The end of Monday's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Media Tour was a nightcap at Evernham Motorsports in Statesville, N.C., where team owner Ray Evernham and his fleet of drivers looked back on their efforts in 2005 and the hopeful plans that his multi-car teams have heading into the 2006 season.
RAY EVERNHAM (President of Evernham Motorsports): "We've come a long way here at Evernham Motorsports. We now have five buildings that we field Dodges out of. Our engine department in Concord has come a long way and we supply a lot of engines to a lot of different teams. This team has won races each of the last five seasons, even though we didn't do quite as well as we wanted to as a whole. When goals aren?t met, the leader must make changes to see that resources are being used in the right directions. We?ve made a few changes over the winter by splitting up a lot of different people. The car chief and the team engineers are a very important part of race teams nowadays. Those leaders will come up with a plan and the final decision will be radioed to the different drivers. Some people say the crew chief is the most important part of a team, but that?s just not true. Sometime it?s worked for me in the past and sometimes it hasn?t. What we had was not good enough to win races and championships. We?re a team again, but only the long term results will tell if that?s true. We?ve partnered with Erin Crocker to run the truck series and a few Busch Series races. The Busch car will be driven by Jeremy Mayfield, Kasey Kahne and Scott Riggs. I take it very personal to give all my drivers the best equipment that I possibly can. We?re working hard in all those areas to have championship caliber teams. The addition of Scott Riggs and that third team is already paying dividends. There is a lot of unknown potential here within this organization. We know this year is going to be our best year ever."
JEREMY MAYFIELD (No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge): "2005 wasn?t the year we wanted, but it wasn?t that bad either. We won a race at Michigan and were able to make the Chase for the Championship for the second straight year. I?m excited about this year and I hope we can make some big news. For some reason, I feel like we took a step back last season from where we should have been. I went through a crew chief change which isn?t a big surprise for me because it seems like I?ve historically gone through crew chief changes a lot before. Ray saw that didn?t work for me early on and knew that you couldn?t put all the pressure on the back of the crew chiefs and everybody should help carry the load and be responsible. We?ve got doctors and guys like that making the calls now. I have a problem with somebody on this team coming up to me and saying 'this guy is an S.O.B. that doesn?t know anything? because the guys is probably an engineer or doctor. Those guys are smart. A lot more smart than I am because I was lucky to make it through high school. Those guys are so smart it?d be dumb not to listen to them or it being a power struggle."
KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge): "This is my third year on the Media Tour and to see the way Ray has grown this team has been just unreal. This should be a great season and we?re looking forward to it. I won my first race last year so that was pretty cool. We really need to work on our consistency to get into contention for the championship. I?m ready to get started and I can?t wait for Daytona. I know we?re going to be better than we were last year or I might be looking for a ride (laughs). I?m not out door yet and I?ve got a little bit left in me. I need to make the Chase for the Championship because Jeremy has made it the last two years and I haven?t. If he can do it, why can?t I? Jeremy Mayfield has made it the last two years and he?s driving the same cars that I am. The Evernham Motorsports teams are supposed to be racing for championships and we haven?t done that yet. I always put more pressure on myself than I probably should, but I?ve got to face the fact that this is my third year in NEXTEL Cup and I need to be racing for a championship. That?s kind of the way I look at it so it?s time for me to step it up."
SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Valvoline Dodge): ?Thanks for coming out. Everyone talks about how the 2005 season wasn?t what we expected. I?ve gone through a lot of emotions because things weren?t going right for me. Now that I?m with Evernham Motorsports I know there?s no room for excuses anymore because of the resources we have. There are a lot of guys in here tonight that are working on our cars as I speak. That makes this fun and exciting. I?ve learned how to lose the last two years, now I want to learn how to win races on a regular basis. This is pretty cool. Everybody is very passionate here and Valvoline has really stood behind me and they have a huge history of winning races with drivers like Cale Yarborough all the way to Mark Martin. We?re in this to win it and that?s why we?re here. ? My first thought when I was offered the ride was I knew it was a team that had more money and resources, but I know it had to be used the correct way. To see how Kasey and Jeremy have performed the last two years, you know they are producing results and running up front. Now that I?m on the inside and see how big they?ve built the company. It?s like Ray thought that to be at the top you need to big a pyramid and he wanted to have the biggest and best pyramid. That?s why I think the man has built one of the best racing team in all of motorsports. ? I think over the last two seasons that my career has been stagnated and I wasn?t showing what I was capable of doing as a driver. I had a great team the last two years, but now I see all the things I?ve been missing and the people that I needed to associate with.?
