NASCAR WCUP: Rudd, Jarrett and Sadler hope Indy testing helps at Pocono
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
July 25, 2001
Ricky Rudd will be looking to make it a clean sweep at Pocono Raceway this season when the NASCAR Winston Cup Series returns for the Pennsylvania 500 on Sunday. Rudd, points leader Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler were all testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday in preparation for the Brickyard 400. All three spoke about the test and whether or not it will help them this weekend at Pocono.
RICKY RUDD --28-- Texaco Havoline Taurus -- YOU'VE KIND OF FLOWN UNDER THE RADAR SO FAR THIS SEASON AS FAR AS THE POINTS RACE. IT SEEMS GORDON AND JARRETT ARE GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION. "Actually, if I had any choice that's what I'd prefer to do all year long and not show our hand until Atlanta in the last race of the season and blow by both of them. If I could plan a perfect scenario, that would be it. I don't want to use the word unfortunately, but I feel like if we continue to do what we've done the last seven or eight races, we'll take the lead. It's just a matter of when."
HOW MUCH DID THAT WIN AT POCONO MEAN FOR YOUR TEAM? HAS THERE BEEN MORE JUMP IN THEIR STEP SINCE THEN? "I think, if anything, it probably gave them confidence. They've been doing all the right things to win races, it's just that a lot of odd circumstances that kept us out of victory lane. I think that win was a reward for all that hard work they've been putting in, and I think, if anything, just having the personal satisfaction amongst all of your competitors in the garage area -- to get that pat on the back and be told they deserved that win. I think that's what motivates these guys as much as anything."
IS IT GOOD TO BE GOING BACK TO POCONO SO SOON AFTER WINNING THERE LAST MONTH? "I don't think it's a question that it's probably to our advantage to go back so soon because generally what happens is you race these tracks twice most of the time and a lot of the time you race once at the beginning of the season and then you don't return until six months later. The weather is different. Goodyear has probably introduced a different tire by that time. The NASCAR rules have changed by that time. Your cars have evolved from the beginning of the year to the end, but we're going back on such a short timeframe that basically everybody's equipment is pretty much the same as the last time we were there. We were a very good race car. We qualified on the pole by about two miles an hour. We raced well. We didn't dominate the race like we did in qualifying. We had to race hard for it, but there was a group of about four or five cars that were extremely good and we were fortunate to be one of them. We're going right back with the very same race car."
THAT FALLS UNDER THE CATEGORY OF IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT, RIGHT? "That's kind of our theory. We'll see."
DOES THIS TEST AT INDY HELP YOU AT ALL FOR POCONO? "In the past it has helped us going back to Pocono after running the Indy test, but things are acting differently this time. The tire compound, I'm guessing would be similar to Pocono, but it's not acting the same. I know our race cars are quite a bit different in chassis setups than what we've had to run here at Indianapolis before -- to get the cars where they feel comfortable. When we run Pocono, I don't think we're that extremely different than we have been over the years. Right now I don't have an answer for this. I don't think the reason we're chasing the cars here at Indy is all tire-related. I think the race track has weathered and cured another year. They used to almost re-pave the corners every time we would come back here and they haven't done it this time, so the track has given up grip since a year ago. Anytime the track gives up grip, it requires a little different chassis setup, so I think we're chasing that as much as anything."
DALE JARRETT --88-- UPS Taurus -- HOW HAS THE TEST GONE SO FAR? "Well, I'd like to say it's great but this is a brand-new car and we've got a few bugs to work out with it. We haven't gotten it up to speed as much as we would like right now. The track is awful hot and slick, but, still, we're not up to what some of the other guys are doing. We've got a few things to do, but I'm sure we'll get there by the end of the day."
THE LAST TEST GROUP TALKED ABOUT THE TIRES AND THAT THEY WERE STRUGGLING WITH THEM HERE. HAVE YOU FOUND THAT TO BE THE CASE TOO? "The tires are a little different than what we've had here before. We've always fought a tight situation here with the tires and now it looks like we've got more of a looser type situation, so we're having to go back and re-evaluate and look at our notes a little bit and say, 'This is what we did to free it up, now let's go back and un-do that.'"
DOES BEING IN A TIGHT POINTS RACE MAKE THIS TEST MORE NERVE-WRACKING? "I don't know about nerve-wracking, but it makes it as much or more important right now because this is an important race for us. A lot of cars finish on the lead lap here. It's a tough place to pass. It's a good race track, but it's tough to pass on. We know that we need to not only be good for the race, but we've got to be good for qualifying and get a good starting spot."
