REALLY MADE A TURN IN JUNE. DID YOU FEEL LIKE A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR? “We weren’t exactly where we needed to be in the early part of the year. I gave the engineering staff a hard time. We went to Michigan and tested and had a really good test. It seemed like everything just clicked after that. We went back to Michigan a week later and finished second to Biffle. We just did what we needed to do after that. And then we had 18 top 10’s in 20 races. When you’re doing that stuff, you’re doing it right.”
JOE GIBBS IS NOT HERE TONIGHT. YOUR THOUGHTS? “Did they win the game today? It just shows how tight we all are. We were in the trailer before the race — not worrying about what we were doing, but watching the Redskins and rooting those guys on today. They were having a tough game. I’m sure the guys are there in the locker room there too. I want to say hi to Joe and all those guys and tell them thanks for everything. We miss Joe being here, trust me. He’s every bit a part of this race team as anybody else in here. We missed him today but I guarantee we’re going to get a phone call from him here in a minute.”
AFTER WINNING THE BRICKYARD IN AUGUST, DOES THIS CHAMPIONSHIP JUST PUT THE YEAR OVER THE TOP? “Yeah, this is the icing on the cake for sure. To win at home at the Brickyard was a race of a lifetime and a win of a lifetime for me. To be able to finish it off with a championship — I don’t know how we could have asked for a better year this year. This is absolutely perfect.”
Jeff Gordon - No. 24 DuPont Chev - I ran great and finished horrible. I was just really thrilled the way we ended the season. Not making the Chase and we just tried to get some momentum and I feel like we have recently. And tonight was a great run for us, out there leading and I felt like at one time I had one of the best cars. As the lights came on and cooled down, we got real, real tight. We just really struggled on new tires all night and that last pit stop killed us. And we ended up falling back to ninth.
YOU HAD SAID THAT 11TH PLACE WASN’T A BIG DEAL. DOES THAT CHANGE NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE? - No. All that matters to me is performing and being up front and I was thrilled with the way we ran tonight and the points always take care of themselves when you run good. And all that matters to me is battling for wins and being competitive and if we’re doing that, then like I said the points work themselves out. I really never focused one time on points throughout these last ten races. Our focus was just on trying to make our team better, and I think we did.
RE: JIMMIE NOT WINNING THE TITLE, TONY WINNING TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS - Yeah, I definitely saw what kind of night Jimmie Johnson had. He cut that tire down right in front of me and I knew things were pretty much over at that point. I didn’t really know what was going on prior to that. I knew I was doing everything I could do to keep the No. 99 from leading a bunch of laps. You know, because we had a good car and we were able to go up there and lead and maybe keep him from leading the most laps, but when I saw that I was pretty disappointed. And I hate it for those guys-they’ve been so close the last couple of years and so close this year. You know, there are so many teams out there that deserve to win a championship. There is a lot of hard work that goes into it and a lot of team chemistry. So, I’m disappointed but still a good year and you know, I’m sure they’ll regroup and come back again strong next year. I just think Tony Stewart is a great race car driver. He’s capable of making a race team better than it is. He brings a lot to the table and he’s good at a bunch of different race tracks. They provided the cars and equipment for him. You’ve got to give him credit for that.
RE: MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS - It’s like Mark Martin-Mark Martin is one of the greatest drivers out there. You know, and he doesn’t have to have a championship to prove that. And Tony Stewart is a great driver and he’s fortunate that he’s got two to go along with that. You know, I do think that when you win more than one, it puts you in an elite group and you’re going to be looked upon different. You get into one group when you win one, you get into another group when you win two and it takes you to another level. He’s capable of winning more. You know, to me it’s nice to see a talented race car driver with a good, quality team winning the championship, not that we haven’t. I’m just saying that those are the type of combinations that win championships and we had a lot of those battling for that championship this year. You know, those guys were the top of the field.
