We try to be aware of what's going on during the pit stops to make sure we don't have issues. A lot of things can happen during the pit stops that can cost you whether the car is outside of the pit box or a loose lug nut or something along those lines. Those guys very rarely make a mistake and they are a phenomenal pit crew. It was just a little slip up and we overcame it very well.
Q:
After the Talladega race, what did you think really your chances were of winning the championship this year?
JJ:
It was bleak, obviously, but the thing that I can remember walking to the shop the next day, guys were all bummed up and you could see heads hung pretty low and I just went around to all of the guys on the shop and slapped them on the back and picked them up and said, that's a lot going on right now. The competition is so strong in the NEXTEL Cup right now that it's easy for somebody to have to go out there and either drive over their head or have an engine problem, and I knew we had a lot of opportunities and there was a lot of opportunities left. We had overcome a deficit like that before and I knew we could do it and I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. We had the road laid ahead of us and we were very fortunate to be able to go out there and win and get us a couple of seconds and that was nice.
Q:
Jimmie, your thoughts about that? And also I'll ask Rick to comment on that too.
JJ:
I was more disappointed in the opportunity to gain some points on the 31 at the time. He seemed to be in control of the Chase and he had a bad day. I just didn't feel like there would be a lot of opportunities. We can all look back to this Chase and see, it's tough for anyone to be consistent at the beginning. I knew at some point someone was going to be consistent and I felt like that an opportunity existed to gain on the 31.
![Jimmie Johnson's 2006 championship winning team. [Pic Credit image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/281326.jpg)
