dodge nascar winston cup notes and quotes from thursday at daytona

Dodge Trio Bring Passion for Racing to Motorsports Program

The 45th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 2003 at Daytona International Speedway will mark Dodge's third season back in NASCAR Winston Cup competition since leaving in 1980. Dodge teams combined for 12 poles and 11 victories in 2001 and 2002, including wins in the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 last season.

Dodge's involvement in NASCAR Winston Cup Racing is all about winning, and the No. 1 goal for 2003 is winning the NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Three former drivers who are now Dodge engineers take racing very seriously. It would be an understatement to say they're passionate about motorsports, but all three are focused on helping a Dodge team win the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship.

John Fernandez, Director, Dodge Motorsports Operations; John Wehrly, Engineering Manager - Dodge Motorsports and Mopar Performance Parts; and Ted Flack, Manager, NASCAR Engine Programs, Dodge Engineering will combine their passion for racing and their engineering backgrounds to keep Dodge at the front of the pack in 2003.

JOHN FERNANDEZ (Director, Dodge Motorsports Operations)
Fernandez was named Director, Dodge Motorsports Operations on Nov. 1, 2002. He is responsible for the Dodge Motorsports Operations business, while also leading the Chrysler Group's Performance Vehicle Operations' (PVO) motorsports and performance parts engineering efforts. Prior to this position, he was Director, PVO. Fernandez joined the Chrysler Corp. in 1969 as a co-op intern. He became a full-time project engineer in 1972 after receiving his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Detroit. Five years later, he earned his MBA at his alma mater. Fernandez came to Team Viper as Executive Engineer in 1997 and has specialized in specialty vehicle engineering ever since. As PVO's first director, he pioneered high-performance, low-volume such as the Dodge SRT-4 and Dodge Viper SRT-10.

Q: Racing is your passion. How long has it been that way?

A: Since I went back with Carroll Shelby in '85 I've been involved in the performance side of the business. In '93 and '94 I was back strictly in production stuff. Really, I guess racing has always been my passion since I was eight years old and went to my first race at Fonda Speedway in New York.


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Q: How did your passion for racing develop?

 A: A lady up the street from where my parents lived in New York asked if I wanted to go to the races with her. We ended up at this little track called Fonda Speedway. A book just came out about the track. It's a well-known track in upstate New York. NASCAR used to go there. They were there three times. Junior Johnson won there in 1955. Richard Petty won there in '67, and Buddy Baker won in '68. I got into racing and used to wrench a lot on cars when I was in high school and right up to just before I went to college.

I went to the University of Detroit for my engineering degree and actually didn't do much in racing for probably 10 years. Then I got the assignment to work for Carroll Shelby out on the west coast in 1985. We moved out in '85 with the family, and I started doing high performance cars for Carroll. Carroll wanted to have a little showroom stock race team. We went up to Willow Springs with a couple of cars and were auditioning a couple of guys for the cars. Then I got in the car and turned second-quickest times. That's how I got into actually driving.

Carroll sent me to Bondurant's school out there. Parker Johnstone was my instructor. He used to work in CART. I started racing in '86 with a showroom stock A car, which at that time was a Shelby Charger Turbo Charged version. We ran at Riverside, and I hold the record at Riverside for showroom stock A on the long course. We raced at all the tracks around there. I finished second in '88 in the runoffs.

In 1990 I came back to Detroit and worked on the Neon. I didn't race for a couple of years and then we got into doing this Neon ACR package. We called it the American Club Racer. We did that a couple of years and did the test driving on those cars. My kids at that time were just getting to the age where I didn't need to spend a lot of time with them. They were in high school and had a lot of things they wanted to do getting ready for college, so I got back into racing again. We picked up a Neon and started racing nationally again in '97. We've been doing that ever since with the Neons. The last three years have been the best years.

I actually won it three years ago and they threw me out for a little technicality on the grille bar, which I thought was bull. Two years ago we finished second in the national championship and this year we were on the pole and I got punted off on the first lap. I went from first to last, and we came back up and got third. We've had a lot of fun with that.

Q: What racing philosophy did you get from Carroll Shelby?

A: We used to talk a lot. I got to be very close to Carroll when I worked for him. He told me once, he said, 'John, you've got to remember. Racing isn't a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that.' 
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Q: What will be different for the Dodge motorsports program in 2003?

