Wednesday Media Tour Notes
Written by John Davison · January 27, 2005
Courtesy of the staff of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, we have notes here from day three of the NASCAR NEXTEL Media Tour.
Wednesday kicked off with breakfast in the Hilton’s University Ballroom featuring Petty Enterprises team-owner Richard Petty and driver Jeff Green.
Courtesy of the staff of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, we have notes here from day three of the NASCAR NEXTEL Media Tour.
Wednesday kicked off with breakfast in the Hilton’s University Ballroom featuring Petty Enterprises team-owner Richard Petty and driver Jeff Green.
JEFF GREEN (No. 43 Cheerio’s Dodge): “We all go into the season with high expectations, and we did the same thing last year. But I think our program is 100 percent better this year than it was last year. It’s just not our new engine program, but everything is better. We feel like we have as good a chance as anyone. Our fab shop and our aero program have come a long way since last year. We think we’ll have a top-10 car every week and the rest is up to us.”
RICHARD PETTY (Owner No. 43 and No. 45 Dodge): “We’ve been struggling for a long time at Petty Enterprises. We were struggling when I was still driving. Petty Enterprises has been up and down over the years and hopefully we are headed in the right direction. When you start looking at the things we’ve been doing, it’s not just one thing, but a lot of different things that we needed to do differently. The engines needed to be better, the cars needed to be better and the drivers needed to be better.”
Also as part of the General Mills-sponsored breakfast, it was announced Chex cereal will sponsor the annual National Motorsports Press Association’s NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award.
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The first “on-the-road stop” of the day for the Media Tour came at the new headquarters of Wood Brothers Racing, which ironically is located in the same shop where the team’s driver, Ricky Rudd, operated his own team from 1994-1999. Representatives from the historic racing family including founders Leonard and Glenn Wood were in attendance. Driver Ricky Rudd, crew chief Michael McSwain and Wood family leaders Eddie and Len Wood were also on hand at the Mooresville, N.C., facility.
RICKY RUDD (No. 21 Motorcraft Ford): “I had a lot of blood sweat and tears in this building…I’m really happy to see the Wood Brothers in here. I have some great memories from this building…I’m taking it one year at a time. Obviously, I won’t be here in five or 10 years, but I think I have a couple more good years in me. With the Yates engine program and everything that the Wood Brothers have assembled here if we aren’t able to be competitive and run up front this year, I probably won’t be back next year, but if we are competitive and can make the top 10, you’ll probably have to put up with me a couple more years.”
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MICHAEL McSWAIN (Crew Chief No. 21 Motorcraft Ford): “It’s been a tough winter for me. I’ve had a lot of things going on. We had our first child and I had some work done on myself, but I had some good people overseeing what was going on here and a lot of work has been done. Pretty much every car here has been taken all the way back to the frame and modified; and new bodies have been put on them.”
EDDIE WOOD: “It came up about a year ago November that we would move. It had been talked about for years, but it was one of those things that you never really thought would happen. Then one day Len and I woke up and decided that if we were going to stay in this business we needed to move…Early last year we were behind simply because we had moved and it took us a while to catch up. If I hadn’t seen what happened during the final 10 races of the season when I think we were eighth or ninth in points during that stretch with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
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Team owner Robert Yates and engine builder Doug Yates were joined by drivers Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett and crew chiefs Todd Parrott and Mike Ford in greeting the media at the Robert Yates Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C. Yates pointed out that he had only 10 employees when he bought the team, including himself, and he drove the transporter to the race tracks. The company now employees 148 people.
ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 38 M&Ms Ford): “We have brilliant teammates here and Mike Ford and Dale Jarrett have been testing the new car configuration for months beginning the last couple months of last season. And we tested it ourselves at Homestead. It’s hard for me to believe that any team could be better prepared for this season than we are. We have done a really great job of dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s.”
DALE JARRETT (No. 88 UPS Ford): “A lot of good things have happened at Robert Yates Racing in the last year after Mike Ford came in and reorganized everything. Our focus for 2005 is clearly to get back to victory lane…I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve seen a lot of the guys my age getting ready to retire, but they started earlier than I did, so I am going to stay at it a little longer. My contract is for two more years, but I’d like to stay around a little longer. If Robert and Doug Yates and UPS would have me back, I think I would look at racing through probably 2007. I have a minimum of two years and probably three left.”
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The NASCAR NEXTEL Media Tour then headed to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in Mooresville, N.C. Team-owner Teresa Earnhardt welcomed the media and introduced team manager Richie Gilmore, drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex, Jr. and Paul Menard, as well as crew chiefs Pete Rondeau, Tony Eury Jr. and Kevin Manion. Cup Series driver Michael Waltrip was absent due to a prior commitment.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet): “We tried to stay home as much as we could during the off-season. I tried to get to the shop as much as possible and tried to get to know the guys I’ll be working with this year. And I wanted to see their cars and the types of things they are doing while trying to get a feel for what the attitude is like down there. The changes have been real productive so far. Tony Eury Sr. is in a new position overseeing things and I’m a lot more comfortable with who is looking over certain things within our company. I think he is a real compliment to Richie Gilmore…Tony Sr. is 15 times more valuable to the company than he was six months ago.”
MARTIN TRUEX (No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet): “I think I have a great chance of repeating as Busch Series champion. I am also looking forward to getting a chance to race in the Daytona 500 and I hope I can run with Michael and Junior.”
PAUL MENARD (No. 11 Menard’s Chevrolet): “We would like to challenge Martin for the championship. I want to win some races this year and if we are in position to win, then the wins will come. We want to be in contention week in and week out.”
RICHIE GILMORE: “When you make changes you wonder how things are going to work out, but from what I can see, everybody has adjusted well to the changes.”
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How do you become a Transport Driver
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