NASCAR MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 19, 2004

Sterling Marlin

Tony Stewart

TONY STEWART: No problem.

TONY STEWART: We'd like to think so. I mean, obviously it's tracks that we like. So, you know, that definitely doesn't hurt your chances when it's tracks that you enjoy going to and that you've done well with in the past. So, obviously, it gives us something to look forward to the next five weeks .

TONY STEWART: It's hard for me at times. I mean, it's obviously part of the job that's hard. Today I'm in Indianapolis. I'm sitting here in tennis shoes, blue jeans and a T-shirt like I've always done my whole life. But I guess the thing that you realize is, you know, you're not the same person. You know, you really may be the same person that you were before, but the way other people see you isn't the same as the way you see yourself. That part is always interesting to try to get used to. But the one thing that's always the same, though, is it's very flattering. Any time you do an appearance or go to the racetrack and see how excited not only adults are, but really to see how excited kids are to see you there. That's what really adds to the value of what we do for a living, what we do as race car drivers, seeing how excited people are to see us when we get there.

TONY STEWART: Well, I mean, we're going to have to do better than we've done here in the last couple weeks. But our team's working hard. I think our guys are closer now than we've ever been. We all sat down together and had a meeting last weekend and, you, know, just really feel like we're pulling together as a team right now. We didn't really have a very good night at Charlotte, which was a little bit disheartening to all of us. But the good thing is that the track's coming up that we like and we just have to do the best we can and just take what it gives us at this point. It's hard to say what's going to happen. But I feel like we have as good a shot as running well these last five races as anybody else, where that's going to put us in the points, who knows.

TONY STEWART: You never know. You know, this year we kind of cut back on some of the side stuff that we're running. Like today I'm going to be at IRT, testing in the closed test session that we're running today. But I'm excited. I mean, that's the fun thing about what I do, is I haven't forgot where I came from, you know, like you said, I really enjoy running dirt tracks. So, you know, the state of West Virginia is one I haven't been to yet, which is definitely on my list of places to go. I've kind of adapted Kenny Schrader's philosophy of charting everywhere that I've done and that's one state I haven't been to yet in a dirt car yet. It's on my list of things to do for sure in the next couple years.

TONY STEWART: To be honest, I have no opinion of it.

TONY STEWART: I mean, I'd definitely be interested it. Obviously, Dave Blaney owns a track, Kenny Schrader owns a track. I've talked to those guys. I think if I do, I'll want it to be a facility that I'm very passionate about. You know, I think coming from my background, where I'm at in my career right now, being a team owner, having been a driver, being an avid dirt track fan, Eldora would be one for sure we'd be interested in. You know, whatever we do, I think it's something that if I'm going to do it, I want to make sure I do it a hundred percent, make sure that we're taking care of the race fans first and the competitors that are racing there. You know, I just want to make sure I can do my job first and foremost for Home Depot and Joe Gibbs Racing. To do anything outside of that, I want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row to make sure I do it properly.

TONY STEWART: To be honest, I don't know. I mean, you guys got to keep in mind, we're race car drivers. We're not the sanctioning body. It's not our job to worry about what it should be. I mean, that's for you guys in the media and the sanctioning body to discuss. My job as a race car driver is to try to win races. But at the end of the day, whatever the format is, we as drivers don't have any control over it. So it's our job just to go out and try to win races, just do the best we can. That's a question that you got to ask NASCAR, not the drivers.

TONY STEWART: We were one of the teams that went there. I'm excited about it. I think they did an awesome job. Every year Martinsville keeps making improvements to the facility. It needed something, in the first place. But they've really taken the initiative on themselves. They've been proactive instead of reactive, I guess I should say. They've done a really nice job. The track's really smooth. They've made it what we're calling driver friendly, the curve's a little easier to run on. If you bump into it, it's not nearly as dramatic as it was before. So it's definitely faster. I mean, in race trim, we were running speeds that were very close to the track record in race trim. So definitely going to be a fast race. How hard or easy it's going to be to pass, that's still going to be determined this weekend. But for sure they've done a really nice job with the facility. We've prepared by testing there, making sure that we knew what we were up against when we got there, considering the fact that it has changed some. Feel like we've done a real good job of getting ready for this week.