LOOKING BACK TO LOUDON. ARE THERE ANY TEAM ORDERS OR IS IT EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF THE LAST 10 LAPS? "Robert's never said anything to us, but Ricky and I have talked. We're gonna treat each other certainly as teammates. We're not gonna take each other out, but we also know that we're hired to go win the race. Everything that I've seen said that I bumped him and I'm telling you I did not hit his race car until we were side by side and he moved over to block me. Ricky and I are fine with everything. It looks like everybody else is trying to stir something up, but we've talked and the teams are fine. We know that we have to continue to work together and no matter what's written or said, we're gonna be okay with each other and that's what we have to do. Robert doesn't give us orders other than to go out and try to finish first and second every week."
WITH THE POINTS SYSTEM IS IT FRUSTRATING TO WIN A RACE AND NOT HAVE THE OVERALL LEAD? "I don't know that it's frustrating. I've always agreed with our points system. It puts things close at the end of the year and that's what we need to do. The only thing I have said, and not just because I won this week and didn't gain any points, is that we need to make sure that the winner always receives the most points in a race. If you do well enough to win the race during the day, you should come out of there with more points, even if it's only five more points. I think that's something down the line we should look at."
YOU'VE BEEN STRONG AT POCONO AND INDY, THE NEXT TWO TRACKS, IS IT HARD NOT TO LOOK AHEAD OR IS IT JUST ONE DAY AT A TIME? "Somebody asked me the other day where we were racing the week after Pocono and I wasn't even sure. It took me a minute to realize that we do come to Indianapolis right after that, so I think you just have to stay focused on that period of time. You can't get too far ahead of yourself. If we weren't here testing, Indy would be the furthest thing from my mind right now because we have to go to Pocono and get the job done because if we slip anywhere, then we're gonna find ourselves behind. We know that even though these are great tracks for us coming up, Jeff Gordon and Ricky have done just as well and they can probably look at some places down the line and say, 'well, this is our chance to make up some ground on them.'"
CAN YOU LEARN SOMETHING HERE AT INDY THAT WILL HELP YOU THIS WEEKEND AT POCONO? "We feel that the times we've tested and then gone to Pocono that we've run better. The other thing is that we were just at Pocono four or five weeks ago and had a great race, but Todd and I talked about three times on Monday after Pocono discussing different ideas that we both had that could have made our car just a little bit better. It's still fresh on our mind and I think that's gonna make us better when we get there too."
ELLIOTT SADLER --21-- Motorcraft Taurus -- YOU'VE RUN A BUNCH OF LAPS TODAY. HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER THAT HIT YOU TOOK AT LOUDON? "I tell you, I feel surprisingly good. That's one of the hardest hits I've taken in a long time, probably since Michigan last year. I hit pretty hard. I hit on the driver's side and we really don't want to hit that way. I hit my helmet on the side of the roll bar and it hurt a little bit. I had a pretty good headache Sunday night, but I started feeling better Monday morning and throughout the day. I kept my knee up and kept it iced and I feel real good. I really, really do. The car definitely did its job and all the safety equipment did a great job keeping me safe and healthy where I could come here and test today."
WILL THIS TEST HELP YOU AT POCONO? "I think a lot. The tires are the same. The tracks are pretty much the same -- long, fast straightaways and pretty much flat corners. That's what we're doing. We've got one car kind of testing one direction and another car testing the opposite direction. We want to see what I like and what this tire likes and then we'll kind of go from there so we have a little guideline for Pocono. I'm testing for both tracks. This tire is so much different. It seems like it's continuing to change and you've got to change with it. That's what we're finding out and being a single-car team it's hard. We can't try 100 different things like some of the other guys can do, so we're trying to do the best we can with two cars and, so far, we're learning a lot. I'm pretty happy with both cars right now. I think if we taped 'em up and ran 'em in qualifying runs we'd be right on the money. I really like this place, but we're definitely using this test for both Pocono and here."
HAS THIS BRICKYARD TRACK CHANGED A LOT? "It's still one of the smoothest tracks we race at. It's pretty slick out there. When the sun gets on this race track it's the most temperamental place in the world and it gets slick. It'll change in 20 minutes, from run to run, and that's why you need computer systems on these cars to give it date. You might run a half-a-second slower, but the car might feel better and the computer guy can tell you, 'Okay, the car did this better,' because the track changes so much. Plus, with four different corners if you miss one corner, there goes your time and at least you can go off the other stuff. As far as the track changing, it's still a smooth place and I can't really tell much difference from last year."
IS IT HARDER TO GET AROUND HERE THIS YEAR WITH THE NEW TIRES? "Everywhere we've been we've been a little bit slower and that's just the way the new tire is and I think it's fine. It's a little harder, a little hard to set up on. It's not grippier right off the truck. It makes you work a little harder. That's all we're seeing -- the same tendencies that we've seen from this tire each and every weekend getting ready for qualifying."
Text provided by Greg Shea
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