HAVE YOU NOTICED A DIFFERENT TONY STEWART THIS YEAR? - Well, I said in Phoenix that either the therapy is working or he’s learned through experience. Whichever it is, it’s working for him. I think that, when you first come into the sport, whether you are a rookie or battling for your first win or battling for your first championship, there is a lot of pressure. Everybody handles themselves different. Some guys have the personality and patience to be able to handle it with grace and ease and hold a lot of things inside, and some people show their emotions to the public. And Tony did a lot of that when he first came into the sport and I think it was a big adjustment for him but I think he finally started to get it. HE finally started to get the fact that this is a sport that has media involved, fans involved, sponsors involved and it’s great that we get the privilege to go out there and drive these race cars for these race teams and we get paid a lot of money to do it, but sometimes you forget about the big picture and I think it took Tony a little while and he gets it now and it’s showing in its personality. He’s a lot more relaxed and enjoying himself and I think that helps him mentally prepare for the races as well. I don’t think it changes how he drives the car, but I think he’s better prepared. He’s more focused, probably.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet: - “First of all, I want to congratulate Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs, and all them boys for winning the championship. Tony’s my buddy, and if I couldn’t be in the Chase, I wanted him to win it. He’s a great race car driver and an even better friend. Always fun racing with them boys.
“Our car was real good at one point, but it was really tight at the end and it just wouldn’t turn in the corners the way it did midway through the race. I’m still happy though. We were pretty bad all weekend. Practice bad. Qualified bad. But we had this ol’ Budweiser Chevrolet moving in the race, and it was a lot of fun. We couldn’t take no breaks, that’s for sure. It was that kind of race, something going on the whole time. I’m wore out, but I can’t believe the season is over. This one went by fast. I wish we were racing somewhere next week. Maybe this gives me a good reason to get the karts out next Sunday and have a helluva big race on the dirt track at my house. That’s probably what I’ll do.”
Post Race Press Conference Highlights
TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET, CAPTURED HIS SECOND CAREER NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES TITLE WITH A 15TH PLACE FINISH IN THE FORD 400 AT HOMESTEAD MIAMI SPEEDWAY.
J.D. GIBBS, JGR TEAM PRESIDENT, GREG ZIPADELLI, CREW CHIEF, AND TONY STEWART, DRIVER OF THE NO. 20 HOME DEPOT CHEVROLET - PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:
J.D. GIBBS: “It’s kind of interesting for me growing up with football and not racing, you’d think eventually somewhere you’d get used to being in the run at the end of the day and in the championship hunt and it becomes easy. But every time, it’s a stressful situation. Just today, I was thinking halfway through the race that I can’t even enjoy it until it’s over with. So we’re just thankful we were blessed here and had a good run. I appreciate Zippy and Tony together and their leadership that enabled us to do things that we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.”
IS THIS WIN REALLY THAT MUCH BETTER FOR YOU THAN THE WIN IN 2002? - ZIPPY: “To me, it’s meaningful because we did it as a group. We improved on all the things we needed to improve on from years past — from finishing laps and leading laps and winning races all in the same year. And we did it with a whole lot more fun. And I think that’s a lot to Tony’s maturity in him showing up and relaxing and wanting to be part of this team and actually taking some ownership of it this year. It obviously makes my job and everybody else’s a little easier and a little bit more fun.”
REGARDING THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF TAKING OVER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE TEAM FROM JOE GIBBS, AND HAVE YOU SPOKEN WITH HIM? - J.D. GIBBS: “For us and for me, looking back, we were struggling in a lot of areas. I felt we had the best group of guys you could put together, but it just wasn’t showing up on the track. When week in and week out, you’re struggling and you go through a lot of hard times. Obviously, that’s when you find out what your guys are made of and what Tony and Zippy are made of and what the crew is made of.
“As far as my dad, he had a tough day today — discouraging for him. The good news is that at least we can break even this year. For him, he takes great pride. It’s a family business. He’ll be back here in three years with us. For him to see what we built together - and for him to be able to leave and for us to still be successful means a lot to him. I’m sure he’s proud of me and what I’ve been through and I’m proud of him for putting together the group of guys he put together — they’re still together 14 years later. It’s a huge deal for our family.”
WHEN YOU CAME OUT OF THAT TEAM MEETING, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE SO IMPORTANT? - STEWART: “The impact of it was pretty big. And we don’t have to go into the details of what it was about. Sometimes bad things have to happen for good things to come out of it. This was something that was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. It was a meeting that Zippy wasn’t in. He had always been the in-between guy. When the guys would complain about something I did, they’d complain to Zippy. And if I was going to complain about something the guys did, I’d complain to Zippy about it. He was the go-to guy in all that. That’s why 2002 was such a year of turmoil for all of us. That’s why this year means so much more to win it for him without all that turmoil where we can enjoy the year instead of just being glad the year is over because of all the garbage that went on.
