Jason was a big mover for 2003, going from GRM to Larkham Motorsport

Were you shocked when Garry Rogers didn't reconfirm your contract in 2002?

Well, no because that wasn't the case at all. We were discussing many issues with my contract. I've worked for Garry for five years and throughout the year we'd been discussing different things and the way things have turned out is the best for everybody.

So did you leave before you had to, did you have something lined up before everything went dead at Garry's?

Yes.

And what about Garry? Are you OK with him?

I've got a lot of respect for Garry Rogers, we've worked well together for five years, we haven't necessarily seen eye-to-eye on every issue, on every subject ... but that's what any good working relationship is. I've been very fortunate to work with Holden for five years, we've achieved some great results, it's just time to make a change.

You've been out in Larko's car already on a drive day. How do you find it?

At the end of the day there's not a lot of difference: roughly the same horsepower, the same gearbox, obviously the same tyre, similar brake package, the weight's the same so there is a lot of similarity between the cars - the difference is in the balance and the handling of the car. On the day I drove Mark's car it was a passenger ride day... we had a passenger in the car all day long but I was very impressed with the car, it seemed to do a lot of really nice things. There's a few areas we need to work on to try and make it improve and I hope I can bring that to the team, that we can improve a few areas and really make a race winner of it.

Is Bargwanna Motorsport on the horizon?

There is a Bargwanna Motorsport but it's not going to run a single car in the V8 Supercar team, don't you worry.

I noticed the nice new Falcon XR6 Turbo in your driveway, when did Holden turn up to take your car back?

We did that this week. I just spoke to them and they understood the position and yeah, there was no issue.

Do you think you and Garth had the same kind of equipment?

There are times throughout the year when there'd be development stuff going on and sometimes I'd have it, sometimes Garth'd have it but it's pretty fair to say the cars were pretty much the same throughout the five years.

And at Indy, was that a big 'everybody pay attention, I can still win these things' moment for you?

I do that every weekend. I go out to win a race or I go out to win a round; it's not like I went to Indy with some special agenda. I mean, the series is so competitive now to win one occasionally is a nice feeling, to win them on a regular basis is very difficult. And we've got to step up to get that to be the case. But you know, I mean, I went out at Indy to give it my best shot and it just so happens that on that weekend it was enough to win the round.

So you wouldn't say you were driving for the future that day?

No, not really. Well, every race is driving for the future, unfortunately in this sport you're only as good as your last race and that happens in every aspect of the sport.

Sandown was pretty fired up too, but obviously didn't produce the results at the end of the weekend... it was like there was a big fire in your belly.

We've had situations throughout this year, especially after Phillip Island where we couldn't get on top of the car and everything sort of spiralled backwards throughout the weekend, but towards the end of the year we started to get the car working better, obviously Indy proved that. At Sandown we were quite competitive and it was unfortunate we had a few dramas with the car and it didn't quite work out how we planned. I still think we could have been a top five result at Sandown, so towards the end of the year we've worked hard and we've got back to where we wanted to be.

Have you practised your boxing since Phillip Island?

I think I've retired from boxing. I'm not very good at it.

Do you hold any grudges against Murph? Did you laugh a little bit at Bathurst or...?

What happened at Bathurst? (V8X holds up five fingers) Oh the five minute penalty, I didn't laugh, it's unfortunate for them obviously but that's the decision the stewards handed down. They were in the wrong and they got their penalty. Similar situation at Phillip Island. Murph was in the wrong, Murph got the penalty. In saying that, I was in the wrong by approaching Murph in the way I did and I copped the penalty.

Murph still thinks you're the bad boy there... have you sorted out anything or do you just leave it and say 'who cares?'.

I'll just continue on to race another day, I don't actually care what Murph thinks. At the end of the day Greg was charged for the incident. I was charged for trying to snot him and that's the way it went .

What are you going to miss at GRM?

I've got a lot of good relationships there, especially the guys in the team, the sponsors and a way of doing business. A change like we've just made will open my eyes to a new way of doing things, and I might miss some of that, but I'm really focused on what is to come in the future. Joining Mark's team, joining Ford, the new V8 Falcon - that's probably more what I'm focusing on rather than what I'm going to miss from where I came from.

So do you reckon you rate Garry as a friend?

Yeah, absolutely.

And Garth?

Yeah.

So everything's cool?

Yeah. I don't think there was ever any problem.

When you're out on the track, you look in the mirror and there's someone coming up behind you... who do you not want it to be? Who frightens you?

Who frightens me?

They might hit you... bang, crunch.

I think I've been hit by Max Wilson a dozen times this year, but I reckon he's a great bloke, so he doesn't necessarily frighten me.

Is that the height factor?

No. I just think he's a great bloke, there's not too many guys in the paddock and in pitlane that you can have a bit of a chat to and have a laugh with and he's one of them, but unfortunately I've been hit in the rear end about half a dozen times. No-one really frightens me.

And who would you enjoy racing with the most?

I've enjoyed racing Craig a number of times. I haven't really had that many battles with Mark (Larkham) but I've had a couple with Skaifey - that's been good. Ambrose, I've had some good runs with. Russell and I have had a bit of biffo on the track and that's been great fun. There's no-one I don't enjoy racing, except maybe uh... no I think we'll leave that alone.

Was it strange not having a drive for 2003 for a while?

I've never been out of a contract, so the whole last six months I've been working with different people on different issues. I don't think there was any point in time where I wasn't going to be driving something. It was just a matter of deciding who, where, how, what and when.

Who else did you talk to?

Just a number of different people.

And how about the switch from Holden to Ford. Craig Lowndes needed a bodyguard, do you think you're going to need one?

Oh, I don't think I've got the popularity that Craig had so I don't think it's going to be that much of a problem. I mean, throughout the last five years I've been fortunate to have a number of great fans and they turn up wearing both a Ford hat and a Holden hat, so hopefully those Holden fans will stay with me and they're all Bargs fans. We'll just have to wait and see.

Just tell us about the numbers. Did you ever work out which number the Chinese doctor said you should be running and shouldn't be running?

I stayed away from the Chinese doctors, I tried a bit of that lucky underpants stuff a few years ago and it doesn't work. Lucky numbers, Chinese doctors, astrology, you know, which way the sun's pointing at the right time of day... oh, let's just go race.

When Garry came in and said 'okay Bargs and Garth... we're swapping numbers because my astrologer says that you should be running number 34', did you think what the hell's going on here?

Certainly. A lot of situations popped themselves up where you might say 'what's going on here', but you know, Garry runs his business the way he runs his business. He does what he thinks is best for his team. End of the day it's his team so if that's what he wants to do, no matter what the reason, it's his decision.

You've swapped teams now for the first time in five years. How do you feel now when you go into Larko's place?

I've got this new energy. It's very difficult to explain but it's like the first time I started working for Garry. I mean, I feel like the kid in the lolly shop but this time I know which lollies to pick... which are the best. And it's just the best feeling. I feel like we can use all the experience over the last five years but with the energy of some 17-year-old kid getting his first drive in a V8 Supercar... you know, let's go, let's go, let's go.

So are we going for the Gobstoppers or the Sherbet Fizz?

The Redskins are good.