Chat Transcript: Top Busch Series drivers
January 14, 2002
3:26 PM EST (2026 GMT)
[NASCAR_Host3] Welcome to NASCAR.com's chat with the 2001 Top Busch Drivers!
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Jeff Green
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[Jeff_Green] Hello to all the NASCAR and Busch Series fans! We are here in Los Angeles for our awards banquet tonight. We do it in the next year so that is different and we are looking forward to tonight.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [Nascarman_8] Jeff, have you and Harvick worked much together thus far this offseason? Has your opinion changed at all regarding him as a driver? Are you still not looking forward to working with him this season? GOOD LUCK IN 2002!
[Jeff_Green] I don't think at any time was I not looking forward to any teammates at RCR. Kevin and I had battled the last few years and we had to do the jobs we had to do. We are teammates and we both know what job is at hand. We have 3 teams and 3 sponsors and we all have great chances to win races and championships in the next few years.
We can get along. We are friends, and in the heat of the battle, good friends become enemies. If we are going for the win, we are going to do what we can to win that particular race. We are also going to do what we can to be teammates and make the best out of it.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [jcHermin] Jeff, what's the biggest difference between driving a Cup car and driving a Gold Medal Chevy Dealers late model at the old Nashville Speedway?
[Jeff_Green] Probably the competition level. That was a great training ground. They had steel bodies, and racing at those tracks gave me some really quick experience at how to have car control. Ninety-percent of our tracks today, with the Goodyear tires as hard as they are, the cars slide around a lot and that helps me a lot. The competition is so much harder and we have to have the same success we had in the past. The Busch Series has been good to me, too.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [dSpLiOn] What goals have you set for yourself in this new season?
[Jeff_Green] Just to be competitive every week and put ourselves in position for good finishes. I have a top-10 team each week and I think we can sit on poles and win events. As the season goes, I would love to be in the top-10 in points. I know we will stumble and we would fool ourselves not thinking that could happen, but we will work hard. There are days like that where my experience, like none at Sears Point, will be tough, but we are going to work hard and have a successful season for us.
[Jeff_Green] The offseason hasn't been much of one! After Atlanta, I went into hunting mood and went to Texas with Richard and did some white tail hunting. We had Thanksgiving and Christmas, and this has just been a short offseason, but we are ready to get going again. I am looking forward to it. I left a great race team and I have a great new one with RCR and AOL. I just want to be a contender each week and I am sure all you fans want to see some racing, so hopefully the Daytona 500 will be here soon!
[NASCAR_Host3] Welcome Mike!
[Mike_McLaughlin] Welcome to all you fans! It has been a long offseason it seems like and I hope you all had a happy New Year!
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [#20MMFAN] HEY MIKE! When are you going to put Max in a go-kart? You have to teach em early you know! Plus you still have to teach him to ride a horse!
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Mike McLaughlin
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[Mike_McLaughlin] That sounds like someone close to my family! Haha Max, he is already on little Harley 3-wheelers, and now he has a little 4-wheeler. He is a little maniac on that thing. We will help him do whatever he wants, baseball, football, racing, whatever.
He is a neat little guy and we are having fun. My dad was a blacksmith, and before he passed away he wanted to make sure Max had that opportunity, so we are going to fulfill that also.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [TRW] Hey Mike, congratulations on top-ten in points. I'm Thunder's friend from Florida, met you in Daytona last year. Are you excited about having an in-house motor program this year and do you think you have a good chance at the superspeedways this year? You're one of the smoothest drivers in the series. This second year with the same team should make you a major factor this year. Good luck.
[Mike_McLaughlin] Thank you. I am definitely excited. We have an in-house engine program which I feel is a plus. We have all the same people back, and we have MBNA back. When you can keep a group of people together for a long time, you are going to have results. I am proud of what we did last year and I am excited to see what we can do in 2002.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [Rapid Roman] Congratulations on the win at Talladega. Sure was hoping to see you start Stewart's car at Charlotte. Any chance of starting a third car for Gibbs in 2002?
[Mike_McLaughlin] I appreciate the comment on the win. That was awesome! I don't have any thoughts about a third car for Cup for Gibbs racing. If there is a situation where they need someone to get in and practice a car, I am there to help. They have helped us quite a bit in our Busch program and I look for good things to come from that relationship.
[Mike_McLaughlin] The holidays have taken up some time here. I spent time with the family up in the mountains, and then I was in upstate New York. That is something that you don't get a lot of time to do with our schedule. I have been in the shop mounting seats, so I spent a lot of time there. Before we know it, racing will be here. Once you start testing, the time seems to go by even faster!