All the guys and me sat down and we talked and everybody got to air everything out. It was probably the most stressful meeting I’ve ever gone into in my life. I didn’t know what the outcome of the meeting was going to be. I didn’t even know if I was going to have a job. The best thing about it was I knew where everybody stood. That was something that hadn’t happened with our race team the entire time I’d been there. So after the amount of years we were all together, you would have never thought it would get to that. The fact that it did, and through Zippy and J.D.’s leadership, we talked about it and then made a decision, shows the leadership we have in our organization and the people we have on this race team. This year versus 2002 — we’ve had fun all year. Even when we weren’t running good, we were having fun. We got back to why we started racing in the first place and that’s because we love being a part of race teams and we love racing and we love competing. That attitude carried us through the slow times and when the good times happened, it just made it that much better for us. That’s what created a string of 18 out of 20 top 10 runs. Once that happened, it’s not a big shock to me to know that we’re here and to realize why we’re here. We were a stronger team this year than the entire time I’ve been with Joe Gibbs Racing.
RE: HOW YOU APPROACHED THE RACE - Zipadelli - You know, we started a little bit more conservative than we needed to, and were probably that way for the first couple of adjustments. We had gotten a lot better at the end, but at that point we had given up so much track position. But, it was all about coming in here and doing what we needed to do. I hate to say, but we had to play it safe. We didn’t need to take any chances in any areas. I don’t think we did. We probably could have gone a little bit more aggressively from the start to the end. The bottom line is that we’re here because we did what we needed to do.
Stewart - In all honesty, nobody needs to blame him for the car that we have. If anything you can blame me for Friday, when I spun that car out. It kind of got us, I’m not going to say in thrash mode, but it had broke my confidence not knowing why I spun. I knew I was a little bit free but I didn’t think I was going to lose a car like that. You know, we started the day conservative just to get the confidence back and just work from there. I think knowing the situation and knowing what happened with Friday, knowing we didn’t have mock qualifying run before Saturday. We qualified 20th and didn’t know that the changes we made on Friday were going to be good enough for today. I think we had an awesome weekend in all reality. In all reality it wasn’t a stellar No. 20 car team weekend, but to do the things we had to do with the pressure we had on us, all in all after what I did to us on Friday, it turned out to be a pretty good weekend.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE LOW POINT OF THE SEASON? - Stewart - The low point? Probably the first how many races were the low point. It wasn’t really one particular race. It was just our whole season, really, from the start, other than Daytona. We ran great at Daytona. Once we got away from Daytona we were really just behind until we got to Michigan. That was pretty much the low point of the season. Obviously the high point of the season was the day we won at Indy and today, so that’s a lot easier than the whole side.
ARE YOU A BETTER DRIVER OR JUST SMARTER THAN YOU WERE IN 2002? - Stewart - Nobody is ever going to accuse me of being smarter. And I’m not going to say I’m a better driver. I think that we’re just a better team. Our organization has grown and grown stronger. You know, I feel I’m just a piece of the puzzle. I feel we all compliment each other well. The greatest strength of Joe Gibbs has been assembling the right people to do the right jobs. And the great thing with that is that when we were behind early in the season, we didn’t know which area was going to get us caught up. So, the motor department dug in, the fab shop dug in. Zippy and the guys on the pit stops dug in. I dug in. We all tried to get that extra half percent or percent that we all thought we needed to be where the Roush and Hendrick teams were, so it just makes me so proud of this whole organization and how much it’s all grown to get us here. I’m just a piece of the puzzle. I’m not the guy that won us this championship-this race team won us this championship. I wasn’t driving the car any different the first three or four months of the year than we did the last remaining part of the season, so obviously the equation part of the championship was the whole team.