TONY STEWART: I'm not really sure that we have to watch out for anybody other than just, you know, watching out for guys that might change the outcome of a race by getting in an accident with us. You know, you still have to race everybody, just like you always have. You know, the format's a weird format. In a typical playoff situation, you've got guys like us in the Top 10, you race each other. But in our situation, we have to race the other 33 guys that we're running with each week, not only just the Top 10. So you really have to do the same things that you've always had to do. You just go out and try to win the races and hope you get enough points to put you where you need to be at the end of the season.

TONY STEWART: Hopefully a lot. Jason lived with me for a while when he moved back from California to race in USAC here in Indiana. I know Jason real well. We're good friends. Having a second guy to ask questions to and compare notes with is something we feel like is going to be an asset to our program next year. I'm really looking forward to having him back. He was with Joe Gibbs Racing for a year in the Busch Series. I think the time that he's had not only with Joe Gibbs Racing but outside of that in the last couple years, the experience that he's gained, I think he's really ready for this opportunity. I feel like he's going to be a very valuable asset to us.

TONY STEWART: Absolutely. I mean, the thing that's always fun, it's always nice to have a veteran that's been around a long time, and it's always nice to have a young guy that's in and is fresh and brings new ideas because the older person in the equation or the veteran in the equation always brings the knowledge with them into the equation, but the young guy pushes that older person. So having a young guy like Jason's level going to push Bobby and myself. I really think it's going to help our program this year.

TONY STEWART: Well, I think in our situation, where we're at in the points right now, being sixth, being 200 points out of the lead, I don't think it really has much effect on us, you know, like we have a lot of pressure, because we have nothing to lose at this point. As far as I'm concerned, there's no difference between 6th and 10th right now in my mind. I'm worried about going forward, not going backwards. But to be honest, I think everybody that's in this Top 10 has been in this position before in the past. I think they've all been through a similar situation like this, obviously not at the Cup level, but at the same time they've all had a chance in the battle. So I think everybody's got an idea of how to deal with it all.

TONY STEWART: I think we just -- I think it took a while for us to realize that our personalities are real similar. I mean, we very much value our friends, our close friends, that we hang out with. And, you know, it's the simple things in life that we enjoy. It's not going and having a hundred-foot yacht, you know, having big fancy this, big fancy that. We have our properties that we enjoy. He's got a lot of land in North Carolina. I've got a lot of land in Indiana. You know, we just enjoy hanging out with our friends. And I think we realized more and more as time went on that our personalities were very similar, we enjoyed a lot of the same things. You know, we both have the same passion and desire to win, but we're similar in age and just have similar things that we like. We both like playing video games. We just realized that there was a lot that we had in common and enjoyed each other's company. So it's made it a lot of fun. Obviously, Dale, Jr. is the most popular driver in NASCAR right now and we get to do some pretty neat stuff together. But he's a great friend. I mean, he went and joined Kyle Petty and myself at our Tony Stewart benefit concert a couple weeks ago and donated his evening to come do that with us. He's just a good friend. I mean, he doesn't just borrow things from us, he also does things to help out with our charities and stuff, and we greatly appreciate him as a friend.

TONY STEWART: Well, him and I haven't talked about it together. Where it bothers me, you know, I don't think something that is said after a race should dictate how a championship is decided. I think once the cars go through tech on race day and what happens between tech and the checkered flag, I think that's where points should be taken away. If you want to fine him for saying something, I don't think anybody would complain, and I don't think Dale would complain about that. I think we all understand our responsibilities as drivers. But, you know, I think NASCAR went overboard on their decision to take points away. I think that's wrong. I think if you asked anybody, I think pretty much everybody agrees that was the wrong decision. But, you know, the one thing we do give NASCAR credit for in this situation is they were consistent. That's something that sometimes with sanctioning bodies, that's hard to find. We at least give them credit for being consistent in that case. But I think it's something that needs to be looked at. I don't think it's very fair to decide a championship that should be decided on the racetrack by something that's said off the racetrack.

