FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top 5 talk race 16 at Sonoma road course

This week the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) shifts gears from predominate ovals to road course racing for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on the 1.99-mile road course at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Viewers can catch the twisting action at 3 p.m. Sunday on TNT as powerful stock cars maneuver left and right turns through 10 turns meant for sleek sports cars.

Drivers with road course experience like Boris Said and Marcos Ambrose have an advantage over less knowledgeable Sprint Cup drivers. Many drivers will attempt to observe both during practice runs. Ambrose admits to limiting his better moves until race time.

Ambrose explained racing a stock car on a road course during a recent NASCAR teleconference.

“To drive a big, heavy stock car around a road course is one of the hardest things you could ever do as a race car driver,” Ambrose said. “I’ve driven sports cars, fast, high-powered, open-wheel cars. I’ve driven them around the world on all types of racetracks, but getting a stock car around Sonoma for the total length of the race watt tires going away and the brakes going away and the drivers swarming over you like a bunch of bees on the rear bumper trying to get past you; it’s really challenging.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum at Racetake.com

“It’s a tough thing to do and that’s why you see a lot of guys that come from road race
backgrounds do okay when they turn up on Watkins again and Sonoma.”

The top five drivers in Sprint Cup points, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jimmie Johnson shared comments about Infineon at Sonoma.

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of motorsports topics by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com. Quotes derived from motorsports media press releases.

Carl Edwards will compete in two races, the Sprint Cup race in Sonoma and Nationwide Series race on Road America in Elkhart, Wisconsin.

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford)

“The most demanding weekend of the year is this one,” Edwards said. “We compete on two tough road courses that are thousands of miles apart. Billy Johnson will practice and set up the Fastenal Mustang in Wisconsin Friday while I practice and qualify the Ortho Fusion in California, then we will travel to Road America to race Saturday, then back to Infineon for Sunday’s race. I feel that Saturday’s race will help me prepare for Sunday and will make up for the lost practice in the Sprint Cup car. There’s a lot of pride in winning on a road course, and a win at either event would be huge.”

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Chevrolet)

“The Infineon course is tough because it’s narrow and very technical,” Harvick said. “Track position is probably the biggest key. You have to be technically and mentally sound and do everything right in order to stay on the race track and try to put yourself in position at the end of the race. It’s a challenging course, but very narrow.

“Everybody has prepared for it as long as I’ve been around. I know if you don’t prepare for it right you’re not going to be competitive and I think everybody knows that. I think the guys that weren’t as good at it in the first few years have gotten better at it because they’ve spent more time preparing for it.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Chevrolet)

“We ran really good there last year and finished 11th. I like Sonoma but it’s tough. Steve (Letarte) and Jeff (Gordon), there is a lot of talent there on road courses to lean on. I’m pretty confident with the setup we’ve got for this weekend. I’ve got some of the best road course racers as teammates, so we should be pretty good.”

Kyle Busch (No. 18 Toyota)

“The road courses are fun. For me, I enjoy it,” Busch said. “It’s pretty cool to go out there and race the road courses. You get to turn right, turn left and everything, so it’s fun. Sonoma is more technical just because there are more turns and it’s a little bit slower. You have to concentrate on getting off the corner a little bit and have good forward bite. Sonoma, in our M&M’s Pretzel Toyota, is going to be fun, going out there and seeing what these cars have this year. It will be a fun race, though. I always look forward to going up there and challenging the road course.”

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet)

“The Grand Am races I have competed in and looking at the data from the other drivers who have been Mark Goossens when I drove for Riley – Butch Leitzinger if you go all the way back when I first drove a DP car. Elliott Forbes-Robinson and then most currently with John Fogarty and Alex Guerny,” Johnson said. “In that environment you can (learn) and with the other stuff it’s really just been laps and seat time. I’ve been to the Bondurant school to learn – we’ve tested like crazy and I’ve run some Nationwide races just all trying to get reps and trying to let me search around and see what I need to do.”

Four drivers, especially, must have this one circled.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose – four drivers outside the top 10 – have Wild Card hopes, much of which depend firmly in a successful trip to Infineon Raceway.

After race No. 26 at Richmond International Raceway, the top-10 drivers earn berths into the 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Spots 11 and 12 go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20 in points.

With two wins this season, Gordon would own the No. 1 Wild Card spot if the Chase began today. The road-course king, who owns an all-time series high nine road course victories, has five wins at Infineon – but none since 2006. He has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five Infineon races.