HOW CLOSE WERE YOU TO CHANGING ENGINES AND HOW CLOSE OF A DECISION WAS THAT? - Zipadelli - We looked at it, obviously, and talked about it. We did everything that we would have done if it was Martinsville or Daytona. The guys in the motor department were very confident with what we saw, that it was okay. We talked to Mark. I called him back the next morning and if he was comfortable with it, I was comfortable. That’s what got us where we were-they do our job, we do our job. You know, everybody else does theirs. They didn’t feel there was anything wrong it or that we were taking any chances. So, we decided to leave it in. We figured we had just as many chances of putting something in and maybe having a problem as we did looking at it and making a decision with things that we could do, and obviously they were right.
AT WHAT POINT DURING THE SEASON DID YOU THINK MAYBE YOU COULD REALLY WIN THIS THING?
STEWART: “I’ll be honest. The streak started really at Michigan, the week before Sonoma. Our l.5-mile and two-mile stuff wasn’t really exactly where it needed to be. We just had not caught on to what the Roush and Hendrick organizations had figured out at that point. To be able to run as good as we did that day really got us started. It’s a different mindset from what we were doing on the 1.5-mile and two-mile tracks. That was a good jump-start there. And then going to Daytona, where we had run so good early in the year and have a dominating day like that was an off-deal because it was a restrictor plate. But it was probably the two races in a row after that when we felt we were consistent with our l.5-mile and two-mile package when we felt we were really on to something here. The wins just helped the morale of the team and our performance just carried it that much further.”
WERE YOU GIVEN A LUCKY CHARM THIS WEEKEND? “I have it in my pocket as we speak. It was actually something that Patty Petty gave me. It was an item from Adam (Petty). It says John 3:16 on it. That was definitely going to be put in the race car. So I put it in my pocket with me and it was good luck today.”
WHAT IS YOUR NEXT BIG GOAL? THE DAYTONA 500? ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP? - J.D. GIBBS: “The immediate goal is just to enjoy this one. Always in sports, you’re only as good as your last race; only as good as your last game. So we’re just going to enjoy this one for a while. And yeah, our goal is consistently to compete for championships and win.”
ZIPPADELLI: “We want to be competitive and put ourselves in a position to hopefully win races and a championship. But probably to get the other two teams to the level that we are is probably one of the most important things we’re going to work on this winter. It was a lot of fun when the No. 18 and the No. 20 could race for positions. Everyone could get on the plane and be proud of what we accomplished. It’s not because of people’s lack of effort. Its just circumstance. I think we’re just going to do a better job of getting things organized and having three strong teams next year.”
HOW MUCH DID YOUR HEART SKIP WHEN KYLE BUSCH SPUN IN FRONT OF YOU?
STEWART: “It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to see that early in the race by any means. I could stand for that not to happen again the rest of the night. The good thing is he stayed up by the wall and we were able to get by. The hard part was that it was coming off the corner and we were facing straight into the sun. When we got through that, it felt like you’d used up one of your nine lives right there.”
EARLIER TONIGHT MARK MARTIN SAID THAT YOU MIGHT BE THE BEST RACE CAR DRIVER OF THIS ERA.
Stewart - What happened tonight, being in a group of only 14 guys that have won multiple championships here, that’s probably going to mean more than just winning the championship by itself. To be put in that category is a huge, huge honor. You know, it’s like I said earlier, any time a great driver like that or great group of drivers speak highly of you like that, that’s probably the greatest honor in auto racing that you can have. For your peers to have that confidence in you and that respect for you. You know, to hear those comments from those two guys-that’s better than any trophy I’ve ever received in my life.
Zipadelli - I don’t know what else I could answer. He is the greatest. I love him, like a brother
Stewart - Aww. You wouldn’t have said that in some of those meetings before we had the big heart to heart. You wouldn’t have wanted to be the brother that day.
Zipadelli: But I had to be.
WHEN JIMMIE JOHNSON HAD HIS PROBLEMS, DID THAT RELIEVE SOME OF THE PRESSURE? - Stewart - The first reaction was that I wanted to make sure he is alright and I felt bad. You hate for it to come down to the last race like that and have something happen and get in an accident and not be able to race for the championship. I wouldn’t want any driver to have to go through that. To be honest, I knew where Jimmie was that whole time because before he got in his accident, we were all running right together. So, I was comfortable where he was at, but where I was uncomfortable was where Carl was at. He led the most laps and he was doing everything he had to do and could do to win the championship. So, you know, we were between 10th and 14th at that time. We couldn’t let our guard down at all. So, it was probably closer at that point as far as point-wise with Carl and myself than it was for Jimmie and myself. So, you concentrate on both of those guys but at the same time I knew that if we got our car where we needed it to be, or got it better than where it was at, then we weren’t going to worry about it at all. We just needed to keep doing what we were doing.