A: I think we could do a lot of things differently. If you look at the technical side of it, you never have enough horsepower, so you're always going to work on getting more horsepower. On the aerodynamic side, I think there's still some work to be done there, but I think it's probably less on the top of the car than other places and we're going to experiment with that. On the chassis side of it, I'm working on the LTS, lap time simulation. We're going to work harder on getting a better lap time simulation and working with the teams and making sure they can use that and improve. When they show up at the track on a weekend, they've got three opportunities - two practices, qualifying and then they go racing. If you come to the track and you're not good, the guy who can get there quicker is going to be better in lap time simulation. Another thing we're working on is a winning attitude, the drivers feeling like every time they get in the car they can win.

We had enough wins last year. What we didn't have was enough consistency, enough top fives and top 10s. That's really the focus this year. You can look at Bill Elliott's record in 2002. He had a couple of wins and totally Dodge had seven wins, but we didn't have one guy in the top 10. When you don't win, you've got to be finishing in the top 10 or the top 20. You need to fight for every position. Every position out there, whether you're fighting for 42nd or first, it's three or five points. We've got to push a little bit harder.

Q: This is Dodge's third year back in Winston Cup. Is it realistic to expect a Winston Cup title or manufacturers' title this season?

A: I'm very optimistic this year that we've got the drivers and cars and teams to win the championship. I think driver-wise we've got some young guys coming along that we need to keep maturing. You never quit working on the cars. I thought the Pettys came a long way last year. They've still got a lot to go. In talking with Kyle, he's got some big plans. Ray is going to continue to improve his program. Ganassi was there last year. Sterling is back, and he's looking good. I'm very optimistic.

Q: Are you ready to tackle NASCAR politics?

A: You've got two aspects you're dealing with from the political side. One is the NASCAR side of the business. You make sure you have an equal chance of winning. In fact my first meeting with Mike Helton, I told him we were on opposite sides of the fence because my job is to try to win 36 races and your shop is to try to make sure I don't win 36. In truth, what we're interested in is to make sure we've got an equal chance of winning the race on any given weekend. If we've got that, I'm not going to be in Mike's office at all. We've got to be sure we're not making excuses that aren't real.


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JOHN WEHRLY (Engineering Manager - Dodge Motorsports and Mopar Performance Parts)

Wehrly is responsible for the technical management of all Chrysler Group race programs including oval-track, drag and sports compact racing. Formerly the Technical Manager of Dodge's NASCAR Craftsman Truck program from 1998-2002, Wehrly increases his role to supervise all levels of Chrysler Group racing in 2003.  Wehrly will also oversee the technical operations of Mopar Performance Parts, including the engineering of parts and the coordination of engineering for new products, including the Viper Competition 
coupe. Wehrly joined Chrysler in 1962 as an engine specialist in the engine cooling lab.  In 1968 he was the mechanical development engineer for the Race Group and worked with Petty Enterprises and Harry Hyde, then crew chief of the No. 71 K & K Insurance Dodge (with drivers Buddy Baker, Dave Marcis, and Bobby Isaac )  Wehrly received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Tri-State College in Indiana, and his Master's in Professional Management at the University of Michigan.  He has been an avid runner for more than 20 years, and has competed in 13 consecutive Boston Marathons.

Q: How did your passion for racing begin?

A: I grew up on a farm in Portland, Ind., just a few miles from Winchester, Ind. The farm kids would always compete with homemade go-karts. We'd run around in the fields racing, but at that time I didn't know other people raced. My dad was a Dodge dealer. He started after WWII, and I was always involved in mechanical stuff. I went to a race with my brother and began to understand the competitive side of racing. It wouldn't matter if you were running or riding a bicycle or go-kart, I always wanted to be faster than the other guy.

Q: What was it like working with the Pettys in 60s and 70s?

A: I helped with engine development in the late 60s, and I worked with Maurice Petty a lot on engine stuff. We went from the wedge to the hemi to the small blocks with the wing cars. We'd get rule changes and then figure out whatever we could to be just as competitive after the rule changes. It was a lot of fun then trying to compensate for the changes just like it is now.