[NASCAR_Host3] Thanks Mike!
[Kevin_Harvick] Thank you all for coming! I am glad to have a chance to chat with you on NASCAR.com today.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [kevfan29] Kevin, I think you rule. Congratulations on the Busch Championship and your top-10 finish in the Winston Cup points. Good luck in the 2002 season. How many Busch races will you run in 2002?
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Kevin Harvick
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[Kevin_Harvick] We are going to run three, two at Bristol and one at Texas for right now. We might run more, but that is all we are sure of for now.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [harvickfan1] Kevin, are you okay with all the new rules for 2002?
[Kevin_Harvick] I think the rules will be fine. They are a lot like the Busch rules on the superspeedways. The racing will be as good as it has ever been. It is a rolling freight train waiting to wreck, and I think these rules will make everything better, so we will have to see how it all shakes out in Daytona.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [SPFan#1] Kevin, my hero, how do we keep up with all the different races you will be in this year? Are they posted somewhere in the internet? Keep up the great work! YOU DA MAN!
[Kevin_Harvick] It is kind of just a trial-by-error kind of thing. We know the two Bristol races and the Texas race in the Busch car, and we will run some companion races with the truck. You can keep up with it at NASCAR.com or kevinharvick.com.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [jamiexxx] Kevin, who do you think is the toughest person you have raced?
[Kevin_Harvick] Jimmy Spencer is the hardest to pass. It just really depends on who you are around or what the situations may be. Jimmy is the hardest guy I have ever tried to pass.
[Kevin_Harvick] When we got done with the season, I took some weeks off to sleep day in and day out! We are working on getting our new building done and getting some offices put together. Our Truck Series team is going in there and we are concentrating on our Cup cars.
Everything is going well at the shop and now we are celebrating our Busch Series Championship year here in Los Angeles. I am just hanging out, so I am bored and ready to go back racing!
[NASCAR_Host3] Thank you, Kevin!
[NASCAR_Host3] Welcome Jason!
[Jason_Keller] Welcome back to everyone! I hope you had a great holiday and if you are anything like me, you want to see the season get going!
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [cagl54] Congratulations Jason on a wonderful 2001 season. Are you and Shane Hall still as close as you were growing up? I've had the pleasure of teaching you both and am so proud of the young men you've become. How do you utilize your off-track time to help others? Best of luck to you in 2002!
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Jason Keller
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[Jason_Keller] Shane and I are still very close and we still continue to be close. I am very glad of that fact. We usually spend our time off-track time with our families as much as we can. I do a golf tournament every year and some other charity functions.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [Icewoman] Jason, what would you say is your favorite track that you visited last year during the Busch Series?
[Jason_Keller] I always considered Richmond one of my favorites. I haven't had a lot of success there, but I like the layout and the grandstands are big enough to have a lot of fans there. I haven't won there, but I have enjoyed racing there.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [trey] Congratulations on a good season Jason. When are you going to start thinking about a move to the Cup series?
[Jason_Keller] I guess when one of the real big car owners call me! There are some good opportunities on the Cup side, but you have to wait your turn and hopefully one will become available. I have been here a long time and enjoyed it, but I have a different attitude now and I want to look at those opportunities and see what it is available.
[Jason_Keller] We just had wonderful holiday season. My son is 5 and my little girl is 3. Those ages are wonderful and I had the best offseason ever just relaxing. We tested at Talladega just this week so I hope to start the 2002 season as strong as we left the 2001 season.
[NASCAR_Host3] Welcome to NASCAR.com, Greg!
[Greg_Biffle] I just would like to say hello to all you fans! I can't wait for Daytona. I am excited to get back to racing and seeing all the fans again at the trailers and in the pits. I am just really excited about getting going!
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [kenttex] What is your goal for this season, Championship or improvement? What is the game plan to make that happen, and what changes?
[Greg_Biffle] Certainly a little of both. Everybody's goal is a Championship and you have to set that goal. Whether you finished 15th or it is your first year, that is your goal. I want to improve on last year. We won 5 times, so we have to try and improve on that, which would be spectacular. We have built several new cars and we have some new, added guys because of our partial Winston Cup program. Everybody is just pumped up and ready to go.
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Greg Biffle
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[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [trey] What's up Greg. Great year man. What was your biggest challenge in the BGN series in 2001?