DOES THIS MAKE YOU WANT TO STICK AROUND THE SERIES LONGER THAN YOU OTHERWISE HAD PLANNED? - Stewart - To be in a group where there’s only 14 of us in 50 years that have won more than once. So, I’m not greedy. Sure, when we go to Daytona this year, the goal is to win the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and win another championship. You know, at this point, like I said, it was kind of like the start of the year this year-I was having so much fun with my race team, that I’m not concentrating on that kind of stuff. When it’s all said and done and no matter when I quit, whether it is 20 years or five years or whenever it is, what is going to be left from all this is the relationships that were built along the way. So, you know, I can’t look into the future. I don’t know what the rest of my life is going to be like. I don’t know how long I’m going to race. I’ve never even thought of retiring. But, when that day comes, it’s just like I said after we won the Brickyard, if I die tomorrow, when I wake up, I’ve had a great life up to this point. I couldn’t have asked for more out of this life. I feel like I’m a very, very, very fortunate person, not only on the personal side of my life to have friends that wouldn’t care if I drove another lap in a race car the rest of my life, but to have the professional life that I have and like Zippy says, Zippy is like the big brother I never had and I have a guy like J.D. and Joe Gibbs that always have the faith and trust in me to do what we’ve done and even through the bad times have stuck behind me and supported me. You couldn’t ask for more than that, so no matter what happens, no matter how long I race or don’t race, the goals and everything that happens from here is just icing on the cake. I think I’ve done more at this point in my life than a lot of the guys have that have been fortunate enough to do and I’ve been very lucky to be able to do the things we’ve done. I don’t know. I just haven’t looked that far ahead into the future, I guess.
DID YOU HEAR THE FANS CALLING FOR YOU TO CLIMB THE FENCE? - Stewart - Yeah, that’s why we climbed the fence, finally. I was looking at the spots on my hand right now from where I pinched them. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Even though we didn’t win the race, that’s something that has stuck with my race fans. It was pretty neat to hear them chanting that. Man, it’s a long day and I didn’t realize what I got myself into. I’m going to have to train in the off season-not to be a better race car driver, but to be a better fence climber. There’s a lot of coat riders and fence climbers, but this is a different kind of fence climbing than what I’m used to. We’re going to have to work harder at this I think.
WHAT GOT YOU THROUGH TOUGH MOMENTS THROUGH THE CHASE OR THIS WEEKEND? - Stewart - I don’t know that we had anythings in particular that were real tense. I mean, I don’t even know who it was or what happened. Somebody came darting on the race track in Turn 3. I think it was somebody that was trying to get to the pits and didn’t realize they weren’t going to make it or something. I don’t know what happened. But, obviously the No. 5 car spinning today-that was a little closer than what I wanted right off the bat. But, for the most part we didn’t really have any of that huge close moments that we had in years past. It’s pretty much clear I guess.
RE: YOU’VE WON 12 MILLION DOLLARS THIS SEASON - Stewart - Let’s just clarify one thing. The team has won $12 Million this season. I have not. I will not receive $12 Million at the end of the season. I’m not saying I’m complaining about what you’re paying me, J.D., I’m happy with that. Just because your dad had to get a third shift at Denny’s to pay my salary. But, you know, it’s pretty cool. Trust me, when I started racing at the age of eight, getting a trophy that was bigger than the other kids-I thought that was pretty cool. Now, to get a check like this from Sprint and Nextel and NASCAR, it’s a pretty big deal. I wish I could spend all $12 Million of it. I can promise you-you guys think women can spend money? There’s all kinds of toys I can buy with $12 Million and I could have it spent in about 24 hours, no problem.
Gibbs - We like our drivers in debt. They drive harder.
YOUR FIRST INTERVIEW WITH JOE GIBBS RACING - Zipadelli - I remember me and Jimmy sat there for about four or five hours there outside the Cracker Barrel at exit 36. When we left there, a lot of things had changed, but you know, I had talked to him obviously and spent a lot of time next to him. We were fifth and sixth in points at the time, the team I was working for. I got to know him, but we just sat at talked about how I had grew up and where I was from and the next thing I know he calls back and asked if I could meet Joe at Denny’s at exit 25 and that was a three-hour meeting.
