Notable Quotables: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Interim Crew Chiefs

Here’s some interesting quotes from Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Dupont Chevrolet Impala SS, his interim crew chief Jeff Meendering, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowes Chevrolet Impala SS, and his interim crew chief Ron Malec. The quotes are from a GM press release from a conference at New Hampshire International Speedway.

ON MR. HENDRICK SAYING IN SONOMA THAT HE THOUGHT THE PUNISHMENT INCURRED THERE OF NOT PRACTICING THE CAR WAS PENALTY ENOUGH AND ON THE HARSHNESS OF THE PENALTIES:

Jeff Gordon: “I’m blown away to be honest. To know what other penalties that have been served with this new car, obviously we know that they’re severe and they’re making a point very clear. I felt like we’ve gotten a more severe penalty because of the lack of practice and not being able to qualify last week. I’m extremely in disappointed in NASCAR and the decisions that they’ve made but I will say we’re crystal clear going forward. I just think if you would have asked any crew chief in this garage area prior to last week if that had occurred to them what they thought the penalty would be, I guarantee you they would have never have come close to the penalty that was served. It is what it is though. We’re ready to move on and put it behind us and get back to trying to win races and get those bonus points and get ourselves solidly in the Chase.”

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS? WHAT WILL THE CHALLENGE BE LIKE IN GOING FROM ONE OF THE GUYS ON THE TEAM TO BEING THE BOSS?

Ron Malec: “After last year when Chad had his first deal it kind of I guess helped me out in this aspect already preparing for this. We all took on new roles. We all have to step up a little bit and it’s going to be hard to replace a crew chief by me just stepping up and saying I’m crew chief because I still have other jobs to do on the car and all my guys still do their normal jobs which we do 100 percent every week. It’s going to be a disadvantage to us for sure. I’ve talked to my guys and they’re all behind me 100 percent on their decision to make me the crew chief and we still have a lot of support from other team members, other teams – the 25/5 are going to be behind us 100 percent helping us out. Hendrick as a whole has so many people out there and our team has so much depth. It’s not that difficult for me to move up a position, take on a little extra work and still perform well on Sunday.”

Jeff Meendering: “For me probably the biggest challenge of the whole weekend is probably this (press conference) right here (laughs). We’ve got so much depth in our organization. We’ve beefed up our track support a little bit, brought a few extra guys with us and I think it’s going to be just as smooth as it’s ever been.”

Jimmie Johnson: “Just to add a little bit for these guys, they’re both very deserving of this opportunity. They’ve been in the system at Hendrick for a long, long time and as Jeff (Meendering) pointed out this is probably the hardest thing for them but they’re all prepared and ready and have the support behind them to move forward and be a crew chief this weekend.”