Winston-Salem, N.C.

Media Moments…Part Two (Of Five Parts)
© 2003 Dwight Drum
Photos by Dwight Drum

"Rest. I tried to really get away and unwind my mind from racing. It was a great off?season for me. I was able to travel overseas a couple of times. I spent a lot of time with my family and friends traveling around. It was a great off?season for me. When we had that 18?week stretch I thought it was pretty tough when we had a weekend off. You don't realize how much pressure you put on yourself and the type of stress you are under until it all goes away. After Homestead went away and we had the week off after that you feel yourself unwind and all of the pressure coming off of you and you realize I need to take a break here so next year when I walk into those speedways my mind is clear, I'm ready to do it again."

"Great equipment, great teammates, great people to learn from and every driver has been open?minded to work with everyone. You need those resources around you. You need those people to fall back on for their experience and setups and the Hendrick organization to support you and the sponsors. In all of those situations, all of that was there and it was up to the driver and team to bond and make things work. We have all taken the most with the opportunity that's been presented to us and have all done a great job. Watching Harvick last year, I was blown away by how he did it. I thought I was going to be an exception to the rookie that comes in and I wasn't going to have a good year, but to my surprise ? and I know a lot of other people's surprise ? we had a great season, competed for the Winston Cup Championship the majority of the year, won some races and poles, so it's been a very cool experience. I've got to pass the credit a long to what I'm surrounded by so I can get in there and do my job."

"I haven't been in one series more than two years. So I think kind of what happens starting to get labeled as a sophomore slump, you come in the second year, I know this from my own experience and driving a race car. I don't know if it applies to other sports, you come in, you know, the year before you went in with an open mind, gave 100%, and got a return. This year you know the situation, you know what's going on, and I'm going to drive it in further, I'm going to try that much harder. I think that is where no problem will come along if I have that mindset. But fortunately for me, bouncing around every other year to another form of racing or another solid race car, I learned to hang on to that sweet spot that you hit."

"But remember how that mindset was, that effort level because that was the sweet spot that you need to hang on to. It's not about being the craziest one out there and driving in the furthest. It's using your head and getting everything you can and being smart and racing for 500 miles is a lot different than anything else I have been involved in.

"I still do that today. Winston Cup is so competitive. When you are sitting there ?? especially the first part of the year will be the hardest season for new rookie class, you don't have that confidence inside of you. You are sitting on pit road, even for practice or during the race during a caution, you look in the mirror and there is Dale Jarrett. Oh, boy, here we go. They drop the green flag and we pulled away. You start having moments like that that build that confidence in you. Those guys are going to have it, that lack of confidence at a lot of the racetracks until they start coming back a second time."

"When you get that sweet spot and you are the guy to beat week in and week out. Okay, I found the sweet spot, all of those guys are at home and are and have you sitting on their dartboard ready to knock you off. And one of those guys is going to figure it out. Then they are the car to get and you got to start back over. So it's a continual game of leapfrog that's going on. We have engineers that are designing and finding things that make speed ?? there is just a lot of stuff going on that a driver and a crew chief can't think about. It is the engineers that are doing it."

"There is a lot of pressure there ? the sleepless nights or things that go on that you can ?? anyone can think pressure will do for you. Wondering if we are going to be top 25, the pressure of that. So as hard as it was, the things we went through and learned, there was a great pressure, there is a lot of pride in being competitive and racing for the Winston Cup Championship and racing for race wins. As hard as it was on me, I enjoyed it, I loved it, I want to be back in that situation again. This year my second time through I'm going to be smarter, know how to budget myself and hopefully work better under that pressure."

"You are just being pulled in so many directions. The responsibilities you have for your race team, sponsor, appearances, practice sessions, traveling, there is a lot going on that spreads you out thin. Like anyone, when you got work pulling on you, you have kids at home, wife, paying the bills, when all of that stuff starts pulling on you, you get spread thin and you become frustrated or the pressure starts to get to you.

