After winning NASCAR’s biggest race. Jimmie Johnson, his team boss Rick Hendrick and stand-in crew-chief Darian Grubb sat down to talk about their greatest triumph together to date.
MODERATOR:
Our
Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, joins us. Just won NASCAR's most prestigious race. How does it feel?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:
It's going to take a little while to sink in. I think as tomorrow unfolds, putting the car in the museum, on the way to New York, I just found out I guess I get to go to New York, be on some great shows, be a part of everything up there. That's when it will start to sink in.
Right now I just have so much pride in my race team, what we have accomplished today with the circumstances we've been through. This is a well-prepared team, a team that was very hungry and wanted to make a statement today. We stepped up and got the job done today and I'm very proud of my guys.
Q.
Do you know how Chad enjoyed this experience, where he was?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:
I'm not sure where he watched the race. I talked to him briefly in Victory Lane as I was doing the hat dance. I look forward to talking to him soon. He was pretty emotional on the phone. Very proud of this team, very proud of what we accomplished today.
Q.
Do you feel like this victory has any sort of a mark attached to it in any fashion, any sort of a black mark, given what's happened in the last week?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:
Not at all. This is the opposite of that. If you think about what we overcame, and the pressure that's on any team, in any sport, if they were faced with something like this, this is a huge, huge statement, something that I'm very proud of.
We play within a set of rules. Chad broke the rules. He's admitted that. He's in Charlotte watching the race today. He missed the event. We're serving our penalty. We're doing everything we can do. We stepped up today and won the biggest race in our sport, and it is something that I am so proud of.
Q.
This morning when you were talking to the race fans, you had a note in your pocket. What was that note and what was your word of the day for the team?
JIMMIE JOHNSON:
The biggest thing today for us was patience. Chad actually faxed down something he wanted me to read to the guys in the transporter today in our meeting beforehand since he couldn't obviously be there. I read his statement to the guys.
Six-time winner of the Daytona 500, guy that's batting a thousand, first race as crew chief, wins the Daytona 500.
![Jimmie Johnson (Lowes/Hendrick Motorsport Chevrolet) celebrates his win in the 2006 Daytona 500 [pic GM Media/Dorsey Patrick]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/194780.jpg)
