Chevy Notes - Burton & Vickers IMS transcript, Aug. 7

For Immediate Release

 

BRICKYARD 400 POST-QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE

Elliott Sadler, Ward Burton, Brian Vickers

Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004

 

MODERATOR: Before Ward answers that question, in the NetZero Hi Speed Chevrolet qualified second with 185.391. Fantastic effort. Why don't you address that, coming from South Virginia, being here at Indy, what this means to you to qualify so well, No. 2.

 

WARD BURTON: It means a lot. Comes at a good time for all of us with the NetZero team. We're trying to, you know, build for the future. We made some changes in the last couple weeks that's definitely getting the light brighter at the end of the tunnel. This is another, you know, example of that. But back home, you know, most of all of us live in the Charlotte area. Elliott and I have both chose to stay where our heritage and our roots feel true to ourselves. I'm not going ever to say "never," because the older you get, you learn not to do that. But the chances of me leaving, leaving old Virginia, are very slim. I think Elliott's the same way. It is fun to be able to see, you know, even though I'm a little bit older than Elliott, you know, our parents have made a big difference in our lives as well as a lot of other people to get us to this point. We didn't do this on our own. There's a lot of talented people out there, but you got to be around people that support you and help you. You also got to be around racetracks that you learn from some of the best. My heroes were the Barry Begleys and Maurice Hills of the world. They were guys, when I came to Winston Cup, at that time I looked up to the Dale Srs. in the world. I had the same folks back home, Im sure Elliott did too. It means a lot to see Elliott and his brother and other folks that come from that area and do well.

 

MODERATOR: The only tradition that got you today was the Mears family tradition. 

 

BURTON: He did. He kicked it good. Kicked me by 2/10ths. He was on a roll last week, too. So I think it's two poles in a row for him. The two tracks I guess are a little bit similar. But Casey is a good guy. Casey is one of the guys that's going to be in this sport for a long time. He's a good kid. I'm glad for him.

 

Q: Ward, who are you looking for? 

 

BURTON: Shoot, there's 42 of them (laughter). You got to look for a whole lot of different things. I think the other thing y'all know, too, the qualifying setup and race setup are a little bit two different animals. Even though some of the qualifying setup we have on the car today, we will use like a shock absorber, we are going to have a work a lot on the cars coming up here the next hour or so. It could change a lot of things. Guy that's starting dead last or close to it could be the car to beat come tomorrow. We just got to work hard today.

 

MODERATOR: Ward, why don't you take us through your qualifying effort. Obviously, you had the benefit of starting early on. That seemed to be beneficial. Take us through your qualifying run. Did you sense at that time not only it was going to be good enough to be No. 2 but also breaking the track record?

 

BURTON: You know, yesterday in practice, we had some shocks on the car that made the car pick up a bounce in the middle of the corner. That bounce would send me up the track. So we changed our package with the shocks. That's really what picked our car up because that's about the only thing we changed. Getting up to speed was good. Going through one, two, three was pretty much uneventful. Was able to drive in pretty deep, get on the gas pretty quick. Car was real stable. Got into four and picked up a push and did the same way yesterday. I don't think I lost two and a half tenths to Casey off that corner, but I did lose a little bit off that corner. It looked like to me from the film, Casey was in the gas just a little bit harder all the way around the racetrack than the rest of us. That's where he beat us at. 

 

MODERATOR: You were speaking earlier when you first walked in about what this means to your team to be qualified up here, maybe get the momentum going over the rest of the course of the season. Obviously I assume that this must be a real confidence booster also for your crew, for your team, to be starting in the No. 2 spot for the Brickyard 400.

 

BURTON: It is. You know, we made some pretty significant personnel changes three weeks ago. Respect and feel like even the people that are no longer with us add a lot to our team, and we lost some when we made changes. At the same time the direction that we're going now, we're using all of the available resources. The sport has changed so much in the last really three years that if you don't use all your resources, and if you don't have an open mind, and are willing to listen and learn, and whatever position you are, you're going to fall behind. The sport has changed so much, that we're seeing even experience in some ways is not as important as it used to be because the cars are so important and the attitude of the cars and having the right support group, which is allowing basically someone like a Casey Mears to come in from nowhere a year ago and sit on two poles in a row. We didn't see that three or four years ago. So the changing of the guard, not really the changing, but as the sport is evolving, it's going through some changes, and it's going on right in front of us. I got to add one thing. There's two words out there this week called "hot seat" that I been on all week. Of course, I wouldn't even known about it if it hadn't been for my wife. But it's amazing to me sometimes the ability that y'all have and the job that y'all have to make things look negative or positive. There's a lot of y'all out there that we, being in the limelight, trust, okay? When that trust is discarded, when that trust is - what's the right word for it? - violated, it really makes the relationship between the media and the ones that you're interviewing questionable, whether you're going to get an honest answer. You know, I'm not going to bring up the individual's name, but you don't want to lose that trust because we all have a job to do. And you don't want to create a story just for the hell of creating a story. And I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm an angel in any way, but I do know that I'm someone that you can trust, and I think we need to be able to trust y'all, too.

