2007-11-16 KeysDAN at Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida
Kurt Busch – Has almost as many points as the leader Jimmy Johnson. He is looking to make a great showing at Homestead Miami Speedway. His team is going to retire a race car that is of and older style. He is happy that the chase has worked out to everybody’s expectation. Be in your game for the end race. He is within 100 points for position to win the championship. In 2004, prepared to win or lose. On 2007, this season has been a great year. He feels very positive on choice to join this team and drive the Miller Lite Dodge. Won the race in 2002 but played second fiddle to the championship winner, Greg Biffle. When you win the last race of the season you get a couple of months to brag. This generation of drivers has raised the bar on this game. Each generation has its champions. Do you see trends? I have seen the soft tire and the hard tire. Changes in the way the car is built. NASCAR changes the rules to keep the crew chiefs guessing. Winning the last race but losing the champ. The only thing on his mind is the win and the trophy. Hendricks Motorsports (Dodge Team) is on a roll do you expect the same in 2008? I do expect a great year next year. Many of the races this year were down to the wire. Are you going to buy some cars and keep them in your yard? Have number 90 and 004 cars that he won with in the past. Has a nice stash of some of the old cars. Are you happy with Good Year as the official tire? Yes, Good Year makes a great “mule” type tire good on many types of tracks. Has a nice garage of cars. Is jealous of some other drivers garages because his cars
Racing 101
Ford Racing – Kevin Kennedy – Communications Manager – What are the differences in racing through the years? The rules and restrictions by NASCAR are attempting to level the playing field. The way that you turn is the most important. Everyone goes fast on the straight away. Fuel Mileage is important. Also adjusting tire pressure and tire temperature. The driver has to know quite a bit about the car to give feedback to the pit crew to make changes and tweaks. Juan Pablo Montoya is doing great. He is a good driver. Villanueva as well is coming along in his racing. This is the end of the season. Now all of the drivers are looking to test for next year. On a side note, the cars are still on carburetor as opposed to fuel injection. This year unleaded fuel was introduced. There is talk of “green friendly” technology. Sunoco has the contract to explore new fuels and energy sources. Telemetry vs. fuel injection – what is the next step in racing? Computer simulation programs are used to help to train drivers and keep their hand-eye coordination.. New fuels and techniques mean having to scrap the old cars and make an investment into new cars. That is high dollars. Making te developments over time help the teams diffuse costs. The car of tomorrow will have better fuels, safety features. NASCAR pilots fly more that any other. Bigger teams have the means to buy their own planes. This is cost efficient in many respects. The Pit crews are well trained, practice every night and are in great physical condition. What are your thoughts on changes in 10 years? There could be a separation of the Busch, Nextel and Ford series. Trucks and cars may be separated. In 10 years the car of tomorrow will be here. You are now seeing more aggressive younger drivers. This is bringing in the new generation. This could help in making NASCAR more of a national and international sport. The cup race is great for the media (TV, Radio, Print, etc.) and for the promoter who are trying to get their products and services known to the general public. Everyone is looking for the “next big thing.” Mark Martin is retiring to the truck series because the truck series is not quite as demanding as NASCAR. With all of the new guys coming in is their a resentment by the older drivers? These guys are pretty good. They can show the world that they have the skills and they are good drivers. NASCAR likes it because it expands the fan base. Where does the next fan base come from? New drivers bring in people from their respective countries of origin. The drivers from other countries do try to come in to NASCAR. They may go from ARCA to Truck Series to NASCAR. That is one way to come in to the series. They may get sponsors to bring them over to test them on NASCAR. Some could get in that route. There are a lot of drivers from all over the world that are fans of NASCAR. Many get the urge to drive NASCAR. They have to learn the process of this series.
Todd Irvin – ISC – International Speedway Corporation
These folks own many of the NASCAR tracks throughout the country. They are taking the races to the community. Todd and his team are trying to diversify the sport of NASCAR to the different races. There are not many people of color that are drivers but there are many that work behind the scenes. They are also trying to bring NASCAR to a broader Latin fan base by taking it to several countries in South America.
Alberto Garcia – Vice President of operations Homestead Miami Speedway
Homestead Miami Speedway opened in 1995. When they opened they were small. Now 12 years later it has become one of the most anticipated places to come. The track grades have been gradually changed over the years to have faster, more exciting races. We are commanding more of a Hispanic following throughout the years. The media is a large part of that. Miami-Dade County in particular is a market that is geared toward the Latin community. There are many auto clubs here in South Florida that has been showing support for Latino involvement in NASCAR. There are many driving schools and Driving experience that give folks a chance to get the NASCAR experience without having to be professional NASCAR drivers. There are also local go carts and carting events that can build excitement for the sport of racing.
Alex Garcia - Owner operator
Talks about COT – Car of Tomorrow - and the new changes that prevented his team from entering this series. The changes will ultimately be a good thing for all of the teams but the smaller teams will have to keep up with the new changes. Time and money are the keys to making the changes. Finding sponsors to help cover the costs is a major goal for his team and others. He lives in Atlanta. His car is there. He has the car almost completed for the new changes. He is the driver. His team has to make just a few more changes and he is back in the series. Adjusting weights and balances to make sure that the car is running in top form is an important part of the job. Communication between driver and mechanic is a very useful tool when making the final adjustments. The adjustments are never final. It is an ongoing battle to keep the racing team going strong. How are the changes that a Latin presence affecting NASCAR. People are people. They just happen to be Latino. Diversification opens the doors for people of all races and creeds. Not just Latino. Alex is not into playing the Latin card. He is just happy to be a part of the game that he loves. More than just Latin more important is the races themselves: Busch Nextel and Ford.
Felix Sapatas – Chip Cadassi - Owner of car
How long in NASCAR? 22 years. He grew up in North Carolina. He was very interested from an early age. Was being Latino a challenge for you? No. They treated me just like anyone else. We need to get the Latinos here in the USA to get involved and come to the races. That would be a priority for us. Montoya would be the first Latino NASCAR driver. He is paving the way for others to follow in his path. There are others coming up through the ranks to get to NASCAR. Chip is one of these drivers. Fernando Alonso is another. Formula one is a completely different animal than NASCAR. Formula one is a demonstration of demonstrocity. NASCAR is more conceivable and accessible to the everyman. The cars are more recognizable from the everyday view. Formula one is champagne and caviar. NASCAR is beer and hot dogs. More of us know the beer and hot dog crowd. There are Mexicans in the open wheel series that are making a showing and could be contenders for entry into NASCAR. To gain the level of Jimmy Johnson or Jeff Gordon status the Latino drivers in particular need experience. In a football game, the quarterback keeps the play to himself; in NASCAR everyone hears the plays.1853 hrsThe final practice run for the NASCAR Busch series Ford 300 is roaring through. I am in the pits looking up at the stands. The race fans are slowly filling up the stands. It is so loud. I love it! I am sitting in front of the desk for the TV show, “NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on Speed.” The crew is setting up the cameras and microphones. The cars are still wizzing by. It is mad excellent! 2000Fireworks and here we go. It is rip roaring loud…The pics that I took are here: http://www.keysdan.com/2007-11-16_KeysDAN_at_Homestead_Miami_Speedway.html
Public Service Message: Don't drive angry.
No comments:
Post a Comment