CHEVY NSCS AT ATLANTA 1: Chevy Driver Post Race Press Conference Transcript

Juan Pablo Montoya Scores Podium Finish at Atlanta; With Solid Top-10 Finish Kevin Harvick Continues as Points Leader

HAMPTON, GA – Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, battled in the front of the field throughout the 341-lap race, 16 laps over the advertised distance, to score a third-place finish in the Kobalt Tools 500. He started third and led once for a total of three laps.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, finished ninth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and maintains the lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with four races in the record books.

Four-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet, finished 12th today and jumped one position in the points to fourth place.

Despite being involved in a multi-car accident as the field came down for the first of two green-white-checkered attempts at the finish, Clint Bowyer, maintained his top-five position in the standings sitting fifth after his 23rd place finish today.

Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, jumped one position in the standings to sixth with a 20th place run. He led once for one lap.

Mark Martin, No. 5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet is seventh in the standings after being sidelined before the finish as a victim of the multi-car accident and was scored in 33rd place.

Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, now sits eighth in points with his 13th place finish.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet, is seventh in the standings after today’s race giving Team Chevy seven of the top-12 drivers in the NSCS point standings. The four-time NSCS champion finished 18th.

Kurt Busch (Dodge) won the race. Matt Kenseth (Ford), Kasey Kahne (Ford) and Paul Menard (Ford) completed the top-five finishers.

The Series takes a one-week break before heading to Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, 2010.

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 SHELL-PENNZOIL CHEVROLET – Finished 9th:
"If a ninth-place effort ever felt like a win, then that was it. We just weren't very good all weekend. Gil made a great call there late to not pit and take the wave around. We got a quick caution, which enabled us to get tires, and take a big swing at the chassis. Today was the kind of day that we just couldn't manufacture last year. I am awfully proud of everyone on this Shell-Pennzoil team."

PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET – Finished 3rd

THE MODERATOR: We're with Juan Pablo Montoya. Juan, you had a good day today. Tell us about your run.
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: It was good. Never really had the fastest car except at the end before the last pit stop. We were coming. I thought we had a chance to get to the 2. Once you moved up the bottom in three and four, I thought, Here we go, I think we got him. I could stay on the bottom. It was good. I was pretty happy.
Came in, put tires on. First restart was pretty good. Second one spun the hell out of the tires. Kind of surprised me. We had those two lines. Went a little bit before the first line.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Juan, you worked on the car all day today. Was this a good day for you in terms of being able to keep up with it?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: We kind of got lost in the middle of the race a little bit, made some changes. Didn't make a lot of ground on the car, then we kind of understood where we needed to go. And it worked out pretty well.

Q. Were you disappointed that it had to go to a 'green white checkered'? You thought you might be able to catch him. Did you think you had a realistic shot?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I was within three car lengths just coming two to go. I was, you know, taking 3 or 4/10ths a lap. So definitely I thought if I got anywhere close to him, I'm sure I could make a move.
It's one of those deals. It's okay. It is what's. I told the guys anyway at the end, We need to finish, we need the points. It's a good points day for us.

Q. Juan, tires weren't an issue for your team, but how did you feel about the tires on the track?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I think when you have a good balance, I think you can look after the tires a little bit better. I struggled. I'm one of the cars that used to blow tires here always. To be on the other side is actually kind of nice.
It's a very hard racetrack. The pace is really hard. You know, Goodyear improved the hell out of the tire from what we had last year. It's still going to drop away and you're still going to be sideways.
It's fun. For me this is probably one of the better races if I would choose to go to one. It's so much fun seeing everybody. If you get a ticket out of turn four, you're going to see a lot of sideways racecars going very fast, so it's fun.

Q. Juan, at the end of last season you told the 12 crew chief to bring a couple of old cars to the racetrack because Keselowski needed to watch his rear end. Is there something that was involved with having a bit of honor today on the racetrack?

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: I tell you the truth, I was ahead of it, so I have no idea what you're talking about. I said that last year because he wrecked a lot of people. I'm sure a lot of people wanted to pay him back. Looking at the TV, somebody did.

Q. Juan, you indicated on the radio after at race that you thought Kurt went a little bit too early on the last restart. Could you comment on that.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: We have those two lines we're supposed to he restart on. To be honest, the lines are very short between them. I don't know. I need to ask NASCAR exactly how the rule is. If you're within three car lengths of it or four car lengths of it, can you go? Do you got to really cross the first line, how they're going to police it.
I'm not saying he doesn't deserve the win because he did. I was on the outside. I was probably destined to finish second there. When you have the bottom, you can hold it wide open between one and two, you have the bottom in three, you're done.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Juan.