Stewart, despite a seventh-place finish at Michigan, fell out of the top 10. Don’t expect him to stay there for long – he has two Infineon wins, and top 10s in the last four races there.

Montoya, likewise a road-course guru, nabbed his first career win at Infineon in his rookie year of 2007. He has finished in the top 10 every year since.

Ambrose, currently seven points outside the top 20, was the tough luck loser at Infineon last year. He held the lead with seven laps remaining, but stalled during a caution period, giving up the top spot. Jimmie Johnson went on to grab his first road-course win; Ambrose finished sixth. Ambrose has two top 10s in his last two Infineon races, including a third in 2009.

The four drivers also hold the top four spots in the NASCAR pre-race Loop Data Driver Ratings: Tony Stewart leads the series with a 110.4 followed by Juan Pablo Montoya (108.6), Marcos Ambrose (108.4) and Jeff Gordon (100.2).

SHOW #162 – We recap the Michigan weekend, discuss the recent Red Bull Racing announcement, and preview the road course racing action from Road America and Infineon Raceway this weekend. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop
LISTEN HERE (About 42 mins)

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CREDITS:
Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Paul Northrop
Production: Kerry Murphey
Music: Radium Sound
Voice Over: Thomas Moog

06.22.2011

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The following is select questions and answers from Tuesday’s teleconference with Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing Team vice president and general manager, regarding the future of the organization.

Q: Can you kind of talk about what are your options right now? What happens if you don’t find investors and can you say anything about how far along you are in the search for investors and/or sponsors.

A: Well, obviously, we’re very enthused and excited about some of the prospect and things we got going on. This process has really just started and there’s been a lot of inquiries really just based on what happened yesterday. In addition, there’s some other people we’re already talking to. So we’re very keen and very encouraged about the prospects of everything moving forward. Red Bull’s number one goal in this whole situation is that the team continues and, you know, on the path it’s currently on can help the legacy of Red Bull starting the team five years ago, that type of thing. So we’re very encouraged about what’s going on.

Q: Can you say will there be any Red Bull involvement as a sponsor or part owner after this year? A: It’s possible. At this point, we’re really not sure yet, it’s very possible that they can stay in the sport in some form.
It’s still unclear, you know, what will happen, when it will happen, what capacity it might happen, but it is possible.

Q: Can you talk about F1 and they were doing better over there with Red Bull and whether that figured into it? And then, “B,” talk about the health of the race team and the words of the race team right now, not in numbers, but in, you know, some investors definitely going to want to pick this up because dot, dot, dot.

A: Right. Well it really comes down to a business decision and how this all played out. It’s a change in strategy, no specific reason or specific situation, so that’s kind of where we’re at with that.
The team, you know it’s a very competitive Sprint Cup team that competes at a high level every week. It’s got a lot of great people here. It’s got a lot of great assets. There’s a lot of enthusiasm by Red Bull for us to continue. So there’s — there’s a lot of people looking and there’s a lot of interest in what we have and what we’ve done and where we’re going. So, again, we’re really encouraged about what could be next.
Obviously this — part of what’s going on is also somewhat sad. They were part of the Red Bull family. This is not a traditional sponsor who would just be possibly leaving the sport. You know, we’re part of Red Bull and part of the Red Bull company.
Having said that, you know, that’s also really good because, again, their number one goal is to see this thing through and to see the team continue and to see it with the right partner, investor, that type of thing that can, you know, help us take the team to the next level. And, again, to continue what they started.

Q: Can you talk about what you told the team members? Did you have a meeting? And how do you keep everybody intact while you finish out the season and secure investors?

A: We’re in a professional sport, and being in a professional sport, we’re all paid to perform and we’re paid to perform at a high level. So the better we do right now, the better everything will be, the better — you know this will take care of itself, basically. Obviously people want to be associated with winners. We think we’re winners and we think this is a
great opportunity for a partner to come in.
So, they understand that. They understand it’s about performing; it’s understanding that we’ve got to do our job. We’ve got to finish the season very strong. That’s obviously Red Bull’s wishes, too, that we’ve go to keep this thing going. We’ve got to finish the 2011 season on a high note.
We saw some opportunities coming up to possibly get in the Chase. We’ve got some great race tracks coming up for our teams. So we’re very excited about the short term.

Q: What about the pressure to perform? Aren’t you really also under pressure to perform reasonably quickly? If you’re going to hold this thing together, I guessing, the longer these discussion and if you don’t perform as folks think you should, then perhaps you’re going to be looking at people leaving the team and more disorder. Is that a part of this, too?

