"You know, at that particular point, the season was kind of a disaster at that point in the year. And that was where we started to turn it around and getting a lot of different cars built. You know, when you start the season and you've got 40 or 50 cars between the four teams that are built in the wrong direction, it takes a long time to get that fleet of cars turned around, and, you know, get a new direction of what you need to do technically with your cars and get your engineering group -- the one thing we haven't had to worry about is our engine group, so that was nice.

"You know, it was just a huge task to turn everything around. And I think the management changes have been probably the best things that have happened internally just for the fact that the crew chiefs have Scott to go to; and Scott, he has to balance that fine line of deciding, you know, is that good for performance based upon what we need from a budget standpoint, and that's always the hardest part is deciding how much money you need to spent in order to make your cars run faster.

"So unfortunately, it's a money-eating machine to get your stuff turned back around and just to race every week, and you want to function off of a pretty strict budget. But when you are behind, you've got to do what you've got to do to catch back up. And Richard has made that commitment, and our job is to not have so many peaks and valleys. That's the thing that's kind of hindered us in the past.

"Hopefully the new management structure can come up with a good plan to keep that going forward, and we can -- you know, when we have the stuff that we need underneath us as drivers, it makes us all kind of look like things are all going really good, and they are. So we have just got to figure out how to just keep that consistent going forward.''

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SEE DAVID PEARSON RACE AGAIN

David Pearson, who is 75 years old, has been announced as one of the 12 drivers for Bristol's old-timers race on March 20, a daybefore the Cup race there. Scheduled to join Pearson in that 35-lap race will be: Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Charlie Glotzbach, Dave Marcis, Tommy Houston, L.D. Ottinger, Jack Ingram, Larry Pearson, Rick Wilson, Phil Parsons and Jimmy Hensley.  

David Pearson had planned to compete in last year's race but back problems prevent him from competing. He has five wins at Bristol. His first came in the 1967 Southeastern 500. His final win there came in the 1971 Southeastern 500.

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WHO IS DRIVING WHAT?

Not all teams list what chassis their drivers will use each weekend but many do. Here's a look at what some folks will be driving this weekend in the Cup event at Las Vegas:

# Jamie McMurray -- Using chassis that competed in three races last year (Atlanta spring, Texas spring and Homestead)

# Juan Pablo Monotya -- Using same chassis he raced at Homestead last fall where he finished 38th after bumping incident with Tony Stewart. Later returned to race to wreck Stewart.

# Kevin Harvick -- Will use a brand new car this weekend.

# Jeff Burton -- Will use a brand new car this weekend.

# Clint Bowyer -- Ran this chassis twice last year, finishing 18th at Indy and 21st at Kansas.

# Denny Hamlin -- Can ran twice last year, winning both times. It won at Pocono and Martinsville.

# Kyle Busch -- Will use a brand new car this weekend.

# Kurt Busch -- Will use chassis that he won with at Texas last fall and drove at Homestead when he arguably had the best car but didn't win.

# Carl Edwards -- Using chassis that ran both Atlanta races, Chicago & Darlington last year. Best finish was 3rd at spring Atlanta race.

# David Ragan -- Using car he last drove at Homestead where it finished 34th.

# Ryan Newman -- Using a new car that has never been on a track. It was in the wind tunnel in early February.

# Joey Logano -- Using chassis he raced twice last year. Finished 14th at Richmond last fall & 12th at Martinsville last fall.

# Bobby Labonte -- Car is making its on-track debut with TRG Motorsports

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SHORT TAKES

# 46 Cup cars are on the entry list for Las Vegas this weekend. Nine of those cars list their sponsor as TBA _ including Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray _ or list the sponsor as the race team. That's nearly 20 percent of the entries without a true sponsor.

# 52 Nationwide cars are on the entry list for Las Vegas this weekend. Nineteen of those cars list their sponsor as TBA or list the sponsor as the race team. That's 36 percent of the entries without a true sponsor.

# Michigan International Speedway is going smokeless, the track announced Wednesday. The ban comes on the heels of a state measure that goes into effect May 1, banning smoking in public places. The ban covers all grandstand seating, messanines, concession and restroom buildings, suites and chalets at the track. Fans can smoke in open-air areas behind the grandstands and in campgrounds.

# The Hartford Financial Services Group will serve as the primary sponsor of Clint Bowyer's Cup team for three races and be an associate for the remaining races.

# This weekend marks the first of nine races that Tornados, a brand of family owned Ruiz Foods, will be the primary sponsor for Ryan Newman's car.

# Bristol Motor Speedway has extended its SAFER barriers in the exits of turns 2 and 4, adding more than 160 extra feet of the barrier.

# Roush Fenway Racing announced that Drew Blickensderfer, who had been replaced as Matt Kenseth's Cup crew chief last week by Todd Parrott, will take over as crew chief of Carl Edwards' Nationwide team immediatley. Mike Kelley, who had served in that role, will assume the role of competition director for Roush Fenway Racing's Nationwide effort. Mike Beam will move into the role of speedway specialist in the R&D department, filling the void left by Parrott when he moved over to work with Kenseth on the Cup side.