ANTHONY FOYT IV (No. 38 Great Clips Dodge -- NASCAR Busch Series): ?I have a great opportunity here and I am thankful. I know this first year is going to be tough, but with a guy like Ray Evernham behind me, I know I?m driving for the best in the business. I?m very glad to have the support of Ray and all the people that make up this race team. It is tough, though, because I have had to leave the area where my parents and family live to try and make this happen for me. I?m kind of out here by myself. That?s the toughest thing is moving away from home and taking a chance like this. I?m not racing for my family?s team anymore and a contract?s a contract now and I have no chance but to perform. I?ve got that chance now, though, because Ray Evernham wants to see me make it on my own. I know if I don?t perform they will find somebody who can. I don?t see any reason why I can?t win the Rookie of the Year award this year even though a lot of the new guys coming in with me do have a lot more experience in cars with fenders on them instead of from open wheel. Those guys are going to be rookies just like I am. Rookie of the Year in the Busch Series is my main goal.
ERIN CROCKER: (No. 98 Cheerio?s/Betty?s Crocker Dodge -- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge) ?I?m excited to get 2006 underway and I think I have all the tools to succeed in this sport. This is a new team we?ve put together and we may start off a little slow but that is only because we?re a new team. I?ve just got to concentrate on learning what to do and what not to do. I?ve got a great opportunity to learn with this team and that racing experience is what I need. If I don?t get the racing experience that I need by the end of the year I might be in trouble.? ________________________________________
Day two of the NASCAR NEXTEL Media Tour hosted by Lowe?s Motor Speedway started at Robert Yates Racing in Mooresville, N.C.
EDDIE DEHONDT (General Manager of Robert Yates Racing)? ?We fell short of our goals last year, but we?re looking forward to getting both Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler in the championship race this season. Both our teams have new crew chiefs, so that should be a big help to us. Elliott Sadler will be working with Tommy Baldwin and Dale Jarrett will be working with Richard 'Slugger? Labbe. Another thing we have that?s a little new to us is working with the new Ford Fusion. We want to deliver what?s expected of us each and every week.?
DALE JARRETT (No. 88 UPS Ford Fusion): ?The guys that did the work on the UPS truck are from Arizona and it?s pretty cool. I can?t wait for the day when I finally get the chance to race the truck. I don?t know when and where, but I?m going to race the truck. ? Daytona is one of our biggest races and you know that since I only have three or four years left in me, it?s easy to get excited about a race like that. Ford?s had a dry spell at Daytona even though we?ve won poles there and led a lot of laps. We have a product now with the Fusion that is going to help us be a lot more competitive. Our engine shop here is second to none, so that also make me excited. I think one thing that can help our United States car companies is the way the media reports things. I?ve heard all about how they build better cars oversees, but that?s just not the case. It?s just a matter of getting this organization back to where it needs to be and that?s challenging for victories. It?s also a matter of taking advantage of the speed we have. We know we have the organization that can win a lot of races and it?s very important that we get both cars winning races on a regular basis.?
ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 38 M&M?s Ford Fusion): ?It?s awesome and a great feeling to have a sponsor that appeals to kids. To be able to be a spokesman for a great company like this means a lot to me. It?s more like they?re a sponsor as much as they are a family member. I want to give them something to cheer about every single week and this whole shop has a lot of excitement going on. There is so much enthusiasm to run 16 races in the Busch Series this season. I?ve fallen back in love with the Busch Series. I think with the new Ford Fusion, we are going to have some growing pains. I think we?re going to run very well all year. We?ve done the right things we?ve needed to do and I think we?d all be disappointed if we didn?t have a good year. I think we?re going to surprise a lot of people and be one of the best comeback stories of the year.?
