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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: GOODY'S HEADACHE RELIEF SHOT 500

November 1, 2015

Alan Gustafson

MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our race‑winning crew chief, Alan Gustafson.
Obviously a big win for you and your team tonight. Jeff winning here at Martinsville, you punching your ticket to the championship race at Homestead. Talk a little bit about the emotions of being in Victory Lane.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, it was a pretty crazy day. I don't know where to start. There was a lot going on.
Really, really excited. We knew coming in this was a really big race for us. We put a lot of effort into it, were able to do it. Probably not in the fashion we wanted to, but really proud of the fight and the fortitude of the team to contain and push and push and push and get ourselves in position to win the race.
Huge win. Great opportunity now moving forward for Homestead.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions.

Q. How concerned were you when that last caution came out?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, pretty concerned. You know, the good news is I think it was timed where it was going to be green‑white‑checkered. So guys with tires probably couldn't get to us if they got tires in that amount of time. The thing you worry about is a couple attempts.
But I was concerned. I was concerned. I felt like if we were on equal tires to the guys around us, we would win. We could clear Jamie, just for the fact of having the inside lane. I think Jamie was pretty good there at the end, but the inside lane is such a big advantage.
Yeah, it was concerning. It always is. From my seat you just hold your breath and watch.

Q. (No microphone.)
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it's not new. It's not new. I think that's been going on. People have done that in the past a lot. The JGR cars have done that the most that I can think of working with their teammates allowing somebody down. The Penske cars were doing a good job of it. It was a pretty big advantage.
Ultimately it's probably what started the original melee there with Brad, Matt and Kurt getting caught up in it.
It's good. I think it can be a good thing. Obviously you can see what could happen if it goes wrong.
Our stance on it, we've kind of stayed away from doing that, Hendrick Motorsports, because you don't know what's going to happen. This is an example today of what happens when it does not go your way.

Q. Seemed like with the temperatures this weekend, the track didn't take a lot of rubber throughout the weekend. Rain didn't make that much difference. Were you surprised? Seemed like the track tightened up significantly near the end of the race. Was that rubber or cooling down?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: I think it was cooling down. I'm not surprised. Unfortunately the last at least two years we've struggled to lay rubber here. The first half of the race is really survival until you can get a decent amount of rubber down to where you don't blow the rear tires off the car.
It was no different today. I knew with the overcast, and low track temperature, it was going to be a struggle. Hopefully with the '16 package, we can put a little softer tire to lay rubber down. As you walk across the track, you leave the track, it's pretty wore out. Pretty big aggregate in the track. Chews up tires until you get some rubber down.
I think the reason everybody got tightened up is the track cooled off. Also at the end of the race it's not unusual because the pace picks up. You got to go. You can't be rhythm. Middle of the race it's smooth, rhythm driving. At the end it's not. You got to get to the accelerator really, really fast. That also generates tight conditions. So it's not unusual.

Q. Obviously there will be a lot of talk about revenge. That's been an ongoing discussion the last five years. Is a lot of the garage going to be looking at how NASCAR handles this, how drivers and teams will treat each other going forward?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I've been on both sides of it. I mean, it's a tough thing because when it happens to you, you feel like you've been robbed. I don't really know any other way to put it. When you feel that way, not only are you mad and upset, but you feel like you need to stand up for yourself.
When that happens, the most recent one for me is Texas, it's just tough. It's just tough. You kind of feel like you've got to stand up for yourself or it's going to continue to happen.
I can see both sides of it and I've been on both sides of it. I don't have the answers. I'm glad I'm not the guy who has to make that call.
It's part of the sport that's good, the passion and competitiveness. But at the end of the day there's a lot of people who worked really hard, really hard, to put those cars in the position they were in on both sides, in particular on the 20 side and the 22 side. There's a lot of guys that worked countless hours, a lot of guys at the shop, a lot of guys involved with that team that put in tons and tons and tons of effort. They're the ones that are taking it on the chin, in my opinion.