Q: What's different for the Dodge Winston Cup program in 2003?

A: The focus this season is going to be on winning the championship. The focus is not on next year or development or winning races. We've got enough experience now, and our teams are comfortable with the car and the engine. The vehicle has a new body like all the other competitors, and I think our teams have the confidence they need. They 

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understand the car well. We've got more depth. We've got excellent teams and drivers and I think we're in solid shape to go racing.

Q: You're 64 years old, but you still have quite a reputation as a runner. How did that develop?

A: The company got in a little financial trouble in 1980 and stopped racing. I went back to a production job, but I wanted to keep racing, so I started running. I guess I've been in 800-900 foot races. Foot racing is just like car racing. You've got to be prepared and train if you're going to be successful. I competed in 13 straight Boston Marathons. My best time was about 3:05, but my last race in 1999 was about 3:55. I trained about 80 miles a week and ran every day when I was doing the marathons. I still run about five days a week, six or seven miles a day.

Q: How much longer do you plan to work before retirement?

A: I suppose in the next year or two I'll have to consider it. I know I don't have a lot of time left to work, but I'd like to see Dodge win a Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series championship before I hang it up. If we could win the manufacturers' titles in both divisions, too, that would tickle me pink. I think we're ready to win in both divisions, and it sure would be fun if we could win 'em both this year.

TED FLACK (Manager, NASCAR Engine Programs, Dodge Engineering)
Flack is responsible for Program Management of Engineering Resources for NASCAR Programs at Dodge Motorsports. This involves research and development, parts design and distribution, and engineering support for the Dodge Teams. Formerly the manager of Dodge engine development for the NASCAR programs, Flack has worked with engine prototyping since 1980. Previously he was involved in the race programs from 1976-1980. He worked in that group until Dodge withdrew from auto racing in 1980. In the 1970s, Flack owned and drove cars competing in NHRA Super Stock and Modified classes. Before leaving drag racing in 1980, Flack had won several regional and national class championships.

Q: Like Fernandez and Wehrly, you know what it's like to compete in motorsports competition. Does being a former driver help you in your present position?

A: All successful drivers have a passion for racing, and I think you've got to have passion to be successful in any job. I grew up in Michigan, and everybody was into cars more then. Everybody had a hot rod and worked on their cars. I got into drag racing, and I was not good enough to turn professional, but I was good enough to pay the bills with it and that was saying something. Then I got with the race group and started doing NASCAR stuff for a living.

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Q: How important is chemistry in racing?

A: I'd say it's a pretty exact science. You've got to work hard to win, but you've got to have the right chemistry to be really successful. I've worked with John Wehrly for 30 years, and we've got a lot in common. What we have most in common is we're both bad losers. We've got our stuff in place now. We've got the right people. We bit off a big chunk when we came back to NASCAR in 2001, but it's starting to gel and I think we're about to reap the benefits. We've got good teams and good people. It's really a little bit scary the way things are lined up right now. We added depth. The Penske organization should really strengthen our lineup.

Q: So what's the secret formula for successful racing chemistry?

A: Everybody in the group has to be working together. Nobody can be working for anybody else. That's very important when you're trying to get things done. It's not easy to get people working together, but when you do things can really roll along real smooth.

Q: What's the biggest challenge in 2003?

A: I'd say the new body rules would have to be the biggest challenge. We need to find some consistency, and if we do that I think the Dodge camp will do just fine. The Winston Cup champion had an average finish of 12.6 last year. That's real low, but he still won. We need to work on consistent top 10 runs and quit worrying about winning so much. You need top 10s to win a championship, and that's the goal this season. I think consistency will be our biggest challenge. Our engines are good, and we've been real happy about that.

Q: Since you're no longer a driver, what fuels your passion for racing? 

A: Competition. Having a positive attitude and having everybody pulling in the same direction is very pleasant. Once a racer, always a racer. You know you're not going to win 'em all, but you're going to win your share if you work hard. What's that saying? The next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. This is our third season back. We've had some success, and we've taken some hard knocks along the way. I think everything is in place for a successful season. If we can't win, we want to be close enough to the front to see who does.


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Media Day 2003, Thursday, Feb. 6.                                         Golin/Harris International
45th annual Daytona 500                                                            803-466-9085