STEVEN LEICHT (No. 90 CitiFinancial Ford, will run partial Busch Series season): ?I?m very, very excited. I think we?re going have a great season this year. Our testing so far has shown that we have some very fast cars so I think we?re going to have a lot of fun. To get started off I?d like to run somewhere around the top-15 just to get some seat time. After I get a little more experience, I don?t see any reason why we can?t be a top-five team and have a shot to win races. Those are my goals and I try to set them pretty high.?
MATT McCALL (No. 90 CitiFinancial Ford, will run partial Busch Series season): ?This is like a dream come true for me and I can?t thank Robert Yates enough for taking a chance on me. Hopefully I?ll be able to have a good year and get my NASCAR career up and running. This is huge because you always race to try and get noticed -- now that?s happened to me. It?s helped knowing the right people like Bobby Allison who was the first one to tell Robert Yates about me. I guess the biggest thing I need to do right off the bat is to get seat time in these cars so I can hurry up and start winning races. It?s going to be tough but we?ve got the equipment to get it done.?
ROBERT YATES (Team Owner): ?I?m very excited because we have so much new stuff going on this year. Certainly I?ve got to thank my sponsors for making all this happen. Everybody has worked very hard over the winter so I can?t wait to get to Daytona and get the season started off on the right foot. We?ve got a winning team and I just can?t wait to show how good it is. I?m happy to be working with the new Ford Fusion and I think we?re up for the challenge. We want to have both cars in the championship this season and to do that we?re going to have to take some risks. We know we can?t be too conservative. If we can get both of our cars to winning races we?ll be in the championship. I?m looking forward to it and it?s going to be a fun year.? ________________________________________
The second stop on the Tuesday portion of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Media Tour was a visit to MB2 Motorsports? new 144,000-square-foot home in Mooresville, N.C.
JAY FRYE (CEO and General Manager of MB2 Motorsports): ?It?s hard to believe we were in a building so small five years ago and now we?re in a new state-of-the-art facility. We?re really excited about this new building as well as our teams. This is our 10th year and we?re looking for big things from all our teams. We?re not sure what?s going to happen with Boris and the No. 36 car this year, but hopefully we?ll have some news to announce by the time we get to Daytona. I think it?s a good thing that Toyota is a very good thing for the sport. We?re proud of this team and we are going to be a team to be reckoned with. ? I used to drive by our new shop all the time and always thought it?d be a perfect place to have a shop. So one day I called and checked on it and they said somebody put an offer on it 10 minutes ago. That was a couple years ago and obviously that deal fell apart. Now we?ve got all the room we need to grow as a team.?
STERLING MARLIN (No. 14 Waste Management Chevrolet): ?We had a good test down at Daytona. I?ve watched this team for several years and I?m glad to be able to drive for him this year. The Car of Tomorrow is going to be real expensive and I think we have a good show now that I?d leave alone. This program?s record speaks for itself. I was just smiling when I pulled out of the pits at Daytona and I really feel like anybody on this team has a good shot to win the Daytona 500.?
JOE NEMECHEK (No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet): ?I?m really looking forward to 2006, especially with Sterling on board with all the leadership and experience he brings to us. We both want to be in the championship race. We?re here to win races and sit on poles. If we can have a little luck this year, these teams are going to be a force to be reckoned with. I haven?t driven the Car of Tomorrow yet and I think NASCAR is trying to address a lot of things like safety and moving the drivers more towards the middle of the car. Will the new car make racing better? I don?t know just yet. Having the Army as my sponsor is something I?m very proud of. If it wasn?t for them we wouldn?t be here. They are some very special people and we hear from them whether it?s good or bad. Everybody on this team takes a lot of pride and tries to keep everybody pumped up.? ________________________________________
The third stop on Tuesday took media members to the Joe Gibbs Racing complex in Huntersville, N.C.