[Greg_Biffle] Really at the beginning I was just figuring out all the guys you race with week in and week out. Everyone has an MO on how they drive, what they will give and what they will take. You have to figure out everyone's racing style and that was a challenge.
Once we got to the middle of the season, we got really consistent. We raced really well with all the guys. We knew who we were racing against each week, and then the cars act a bit different than the truck does.
It was really hard for me to go back to the truck races. It was tough the first two, trying to get back into the swing of things, but then I won the next two! Haha I am looking forward to continuing on. I know I will face the same challenges when I move to Winston Cup.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [drake] Do you feel any added pressure being the favorite to win the Busch Championship in 2002?
[Greg_Biffle] I didn't know I was the favorite yet, but not really! We are just going to go out there and do the best we can every week, just like last year. Whatever happens, happens, and hopefully that will be good enough to win it.
I am hearing about some guys that are going to come back and race the Busch Series, and we have new talent, plus guys like Jason Keller. He has a new teammate, so all those guys will be tough.
I feel good about the season and I want it get started. We are going to be competitive out of the gate. We are going back to the tracks we did last year. We have what it takes to win a Championship, so now we just have to execute it.
[Greg_Biffle] Late in the season I started building a shop on my property and when the season was over, I was just working on that stuff. I am a motorhead and I like to wrench on a lot of things. It is like 9,000 square feet and I have had several of them, so I hope this is my last one! I have limited time during the season, but during offseason I focus all my time on it.
That is really all I have been doing, outside of working at the shop on our new cars. I have been as busy in the offseason as I was during the season!
[Tony_Raines] Hello from warm and sunny Beverly Hills!
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [sunny33] Hey Tony, how are you doing? I hope that all goes well this year and you and the Bace Team are in Victory lane. What do you think the lack of sponsorship money will do for the Busch series and racing in general? Best of LUCK!
[Tony_Raines] It is a period of time where everyone is going to have to tighten their belts I suppose. Racing has been through this before, so it is nothing new. It is going to make competition hard on and off the track. We have been doing this for a long time, so hopefully we can just keep everything in order.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [Noelle_dalejrfan] Hey Tony, did the 2001 season go as you planned? If not, what is one thing that you would change? Thank you!
[Tony_Raines] That is a good question. It went reasonably well. We wanted a win. We came close a few times, but it just didn't happen. I cant really put my finger on one thing that would have turned it around, but if we had broke through with a win when we had a chhance, we might have won more If we didn't have parts breaking or the driver making bonehead moves, we might have won. We are looking forward to fixing those things for the 2002 season.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [Roush] Who do you feel is your toughest competitor in Busch racing? Good luck this year.
[Tony_Raines] It seems like me, Elton, and Jimmie Johnson ran around each other late in the season. That is who we seemed to be racing late in the season. Hopefully late in the season it will be all of us, and Greg Biffle, racing for that first spot in 2002.
[Tony_Raines] I have been like a one-armed paper hanger this offseason! We haven't tested yet, but we are enjoying our time off snow-mobiling, duck hunting, and trying to get ready to get started after the test. We are going to test a few more times, but the guys are working hard at the shop getting the fleet of cars ready, so I am looking forward to kicking the year off!
[Kenny_Wallace] Thank you guys for coming today and supporting us in our endeavors with the #48 Stacker 2 Chevy! Without you guys, we couldn't do what we do, and for that we are ever grateful.
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Kenny Wallace
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[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [jk|1331] Kenny, you are, by far, the best driver to listen to on the scanner. Who is your spotter and how long have you worked together? Best wishes for 2002.
[Kenny_Wallace] Yeah, the spotter is our eye in the sky. They keep us out of trouble every where, especially at places like Talladega and Daytona. I have an awesome relationship with my guys, and yeah we have a whole lot of fun on the radio.
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [JasonDaytona] Hey Herman :), As many of drivers are doing, do you have a interest racing in the 24 hours of Daytona or any other form of motorsports?
[Kenny_Wallace] I love racing and I will never say never!
[NASCAR_Host3] Question from: [muncie4speed] How has Steve Park helped you prepare for driving the No. 1 car?
[Kenny_Wallace] Steve is a really good friend of mine and an awesome talent. I am sure you guys know that this contract I signed at DEI is to help out where Steve left off.
I will continue to do everything I can to keep this team atop the heap until he is ready to return. We all wish him well and can't wait to see him back out on the track.
I saw my family during the holidays and have been working really hard on getting ready for Daytona. I am looking forward to seeing all of you out there supporting our #1 Pennzoil Chevy and the #48 Stacker 2 Chevy. Later.
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