TONY STEWART: Well, I mean, obviously, you know, growing up watching NASCAR races, you know, you always saw Labonte and Rusty and Mark Martin. I grew up in Columbus, Indiana, which is headquarters for Cummins and Company. Cummins was a co-sponsor for Mark Martin's car. I grew up watching Mark Martin. Everybody in Columbus, Indiana, even though I still live there part-time, that's where I was born and raised, there are still a lot of people in town, Mark Martin and myself. We hate to see Mark go. We hate to see Rusty and Terry go. The nice thing is being a driver, being in the situation those guys are as a driver, I'm excited for those guys. I know how hectic our schedule is, I know how much time we have to spend with our family and friends. I'm excited for those three guys. If Mark wants to spend more time with his son, helping him in his racing car, Rusty is ready to move on, Terry is ready to move on, I think it's (inaudible) that they're at stages in their life where they had a great racing career. I think we should all celebrate that and at the same time feel happy for them they can go out and do other things in life they haven't had an opportunity to do because of the hectic schedule they've had for the last 20-some-odd years now. I'm pretty excited for them. I'm happy they're in that position.

TONY STEWART: I really appreciate it. Tell Sterling hi for us, too.

STERLING MARLIN: Glad to be on.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, just working on the cars, trying to get them to drive better. Had a pretty good car Saturday night. We was real good at times then so-so at times. Kind of got caught in two wrecks, got skinned up a bit in the second, tore the right side off the car, kind of hurt it toward the end. But we'll just keep plugging along, try to get us a win before the year's out.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, you know, it's something that you still really enjoy doing, you enjoy racing. You know, I think the day comes when you're not competitive, you wake up, say, "I don't want to go to the racetrack today, want to hang out here at the house," it's time to quit. But I still enjoy seeing everybody, seeing the fans and racing every weekend. You look at Harry, he run till he was about 52, was still winning races. I seen him this summer, he still looks like he's 52. Still stayed in good shape. I think as long as you still do the job and still want to do it, just hang in there.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, I mean, me and Tony has been friends a long time. Back on the same page a lot. Me and Lee's been good friends since he was brought on board as crew chief. 2001, did 2002, couldn't do anything wrong. I don't know what happened. Lot of bad luck. Look back 2003, we could have won a couple races. Didn't. This year we had a good shot to win Michigan, and didn't. Had a good shot to win Talladega on fuel mileage, got wrecked at the eastbound. I don't know. It's just something that you think during the week, how are we going to get better? You just work as hard as you can and try to work through it.

STERLING MARLIN: Yeah. Lee will stay at the shop, oversee, get things organized, get things done at the shop. Like I said, no big deal for Glove to step back to crew chief role, let Steve Boyer who has been on board since 2001 with us, he's the engineer, and we've kind of done it at Charlotte. Everybody has kind of put their heads together, come up with a pretty good plan. I think you'll see some pretty good things towards the end of the year here.

STERLING MARLIN: Always lose (laughter).

STERLING MARLIN: Well, I mean, it's kind of a deal that, you know, NASCAR set the standard, and I guess Ron Sauter, Hornaday. I didn't know they had done it. I guess their deal was (inaudible), get knocked out of a race. I think Dale, Jr., he was happy to have won the race, they said something about his daddy. Dale, Sr. was the best. I think he said it out of -- didn't really realize he said it. It's going to be a shame if it comes down to the end of the year and he loses the points. A deal of 22 points. Man, that would be terrible. So I think it's kind of overboard myself. You know, then again, you shouldn't say it on TV, but I don't think he really meant to say it. He said it, got to pay the penalty for it.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, I think, you know, like I said, 10 years ago, it probably would have slid by. Five years ago. Like I said, the media exposure is there. I've watched a bunch of football games, been on the sidelines of football games. I've heard a whole lot worse coming through on the TV with a professional team. You don't know who said it, but then again you've heard it.