J.J. YELEY (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet): ?I want to go out this year and win races as well as the Rookie of the Year award even though I realize there may be some other drivers that might be a little more favored to do that than I am. As a matter of fact, that makes it a little easier on me because there isn?t as much pressure. I think a rookie making the Chase for the Championship in order to win the Rookie of the Year isn?t that farfetched. I think a rookie has won at least one race each of the last five years. The key to doing that is not crashing and getting as many points as possible. I want to set the world on fire, but I also want to be consistent and have a good year. There?s a lot of pressure, but a lot of that pressure is what I?m putting on my own shoulders. That?s why I?m here. I think the major teams are putting us young guys in good equipment which is why rookies are winning so often these days. Pressure is part of the game and why I race.?
DENNY HAMLIN (No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet): ?We?re looking to pick up about five top-fives and finish in the top 10 most of the other times. If we can do that, we can easily finish in the top 15 in the points by the end of the year. All the rookies are going to be tough, but I really feel like our team has more momentum behind them than anybody else heading into the year. After last year, our expectations are high enough where if we don?t get the finishes we needed it will be a big disappointment. This year is going to be a good year for the rookies because of the sheer number of rookies that there are in the field. One if not two or three of us rookies are going to win a race this season. Martin Truex would have to be one of the favorites because he?s coming off back-to-back Busch Series championships. All the rookies are with great organizations so we really don?t have an excuse not to win and perform well. I thought we had a car good enough to win last year at Martinsville, but we lost two laps early and it took the whole race to make it back up to eighth. We?ve got the car to win now it?s up to the driver to do his job.?
Defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Tony Stewart and the entire No. 20 team were not in attendance as they were at the White House being honored by President Bush. The Presidential invitation came after the media tour schedule had been finalized. ________________________________________
In the final press conference on Tuesday afternoon in the Time Warner Media Center at Lowe?s Motor Speedway, track officials announced that the 1.5-mile track will undergo a $3 million resurfacing project that includes an ?Attitude Adjustment.?
Work on the track started Jan.16 and is scheduled for completion prior to the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge on Saturday night, May 20, and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 28.
?We are going to remold the track to take some of the meanness out of it,? said H.A. ?Humpy? Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe?s Motor Speedway. ?This is one of the meanest tracks on the NEXTEL Cup circuit and by that I mean it can bite you when you least expect it.
?Meanness in a race track comes from a number of factors including: how rough the surface is; the difficulty of the entry and exit points in the turns; the ability of the drivers to look ahead; and spots where the racing groove narrows,? Wheeler explained. ?Although we?ve had a few exceptions, rookies don?t normally do well here because the track is quite difficult and there are even a few seasoned veterans who have never really gotten the hang of it.?
Wheeler said track officials spent several months consulting with engineers and Motorsports industry insiders before deciding on a resurfacing plan they believe will promote side-by-side racing and passing without completely reinventing the track?s personality.
H.A. ?HUMPY? WHEELER (President and General Manager of Lowe?s Motor Speedway): ?This year we are going to profile the track with machines that are unbelievable. They will start milling and profiling the track next week. We?ve never had the ability to shoot the grades on the track, but now with satellites it can be done. You can really get detailed information from that technology and we have consulted a lot of drivers. We?re going to do the best we can to profile this track. It?s an expensive project, but we want to put our money back in the track so we can provide for great racing.?
Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Bruton Smith agreed with Wheeler in that the monetary investment is being made to keep LMS as one of the best tracks on the circuit.
BRUTON SMITH (Chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc.): ?What we are doing now is having the track computerized and we are going to take all the bumps out. We?re using the best asphalt we can buy and I think the racing will be far better than it has ever been. I think everybody will be pleased.?
NEWS AND QUOTES FROM TUESDAY NIGHT?S FUNCTIONS WILL BE INCLUDED IN WEDNESDAY?S NOTES