Q. How much have you guys believed that if you could make it to Homestead, you could win this championship?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, I mean, really that's kind of how it all started. That's really what we had to believe in, I guess. That's what our focus was. We didn't have the season we wanted to leading up. We didn't have the performance. We just knew we had to come together and just fight and claw for eighths, sixths, sevenths, whatever it is, not make mistakes and transfer.
The vision was always to come here with a chance. We knew if we came here with a chance, not only could we win the race, which it ultimately turned out that way, but even coming out of here with a top‑five finish was going to be a pretty big boost. You knew some guys were going to have problems. You knew you were going to have a points advantage if you could finish top five. The grand thought was to come out of here with a win, if not, in good points position to move on.
Getting to Homestead, there's a lot to momentum. There's a lot to the positive energy. Everybody I'm sure in our shop will be there an hour early tomorrow ready to go working hard. We have a couple things we've got to do. I think we've got our Homestead stuff, try to get an advantage on that. We can also use Texas to try some new things, try to get more speed.
Anything can happen. We saw that today. I know we can run competitively enough to be right in the middle of the mix.

Q. You've been a part of a lot of wins and championship seasons at Hendrick. What did you think of the response from the crowd today about Jeff? There's a time in his career when he didn't see that.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: It's really probably the coolest thing about it. Even the last couple years, the success we've had. The one that kind of stands out to me is when you win a pole, even Talladega, as big as Talladega is, we qualify on the pole, you can just hear the place erupt.
I don't know how to describe the sensation. It's just an amazing feeling. Then here the same way. You can hear the crowd. You don't even have to really know what's going on. You can hear the crowd and you can kind of figure it out.
To me that's one of the most satisfying things. It makes you feel really good. It makes you feel like you accomplished something that's really special, to have the reaction from the crowd.
Jeff deserves that. I'm so happy for him that he's having that response. He can remember these special moments in his career for everything he's done and all he's accomplished.
You guys know him, what a super person he is. Yeah, that's really cool. That's the one thing that no matter how many times you hear it or see it, it sends chills down your spine. It's just a great feeling.

Q. How much pressure has gone with this season trying to send Jeff out the way so many fans and you guys want to send him out?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: I mean, it's tough. It's tough because there is pressure there. I don't really put any more pressure on myself this year than I do any time. You try to win. You want to win for a lot of reasons. You want to win for Hendrick Motorsports. You want to win for Jeff surely on his last year. You want to win for our team. You want to win for yourself. There's a lot that goes into it.
I think the thing that's probably been more of an impact on me is just when we haven't performed the way that we want to, the way that I feel like we should, you just feel like you're disappointing people. That's tough. That weighs on you.
You sit there, I don't even know how to describe it, but you just constantly have that over you. Not pressure as much as I don't know how to describe it. It's like your father when you're a kid, you want to please him, do everything you can to make everybody happy. We weren't doing a great job of it.
Hopefully everybody's a little bit happier now and we can give everybody something to cheer about at Homestead.

Q. You talked about the pressure of not disappointing people. Now you have this opportunity to send Jeff Gordon into retirement with a championship, which is like storybook. How is that pressure?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: To be honest with you, I've thought about this. If I sat here and told you I didn't think about this, I'd be lying. I'm playing with house money now. I feel like we're in a good position that we can go there and just put it all in, push it all in, go as hard as we can go, not be tight or calculated.
I almost felt like when you're really, really good, like we were last year, you almost try not to mess it up instead of go win the race. Now I don't have that feeling at all. I kind of feel like we're playing with house money, ready to go. We're a little bit of the wild card. I'm embracing that and enjoying it.
I think that will help keep the pressure off at Homestead. It's going to be crazy. We all know that. Kind of just have to settle in and understand that. As far as the race goes, just focus on winning and race like you can't lose.
THE MODERATOR: Alan, thanks for joining us. Congratulations.
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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