STERLING MARLIN: All I'm concerned about, go to Martinsville, try to win a race. We had a really good test in Martinsville. The track was just super. I don't care what them chase guys do, we're there for us, just concerned about the 40 team, getting us a win.

STERLING MARLIN: I don't even notice it. You raced them all year. Really about the only ones you know that's in the chase is the Top 3 or 4. I know Jeremy got in. We don't pay much attention to it. We just try to do our own deal and make it happen

STERLING MARLIN: Oh, it's great. I mean, they've done the whole track. The track's got a whole lot of grip. They've done a super job on it.

STERLING MARLIN: I don't know. I hope it's not a single-file deal. But, you know, the tires, new pavement, concrete when we was on it, they was wearing it a little bit. But the late model stocks run on it and they had a good outside groove worked on in. So hopefully it will be like the old Martinsville, you pass on the outside or the inside.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, what happened with Mark Martin last week? Got in a wreck, I guess. Yeah, I mean, it's a deal that, you know, Mark was in it. That would be my choice to win it, would be Mark. He's going to retire. He's been so close so many times. But we just race -- I'm racing like I raced all year. I don't pay attention to the chase guys. Mark, he's always cut me a break when I'm racing him; I've cut him a break; we've never had any problem. I guess the big wreck on the first lap the other night could have took three of them out. As it gets on down towards the end, a lot of things can happen. We just got to do our own deal with the 40 team and try to get back in the top 18 and try to win us a race.

STERLING MARLIN: It always has been, Darlington. I really enjoy racing there. We're going to test the Monday after Atlanta, test there, test two different cars. That's our last test for the year. Yeah, it would have been neat to have been fortunate enough to win a couple spring races, but it would be nice to win the fall race. It's the next to the last race, and hopefully we can get us a win there.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, I kind of didn't think it was broke. If it was me, I wouldn't have messed with it. But I guess NASCAR was looking to add some excitement, kind of jazz it up a little bit, and it did. You know, when you get back home, people's kind of talking about it. It will be kind of good if we would have made it in the Top 10, but we didn't. I guess you hear more from the guys that didn't get in. It's a shame, a guy sitting 12th in the points, had a really good race, 10 races to go, could have wound up sixth, fifth or sixth, got knocked out, car just wasn't there. As I say, I like it like it was. It wasn't broke. They had some real good points races over the years.

STERLING MARLIN: Well, they've been good competitors over the year and, you know, great friends. All of them won championships, brought a lot of excitement to the sport. They kind of come up in an era where you had to come up the hard way, work on your cars yourself, drive them down the highway, pay the tire bill. All of them have. I think they've seen NASCAR really take a big jump in growth. I think they're glad to be a part of it, I am too. (Inaudible) the way you had to do it. You know, it's just a lot different now the way guys are coming in and racing.

STERLING MARLIN: Me and him has been friends a long time. Casey was driving his car. It was the deal that Casey was going to drive Chip's car, Jamie was going to ride Rusty's car. I was talking two months ago, "If you ever need any help on the Busch car just holler at me." It wasn't a week later he was calling, "How about driving my car in California and Charlotte?" James always has good stuff. I was glad to jump in and do it for him. Mark Martin and Kyle, it's going to be a deal that they're going to be tough drivers down the road. Wouldn't surprise me five years down the road they'll be battling for the truck championship.

STERLING MARLIN: I hope they win by 20, win on out. Looking at the schedule, no easy games. Notre Dame, Alabama this weekend. Alabama is waiting for them. Same deal at last year. Unfortunately, I can't watch it because I got a prior deal. I'm going to be checking the radio, I guess, to see what's going on.

STERLING MARLIN: Thanks.