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Sunday, May 19, 2002

Compiled by Chris Dolack

NASCAR Winston Cup rookie Jimmie Johnson has one victory and is seventh in points. He answered questions last week during a conference call:

Q: Can you think of any situation in NASCAR where team orders dictate the winner of a race, such as what happened Sunday in Formula One?

A: It just depends on the situation that you're in, I guess. I was completely blown away by that. Rubens Barrichello led every single lap except the last car length. That's a hard a shot to him; I felt bad to see that. Evidently in that sport, in their situations over there they really choose one driver to be their lead driver. I'm not saying that you won't see it happen in Winston Cup, especially with the multicar teams, but it's something, I hope, that doesn't enter into our sport.

Q: Are you surprised by the success you have had as a rookie?

A: Of course. You always dream big, but you never know what's going to come through or what that will be. We've tried to set some realistic expectations of qualifying for every event and finishing on a lead lap.

Q: What has been the biggest difference between Winston Cup and the Busch Series?

A: The races are so, so long and there are so many things that change the race. The fastest car doesn't always win. The fastest of the cars that are left will win. You know there are a variety of different things that go on and you're jockeying all day long for that last pit stop. The last time you put tires and fuel in the car is what the whole day is leading up to and you have got to make it to that segment to have a shot of winning it.