NASCAR WCUP: Interview: Stricklin and Pressley still looking for first win

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

August 15, 2001

Hut Stricklin and Robert Pressley are both still looking for their first NASCAR Winston Cup victories, but the two have had some success at the Michigan International Speedway, site of this weekend's Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer. Stricklin's best series finish came at Michigan in 1991 when he ran second for car owner Bobby Allison, and he's coming off a a sixth-place showing there this past June. Pressley, who had a NWC career-best second-place run at Chicago last month, has also had success at Michigan, posting a fifth-place effort at the two-mile facility last season.

HUT STRICKLIN --90-- Hill Bros Coffee Taurus -- YOU'VE HAD SOME SUCCESS AT MICHIGAN, MAYBE THEY SHOULD MOVE THAT TRACK TO ALABAMA. "Yeah, really. I tell you, it's not really one of my favorite race tracks, but, for some reason or another, I always run good there. We finished fourth there in '89, which was my rookie year, and it's just always been a place I've left with good finishes."

IS IT JUST A CASE OF HAVING CONFIDENCE AT A TRACK? "I think that's part of it. I know Davey Allison and I used to talk about Michigan a lot and how much it reminded us of the track in Birmingham (Alabama). The track in Birmingham was a five-eighths-mile track in size, but Michigan is just a larger version of that. You drive down in the corners the same way and you get off the corners the same way and that's probably one reason why the race track really fits my style."

HAS YOUR BRIEF EXPERIENCE AS A CREW CHIEF BEEN A BENEFIT BEHIND THE WHEEL? "Oh, without a doubt. I've always been the type of driver growing up that built my own cars and worked on 'em. Then when I got to the Winston Cup ranks, all of that pretty much stopped. Without a doubt, I learned an awful lot through that. I got to do some hands-on stuff, built shocks and things like that, that I probably wouldn't normally have gotten the chance to do. Without a doubt, that's been a big help."

IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO DO IN THE FUTURE? "I want to drive, that's my number one love. The next thing I'd eventually like to get in to is maybe the ownership role. That's something I've always wanted to do. It's kind of been a lifelong dream of mine to hopefully someday have my own Winston Cup team, but it's still a ways away, I think, from doing that."

HOW DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HAVE FINISHED AT MICHIGAN EARLIER THIS YEAR IF YOU HAD A PIT CREW LIKE JEFF GORDON'S? "Well, I don't know. We have definitely struggled this year with our pit stops at a lot of races. I think the first race at Darlington this year we made a lot of changes and stuff on the team trying to get it better. The guys have been practicing and working out. They started that about a month or so ago, but we really just haven't quite been up to par like we need to for that. Hopefully, things will start to turn around in that area. I know it's been frustrating for me at times to pit and to lose an awful lot of spots. I just like to hold my own at least and, if we're able to do that, we can overcome a lot of things."

IS IT A FAIRLY INEXPERIENCED CREW? "Pretty much. Most all of the guys on our team are from the Richmond area, where Junie Donlavey's shop is based out of, and the experience level is obviously not what it would be if we had guys from around the Charlotte area. That's where 95 percent of the teams are based out of, but it's kind of a good and bad thing. Once you get the crew and get 'em in place, more than likely they'll be a crew that will stick with you because they live there and they're from there. But the downside of it is that it's very tough to assemble a bunch of experienced guys from that area."

JASON HEDLESKY IS YOUR TEAM MANAGER AND SPOTTER. WHAT HAS HE BROUGHT TO YOUR TEAM? "He used to drive and actually still does (in the ARCA series) and being an ex-driver he knows an awful lot about how the racing part works. He's brought a lot of organization to the team and it probably would have been very tough to get that without him."

HOW HAS THE PIT CREW DONE SINCE THE START OF THE YEAR AND HOW HAS PHILIPPE LOPEZ HELPED? "Most of the guys that came over from Grubb Motorsports were actually shop guys that actually built cars. There were a few of them, one of our changers came from Grubb's, but for the most part that's the only one that came from there who goes over the wall. As far as our race cars go, I feel like they're probably some of the best, if not the best race cars, that have ever come out of Junie Donlavey's shop. There have been some really light race cars. They could stand to be a little bit lighter, but for the most part they're put together right and it's been really a plus to get guys like that with us."

HOW MUCH DOES IT HURT A TEAM TO MISS RACES AND BE AWAY FROM THE TRACK? "It's very tough, especially when you've got a team like ours that is new. Bobby King started here as crew chief and actually still is, but Bobby had been in Busch for a while and he just didn't really have the experience on the Winston Cup tracks. That's where somebody like Philippe has come in there and brought a lot of experience to our team as far as a good baseline to start from each and every week. It really thrills me to start going back to some of these places, especially now that we have Philippe on board. Like I said, we have a good starting point each and every week and it gives you a lot of confidence when you get to the race track for the first time."

HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOURSELF EVERY WEEK WHEN YOU HAVE GONE SO LONG WITHOUT WINNING? "I don't know. I'm very good at keeping myself pumped up for one reason or another. For the most part, I've always had a lot of inner self-confidence. There are times when I get in the car and know that probably deep down we don't have any kind of chance at all of winning the race, but I always kind of trick my brain into believing that we do. I think that's what really makes a lot of the great race drivers -- overcoming the mental end of it because that's such a big part of it. If you're able to keep that confidence up and keep it going, you can do an awful lot more by being confident than you can by not being confident."

DOES IT HELP TO SEE JOE NEMECHEK WIN A RACE LIKE HE DID A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO OR SEE ROBERT PRESSLEY ALMOST WIN AT CHICAGO? "Yeah, it really does. I feel like there are an awful lot of race drivers out there that are really good race drivers. Some of them will get a chance to show it and some of them won't. I think there are a lot of differences in the race teams -- from the good teams to the bad teams to the mediocre teams. If you're lucky enough to get with one of the good teams, you'll run good. I feel like in the Winston Cup Series there's probably not a bad race driver out there. Everybody out there is some type of champion from something or another and you don't win championships by being bad. I just think it's one of the most competitive series ever and it's just very tough for every team to be good."

HOW WAS IT RACING AGAINST THE ALLISONS? "That was a lot of fun. I tell you what, some of my fondest memories come from back down in Birmingham and Montgomery racing against all of those guys. They were very tough racers and then you throw old Red Farmer in the mix and it really got tough, but it was a lot of fun racing against those guys."

HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE RACING FOR KENNY BERNSTEIN? "Kenny is still to this day, we talk some, and he is without a doubt one of the best owners I ever drove for. He's a first-class guy who is really serious but, yet, he was very focussed. You were still able to have fun driving for him."

ROBERT PRESSLEY --77-- Jasper Engines and Transmissions Taurus -- IT SEEMS YOU GUYS HAVE RUN WELL, BUT HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE FINISHES TO SHOW HOW STRONG YOU'VE BEEN. "We've been really fortunate the way our Jasper Engines Ford has run this year. I had some great runs and had some decent finishes, but it seems like our greatest runs have ended up in bad finishes."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SITTING OUT A RACE AND HOW THAT AFFECTS YOUR CONFIDENCE AND THE TEAM'S CONFIDENCE IN YOU? "As far as confidence goes, over the years I've had some great road course races and have had some bad ones. We've been building this race team at Jasper Motorsports for the four years that I've been here and one of the weak points was the road course. We wanted to go out and look at it and find out exactly what we could do to improve it -- me as a driver and Jasper as a team. So, we went out and got the best that there is in Boris Said and put him in the car for two races. We had actually excelled a little quicker this year than we had anticipated. Early in the year we were in the top 10 in points and then the top 15, but after Sonoma we fell back a little and have progressively come up. We've learned some things by making the changes of putting Boris in the car for the two road courses and it's helped. We've got our race team in the top 20 -- 19th in the Winston Cup (owner's) points -- so we've learned some things as far as confidence. Now for me, it's helped me a whole lot seeing and learning some of the things Boris is doing on the road courses, but it also shows that there is some room for us to improve as a team."

WHAT ABOUT THIS WEEK AND GETTING BACK IN THE SEAT? "We've got 14 races left and we're in the top 20. We're setting our goals now and we want to finish in the top 15 in Winston Cup (owner's) points. We're like 130 or 140 points out of that and that's what we're focussed on the rest of this year."

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM BORIS ON THE ROAD COURSES? "I think the thing is he went to Watkins Glen and Sonoma and our whole intentions were to win those races. He was right there putting it on the edge every lap and that's what it takes to win Winston Cup races."

DID YOU TALK TO HIM ABOUT WHAT HE DOES? "No, it's mostly been just the information off the tests they did up there (at Watkins Glen) and seeing the shifting and braking that he's doing. There are a lot of things that, no matter what, you won't be able to duplicate and drive like Boris can on a road course, but I think the big thing is it showed we have a good road course car but we have room to improve. I think Boris is the best road racer out there."

SO YOU EXPECT TO BE IN YOUR CAR AT SEARS POINT AND WATKINS GLEN NEXT YEAR? "Yeah. I mean, that's the deal and maybe we'll run a two-car deal because we do have to re-pay Boris for what he has done to help us out this year."

WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF BRISTOL? "Really, my fondest memories of that race track is nothing that I've actually done there, but it was back years ago when my dad was running the old late model sportsmen, which is now the Busch Series. Man, watching him race around there and seeing him win many of the several big races that were 300-lappers. They were a little more than the 250 they run now in Busch, but not quite the 500 laps we run, so this is a race track I've always liked. I love going up there and we've had some awfully good runs. We've had some great qualifying runs and some good runs in the Busch car, but my fondest memory is gonna be when we finally win us one of those races."

WHY DO YOU THINK RUSTY WALLACE RUNS SO GOOD THERE? "I just think that his short track experience that he had in Missouri and in ASA just allows him to shine on the short track races. Those always have been my favorite places -- Martinsville, Bristol, New Hampshire -- it just seems like over the years in my career I've just excelled more at places like Atlanta, Texas and Charlotte. There's no doubt that whenever we get over to Bristol, I think we will be a contender. With the new merger of the Jasper and Penske engine programs, it has been a big plus and I think it will really show up at a place like Bristol."

WHEN YOU FINISH SECOND LIKE YOU DID AT CHICAGO, IS IT A SOURCE OF MOTIVATION BECAUSE YOU'RE ALMOST THERE OR IS IT A SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION THAT YOU CAN'T DO IT EVERY WEEK? "There was no frustration at all. The level of competition in the Winston Cup Series today is equal to back years ago. If we could run second today, we could have won a lot of races years ago. I think the biggest thing is making Winston Cup races today. If you make 'em, you're pretty competitive. If you finish in the top 20, you have done great and whenever you get a top 10 you have done something that everyone would like to do. We've shown this year that we've had some great races and been in contention to win or finish in the top five, but you've got to have everything going the whole weekend in order to do that. Anybody that says we were frustrated after the Chicago race, I mean, if Kevin Harvick would have made one little mistake on the restart, we could have very easily won that race. On that day he was a dominant car and we were very happy that we finished second."

DID YOU SENSE ANY KIND OF CHANGE IN YOUR ATTITUDE OR THE TEAM'S ATTITUDE THAT YOU NOW BELIEVE YOU CAN WIN A RACE? "That's what we want to do here. We want to win a race so bad. Our crew chief, Ryan Pemberton, wants to win. Our owners want to win a race, but the one thing that I am very happy about what our race team is doing is that we've been fairly consistent. All year long, if you really look back, we have been right around the top 10 all year long in every race. We have made some mistakes. We have had some mechanical failures. We got in an accident at Charlotte after we really thought we had a shot to win that race. Martinsville earlier this year, we thought we had a shot there and something came up off the track and busted the radiator. So, we are very confident in our race team and feel like we're a competitive top-10, top-12 team and, if we can continue to do that, we're gonna win races."

HOW IS YOUR ATTITUDE DIFFERENT GOING TO MICHIGAN THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR? IS YOUR CONFIDENCE HIGHER? "If you recall, we had just finished fifth in the first race at Michigan and had it rained just a little bit earlier when we were leading the race, we might have won. It's not like we just snuck up there all of a sudden. We have been very competitive for the last 18 months."

WHAT KIND OF TRACKS DO YOU NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON TO GET BETTER? "Right now our Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and probably the Kansas City track and Vegas, this Jasper team has really got a good handle on those. Some of the race tracks we would like to improve on and the tracks that I love are like Homestead, New Hampshire and Richmond. The flat race tracks are something we're gonna look at next as far as putting more emphasis on those and testing. When we do that, I think it's really gonna show up in the final points."

DO THE NEW TRACKS EVEN THE PLAYING FIELD? "I really believe that. It's been one thing that has really been good for me. My first trip to New Hampshire in the Winston Cup car, we sat on the outside pole and finished fourth or fifth up there (fifth in 1996). The first trip to Texas we finished third. The first trip to Chicago we finished second. The thing is that nobody has an advantage. The teams that have been around for 15 or 20 years have absolutely no advantage over the new teams, which we are by far not a new team, but we don't have the 10-year notes or anything like that. We don't have any bad habits, so I really look forward to going to new race tracks because it puts everybody on a level playing field."

WHAT IS THE KEY FOR YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT MICHIGAN? "Michigan is a fun race track to run. I had never run that great there. I had some 15th, 17th, and 18th-place finishes there, but it was like last year when we went there for the first time with Ryan Pemberton, he had a great setup there and things just took off. It was like a totally different race track, so I've always enjoyed going back to Michigan ever since that day."

DO YOU THINK YOUR TEAM HAS ADAPTED TO THE NEW TIRE QUICKER THAN SOME OTHERS? "I think it goes right back to the amount of information that we had when the new tire really started coming in last year. It was mine and Ryan Pemberton's first year together and I think we didn't have any bad notes or bad history or bad habits. We were just starting from scratch and doing what the tire was asking for."

Text provided by Greg Shea

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