If you stand still, you're going to get run over,

I've got a good old hot rod here. I'm almost embarrassed. ... Quickest don't win you championships and it don't win you races. But it sure makes you feel good.

It's all kind of mental. When you win, you have that confidence. If you can win the Skoal Showdown, then you feel positive on race day because you've been there, you've done that, and you know that your car is running the numbers and your driver's doing the job. But also for this championship, it was tough to get there. There are guys that aren't in this show that should have been there. When other cars just come from behind. The bottom line, anytime that you go in there, you know you did your job, but there's two other kids that are not in it that could've been (Whit Bazemore and Capps), and we're all trying to get in. Those kids could still be shooting toward that championship. You don't get too cocky just because you're in the Showdown or if you win it. You've got to go to sleep at night and get ready for the next morning.

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but there are a lot of good race cars out here, ... This is the best field (of Funny Cars) I've ever seen and that goes back to the days of 'Snake' and 'Mongoose,' Bernstein and the 'Blue Max' (references to Don Prudhomme, Tom McEwen, Kenny Bernstein and the car driven by three-time champion Raymond Beadle). I raced against all of them and I got spanked regular. But, bottom line, it's tougher now. There are no easy rounds.

It'll come down to who makes the right adjustments, ... It looks like all of us have pretty good cars in the cool and pretty good cars in the heat. When you're that close, all it takes is one mistake.

Next week, it can be turned right back around. Next week, I can come out and lose in the first round and they'll take the points lead again.