"It's the same way in Motor Sports I still have a life outside of that race car. You get pulled in a lot of directions. I'm not saying I don't like it. I'm glad to be in that situation. I wouldn't trade it for any other position in the world. I'm going to be a lot smarter next year and know how to handle it better.

"We depend on the technology now as much as anything and aerodynamics is a big part of it. I think certainly what's been done is only going to bring the cars closer together as a group, so then it's going to be up to making decisions from a driver's standpoint on the race track the decisions that you make there, but making decisions in the pits will continue to be very very important."

"My dad or someone told me that someone made the statement that the reason the young guys are doing so well is because these cars are so easy to drive. I will assure you the cars aren't easy to drive. But I don't think softer tires are the way to go. I think we will only abuse that privilege if Goodyear will come back with something like that. If you want to make these cars where it is in the driver's then whack that spoiler off. I am not against that. We have become to dependent on that. There is no reason we should be running 6 or 700 pound springs in the right rear of these cars. That's totally to do with aerodynamics and the type of tire we have.

"Leave the tire hard and take away some of that downforce that we have. Then you will quit hollering about that aero push that you get because you will have more on the front end that you could stand so you got to take some of that spring out of the back. Then it gets back to drivers and crew chiefs having to work on these and the drivers working on the racetrack. We have come to dependent on aerodynamics and downforce.

"I guess it's 'be careful what you ask for, you might get it.' Wanting more teams to be more competitive; we've gotten that. I don't like using the word that we have more mediocre teams because I think we have a lot of very good race teams. I think that we just have more good teams. I don't think that the level of the competition there has gone down any. I just think that we have made so many things equal. We have ?? even though we talk about the economics and things aren't very good, we have a lot of sponsors that spend a lot of money in this. That part of it is probably the best that it's been for our sport. We have a lot of people and a lot of teams that have kept people together. We have more specialized people."

"We have people coming from other motor sports, from car manufacturers, engineers and things, we have more specialized people. That's made everybody better because you do have that. It's not just that have you mechanics these days. Everybody is specialized. And everybody has the capability of getting those specialized people. I think that's what puts things closer together. Even though we have young guys coming in making a big hit, the reason it was more difficult in my opinion, before was the younger guys, as you came in as a younger driver, you didn't have the opportunity to get in first?class equipment with a group of guys that could make your car as good as anybody else's out there. Those young guys come in with those capabilities now. All they are doing is bringing the talent that they have and making it work. I think we are just at a high level of competition right now. I don't think that we have gotten mediocre. I think we have others that have risen up.

"I think that was more you all talking about the age than me. I'm 46 now, even though I got gray here, there is not a thing in the world that keeps me or my age that's keeping me from winning races and championships. I think there's a lot of capable guys that are over 40 years old doing everything and more than anybody else can do out there. If we have the equipment and we make the effort, I know myself, I'm in the best shape that I have ever been in my life at 46 years old. So I have worked harder in the off?season than I have before. If we are not performing it is not because I'm not capable of doing it. I think I can do this. I think there are a lot of the guys that are over 40 that can certainly make a stand and say we are not ready to give this up. I'm not ready to give it up any time soon. I think you will see a lot of these guys performing very well."

"You don't find a lot of sponsors that want to come in ?? you hear a lot of them talking about we are going to spend this amount of money on the racing side of it and then we are going to come in and spend basically that same amount in promoting this. A lot of people have that idea coming in but that gets pretty expensive. But UPS has done that. They have done everything they said and probably a little more. We have ended up doing more commercials than what was planned from the beginning, and that's because of their customers, because of their employees and because of the fan reaction that we have had to that"

"If I would have only put my contract that I get a dollar every time I'm asked about driving the truck I'd be in pretty good shape."

"I can't imagine what this thing is going to be like 20 years from now. It's scary. I will tell you in 10 years, this sport is getting ready to change again just as much as it has in the past 10 and in the next 10. It's coming largely on the brilliance of Bill France and the people ?? and the France Family and the people surrounding the structure that is at NASCAR. I don't agree with everything they do. You know that. But I'm going to tell you something, those guys have done it. If you look at this series and any other kind of racing and any other kind of sport where NASCAR's continued to grow and most of the other sports have continued to decline, it's incredible. I have a lot of respect for NASCAR."