A: Well, the good news right now is we have time to react. It’s still just June, so that’s really time, obviously how our sport works, we’re halfway through the season, so that part’s concerning. But, again, over the last few days, week, whatever we said, some opportunities to talk to some people and that there seems to be great enthusiasm about what we’re doing and where we’re heading. And we’re very optimistic that we can put something together relatively quickly in the next … you hate to set a time line, 30 to 45 days, that type thing, where we could have some sort of good solution to this. So having been through this before, firstly, there was some contacts and some people we dealt with in the past who’ve been very helpful up to this point and I … there’s reason to be optimistic that we can get this thing sorted out.

Q: How is the dynamic of this being a sponsor-owned team creating different challenges based on your experience with it being more of a conventional model?

A: We’re in a conventional model mode right now, really because, obviously now, we’re out looking for sponsorship and we’re out looking for also a partner on the ownership side, so that’s the part that’s different.
But the main part right now is the traditional part that we have to have sponsorship and funding to operate next year. So again, with Red Bull’s assistance, which their obviously they’re very keen on keeping the team going and keeping the team pointed in the right direction, they will be a big help in acquiring that. And then also, again, not exactly sure what the possibilities are with them for next year, but there still are some possibilities that, you know, that Red Bull could be involved in some way.

Q: You’ve been through the fire with race teams before. I mean, do you lean on those experiences and relationships you’ve made through them in a case like this or does is this kind of an animal undo itself?

A: You certainly lean on everybody you’ve dealt with in the past. There’s a lot of people that were very instrumental in helping, you know, in different times over the past 10 years that have been called looking for advice, I’ve looked for advice. And they’ve been helpful at this point, with contacts and different things that we’ve got going on and again that’s part of the optimism and enthusiasm we have for the whole thing continuing.

Q: You said that a timeframe of 30 to 45 days, is that to find an investor? The timeframe that you’d like to find one in?

A: It’s hard to put a time on something like this, because then you set yourself up to fail. But hopefully over the next 30 to 45 days. We’re in some sort of talks with somebody that are legitimate talks that are trying to strike a deal talk, that type thing that we can be confident in going forward. And that we can also be confident in talking to others and
doing other things that we have to do. So it’s not necessarily, if it doesn’t happen by a certain date, that changes the outcome or changes our goal, it’s just hopefully we can have some sort of really good head start on getting a deal done by then.

Q: From just from a local kind of economy perspective, can you say how many employees you have at Red Bull Racing and what do you tell them when they ask maybe about their job status come November?

A: Obviously we have talked to the team about what’s going on and everybody has … we’re all in this together and it behooves us all to perform and to keep going and to keep this team going and keep this company going. So there, everybody’s lined up, we’re all on the same page and we’re excited about what’s possible over the next few weeks and we’re excited about the future with this team and this company.
So, the company’s changing, you know, it is what it is and now we have to react.
Employee wise, you know, we’re in the 150 to 200 range of people, which is the standard two-car Cup team. We’re serious about making sure that we move forward and we’re excited about the prospects.

Q: I was wondering if you can characterize who you’ve had talks with so far, you know, whether they’re in the sport, out of the sport?

A: Oh, most of them are out of the sport. Or actually, they’ve all been out of the sport at this point. So it’s — this is one of the things that happens with the sport. You know, there’s sponsors that times come and go, owners come and go, owners come and go, new ones come in and people come back and, you know, that type of thing. So this is a situation, hopefully, that’s part of our enthusiasm, we can bring some new folks in — new ideas, new ways of maybe doing things. So that’s a good part of our enthusiasm with the groups that we’re talking to.

No. 11, No. 18 And No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Teams Penalized
For Rule Violations At Michigan International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 21, 2011) – NASCAR announced today that the No. 11, No. 18 and No. 20 teams that compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have been penalized for rules violations discovered during opening day inspection June 17 at Michigan International Speedway.

All three of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in an event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the NASCAR rule book, or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-5.5.4A (oil pan, failure to submit component) of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book.

As a result, the three crew chiefs – Mike Ford (No. 11 car), Dave Rogers (No. 18 car) and Greg Zipadelli (No. 20 car) have been fined $50,000 each and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. In addition, all three car chiefs – Chris Gillin (No. 11 car), Wesley Sherrill (No. 18 car) and Jason Shapiro (No. 20 car) along with Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar have been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.