NASCAR WCUP: Pontiac drivers ready for racing at improved Martinsville facility

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 8, 2001

KENNY WALLACE, NO. 27 EEL RIVER RACING PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(ON THE WIDER PIT ROAD) "I'll tell you what - the people that own this racetrack - they have done a phenomenal job with this racetrack. For him to be a garage area inside here and widen pit road, I can't ask for anything more. I think everybody should be thrilled to death. "Just when we start to complain about Martinsville, it gets better. The guy (Clay Campbell) widened pit road, put garages in and put seatbacks up for everybody in the grandstands. The only thing missing is a cup holder."

(ON TIRE STRATEGY FOR SUNDAY) "I just don't see coming in every time there is a caution. This tire just gets faster. It's rock solid and it doesn't wear out.

"It's going to be exciting because it is going to be a chess game all the way down to the wire. It's going to be different to see. Elliott Sadler got his first win and those guys did a great job on tire strategy. This tire sure has made it interesting this year. I could see it playing a part here."

JOHNNY BENSON, NO. 10 EAGLE ONE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(ON GAINING TRACK POSITION QUICKLY ON SUNDAY) "There are a couple things you have to look at. Yeah, you want to get as much track position as you can early on, but you have to do it without damaging the race car. Right now, with where we're starting, it's important for us to make sure that we keep the nose on the car, let some time go by and then just decide what is going to happen from there.

"I have finished in the top 10 here before, one lap down. Not that we want to do that, but you'll have a hard time finishing near the front if you don't keep the front end on the car."

KYLE PETTY, FRONT TIRE CHANGER, NO. 10 EAGLE ONE PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(WILL A WIDER PIT ROAD MAKE YOUR JOB EASIER TOMORROW?) "Whenever you've got a little bit more room to do your pit stops, it's going to make it easier on you. But on the other hand, we had a lot of room last week at Texas and due to drivers going through our [pit] box, it still made it pretty close. You run into stuff like that, so it really doesn't matter where you're at. "I like doing pit stops at short tracks. It's a little bit quicker, you have a better chance of making up spots and to me, there is less pressure. Having more room here will definitely make it better, but there still has to be a lot of give and take."

(DO PIT ROAD INCIDENTS GET IN YOUR HEAD AT ALL DURING A RACE?) "You just forget about it. Johnny (Benson) came into our pits last week and I got knocked over the corner of the hood. I didn't get hit hard enough to get hurt, but even if I had, you just keep doing what you've got to do - get the stop done. Any pain just goes away. You've got a job to do and you've got to do it. Then, you can sit there and whine about it later.

"We just try not to think about it. Anybody can get hurt on pit road. We try to take precautions to make sure we don't, but anything can happen. We always think about it, but when it comes to race time we try to put it out of your minds and go do our job."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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