"I'm an old?timer. I wanted you to know that it's opened up opportunities for so many other people like 20 years ago, there were only eight people on a race team and no young bright engineers. Engineers weren't welcome to work on NASCAR cars 20 years ago in 1981 or '82 when I was running my own team.

"Now, look at the opportunity. It exciting for a driver to get to race NASCAR, think of all of these kids in school or in college that have a desire to get in Motor Sports and what is really the highest form right now in a lot of ways the highest recognized, NASCAR racing. There is a lot of opportunity. There are a hundred guys on each one of these race teams.

"So you can always find something good in change. It won't ever be like it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago it won't be like it is today. So there are some really great things that are happening along with the support and along with the change, but one of the negatives I think is that it's more about the equipment, it's more about the car and less about the driver. There is no way you really can't fix that that I know of.

"Technology…obviously, most of us in this room, aren't the technology wizards that our kids are already becoming. I think the sport is going to be really incredibly technical. And that is something that, you know, I'm not a wizard on. But now you know my son is, he already knows a lot more than I do about computers and how to, you know, how to make them work and navigate through things than I do. I see that happening with all of the race teams, more technical people, more engineers, more computers and what have you, and the growth of the sport from a sponsor's standpoint, the commercialism, the level of involvement from manufactures is going to grow, and you know, all of those things, it's going to be, it's going to continue to change."

"You start the season out without even knowing whether you are going to win a race. We won that race at Talladega last year and it was getting down to the end of the season and you wonder when you are going to win the second race. When you get that taste of winning and you cannot crave it, and you ?? even as the season winds down, it never just not enters your mind. You are all the time wondering whether this will be a week that we get another win. And you really don't care where it's at. Going into victory lane, any track is a great feeling."

"We are getting a little more well?rounded as a team. We are definitely not the total package. I'm definitely not the total package yet. I have a lot of work to do, a lot of improvements to make.

"I learned a long time ago that you don't just go hire and fire people on a regular basis to improve your team. I think you, a lot of times, find out the best personnel for the job are just right under your nose. I never really considered driving for somebody else, seriously considered it, but it's always going to be a curiosity, I guess, of mine because I really got an idea of what it was like when I drove for Richard at Daytona last year. "

"So you know, but I don't think that I would have that trust that I have ?? I mean, I could trust another crew or a crew chief or another personnel or another owner, but I don't think I would have the same trust like I have in Tony Sr. and Tony Jr.. Tony Sr., he treats me like his own son sometimes and most of the time when we are at the track and around each other, he lets me do what I want to do on my own free time but when I am at the track and I am under the roof with the rest of the guys, you know, he treats me like he really expects a lot out of me like he expects the same out of Tony, Jr.. I don't think I would get that anywhere else, that's a good feeling."

"Well, there is some responsibility but they are not very heavy, you know, to carry. I think that ?? it's really like when we were down there getting introduced to the crowd, it feels really, really good to get such a loud applause and so much excitement for people to be excited for you to be here. It really, really feels good. And you really try not to compare it to other drivers or compare your popularity to other people. You try not to do that. You keep in the back of your mind the fact that it's not always going to be that way.

"One thing you always do is really be careful about what you do or what you say, try not to put yourself in a position because you can lose it ?? it takes years to gain such respect or such admiration and it takes one second to lose it which is amazing."

"You know, you just ?? one thing that I have always done was just try to be honest, just try to be somebody that is easy to relate to, I guess. And I think that's what's really the most profitable for me when it comes to creating my fan base, no matter who you are, there's something that you can relate to. That makes it's easier for me, that when I'm around the crowd of race fans, I don't feel uneasy or out of place. I feel like I'm standing in the same crowd that I stood with when I was in the infield at the speedway watching Daddy run the track. I feel comfortable around the people. It's funny they might be excited or shaking or something, it's funny because I don't feel like there is a big difference between me or them. But they see something else.