Stewart - So, the one common denominator between Zippy getting hired and myself getting hired is that my interview was at Bob Evans. You had one at Denny’s and Cracker Barrel. There seems to a pattern here. So, if anybody gets invited to breakfast by Joe, you’re probably going to be offered a job.
Zipadelli - That was it. It just worked out. We talked about shocks-that’s what I was doing and one thing led to another. I’m just grateful for the opportunity. As I worked and grew up, it was obviously my dream. All I’ve ever wanted to do is race. That’s pretty much all I ever have done. This is obviously beyond most dreams. But, this is pretty cool to be here.
THIS IS YOUR THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP. TECHNICALLY YOUR DAD WAS IN CHARGE FOR THE FIRST TWO. DOES THIS ONE FEEL LIKE IT’S YOURS? - Gibbs - Yeah, actually, my mom is in charge of all three, if you ask her. She’s the one that allowed us to start in the first place. So, you know, really what is neat about us with our group is that there’s a number of us that have been with us for 14 years. Jimmy Makar, Todd, a bunch of guys. Zippy’s been there really since 99, 98. So, we’ve had a bunch of guys that have been with us a long period of time. So, I don’t think he felt like any of them were his or that I feel like any of them are mine. We just really feel like we have a good, strong family at JGR. And that’s hard to do. And that comes from the crew chiefs to the guys, department heads and Makar and works its way down. I don’t care what business you’re in-whether it is football or racing or any type of business. It’s something I’m proud of. Our guys fight for each other and sacrifice for each other and that’s what I’m most proud of.
RE: PLAYING IT SAFE - Stewart - Especially after watching guys in the Busch race yesterday, knowing that the guys were on the bottom side of another guy had trouble. When Kyle spun, your instincts are to tug on the wheel and to get as far away as possible, but I didn’t want to tug on it and get the car loose. So, it was probably better to start the race that way, with the sun being in and out, but you know, it probably wasn’t the perfect way to do it but it got my confidence back to have the back of the car back underneath me. That’s where the relationship with Greg and me pays off, where he knows that something like that happens and he knows it shakes you up a little bit, he’s got to kind of take a step back sometimes to get my confidence back. Once we do that we can go forward pretty quick like that, so they really gave me a car right off the bat that was comfortable to drive. You know, gave me that confidence. But all day, if cars were faster, I was letting them go. There wasn’t any point in holding guys up and giving them any reason to be aggressive with me. So, everybody that was around me was courteous and I was courteous. It felt like it paid to our benefit at the end of the day, treating guys like we wanted to be treated.
HOW J.D. HAS DONE ON THE JOB - Stewart - Why don’t you come meet me at the trailer later and I can really tell you the truth. But, he’s sitting right here so I basically have to say he does a great job. But he does. For somebody like J.D. to step into the position like he did, and this wasn’t something that was three year plan that after three years, J.D. was going to get in this position. It happened very quick and for J.D. to be able to step into that role, not only take control over two race teams, but then adding a third team. That’s a lot of responsibility. I can tell you, I wouldn’t be in a position to be able to handle that. And I don’t know too many people that could. It takes somebody like J.D. to grow up around like Joe to do that. The greatest thing about it and the most comforting thing about it is I didn’t have any concerns right away. Because I felt that if Joe had the confidence in J.D., then there wasn’t any reason for us not to have confidence in J.D. And it didn’t take long watching him to figure out why he’s such a great leader. His dad’s calling him right now to ask how much I’ve racked up on the charge cards already. But, I think he’s done a great job in all honesty. I think he’s done a better job in that position in a hurry than you could probably ask from anybody.
WHAT WAS BEHIND YOUR POSITION TO STAY OUT? - Zipadelli - Well, we thought we could get five points, and just in case something happened. It was just a little bit of insurance, we had nothing to lose. At that time we didn’t have the information that the No. 07 was going to stay out. We just tried to stay out and get five points-that’s all.
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DODGE - Quotes from the Season Finale at Homestead
RUSTY WALLACE (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger)
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