 

MODERATOR: With that, Ward Burton, thank you.

 

MODERATOR: Now joining us, the highest qualifying rookie, Raybestos Rookie in the Brickyard 400. Qualified in the No. 6 position, Brian Vickers in the No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet. Not only qualified at 184.665, but he was one of the six drivers who broke the track record. Congratulations on not only being amongst those who broke last year's track record but also qualifying top six, top rookie. Take us through your qualifying. 

 

BRIAN VICKERS: Yeah, I appreciate it. The GMAC Chevy team, all the guys did a good job all week throughout testing. We had a really good car. We entered practice a little tight - actually real tight. We made a lot of changes to help fix that. We got most of it fixed, but we were still just a little too tight to sit on the pole for the Indianapolis 400, Brickyard 400. But it was, you know, it was still a solid run for us. To come out and be the top Raybestos Rookie qualifier is really a pretty cool honor, especially here at Indianapolis. It's a neat track. It has a lot of history to it. You know, I've had a blast coming up here and being out there on the speedway and everything. It's one of those deals where it's so much that it's not really even going to hit you till the week after, I think.

 

MODERATOR: Obviously coming into a track like this, you want to make a good impression, you want your sponsors to be excited. But did you think you were going to be able to put a track record qualifying effort together? Also, starting where you did, when you did qualify, early cars in the qualifying realm had a bit of an advantage. Did you still feel that you guys were going to be able to put out that kind of performance this morning? 

 

VICKERS: Yeah, you know, the team has really done a good job from the very start with qualifying. They've done a good job with -- you know, we've gotten better as the year's gone on and everything, not just qualifying, but also in the race trim. I knew we had a shot at it. You know, I felt like we even had a shot at the pole if everything went right, if we had a good draw, and the situation was right, and the car was just right. And, you know, everything was pretty close, but not just enough. You know, I think in every little category, we missed just a little bit. But that's part of it. You know, we'll learn from it, we'll come back next time. But still we're very happy with a Top 10 start. It will be good for the race and, you know, give us a good pit box as well along with a lot of other things.

 

MODERATOR: Even qualified ahead of a couple teammates named Gordon and Johnson, which is pretty cool, too. Questions for Brian Vickers. 

 

Q: Funny you should ask about Gordon and Johnson because they both wanted a Top 10. Both said out on the grid that they were both hoping for a Top 10. You beat both of them. When you look at that, what are your thoughts? They said you felt like a kid in a candy store just being here this weekend, now here you beat both of them. Gordon of course is so good here. What do you think about that? 

 

VICKERS: It's a pretty neat experience, you know, to be here. And I have been like a kid in the candy store, to be here, period. I came here so many times, whether it be for, you know, NASCAR stuff, IndyCar, Formula One stuff. I've always had a lot of respect for the racetrack, and also for my teammates, as well. To beat them in qualifying is always a lot of fun. You know, I look at my teammates like brothers. You know, you help each other. I help them and they help me in any way possible. But at the end of the day, you know, we still want to beat each other. You know, it means a lot. You know, Jeff is obviously one of the best drivers out there - if not the best on the circuit right now. You know, he's obviously probably the best at this track, you know, if you look back at track record. So that's pretty neat. Now we just got to do it again on Sunday. 

 

Q: Brian, typically Atlanta Motor Speedway is considered the fastest track on the circuit. This looked, if not as fast, faster today. Describe what it's like to go that fast around a track that doesn't have the banking to really help you like Atlanta. 

 

VICKERS: It's a neat experience. You know, to go -- to be traveling that fast, period, it's something that not many people will have the opportunity to do. You know, I'm fortunate to be able to do it every weekend. I love it. This track, you know, to do it here I think is even more impressive because of how flat the racetrack is. It's amazing how much banking helps our cars. You know, an IndyCar is different. They've got so much downforce already. We need all the help we can get. Plus like Atlanta, Texas, with a lot of banking, makes a tremendous difference. To be able to come here and run as fast as we do is pretty neat. And today I think you really saw, you know, the track conditions were great and the cars, the teams in general, are just getting better and better every week and every year. And that's why the speeds keep going up. But like you said, for this track to be as flat as it is, to go that fast off into a turn, it's a pretty neat experience.

 

Q: Being a rookie here the first year and running at this race, as big as it is, as much attrition as you see in this event, what is your strategy for this thing? Do you pick a driver like a Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, set behind them, get a feel for the track, get your pace going? What do you do for this race?

 

VICKERS: You know, it's probably not much different than most races. You know, there's some situations where you want to fall in behind a veteran driver and try to, you know, learn a lot. And I think that's always the case to a point. But at a place like this, you can't ride behind somebody too close for very long or you're going to get extremely tight, and then you're going to start going backwards. When you get to them, you got to pass them or you got to let them get some distance on them so you can get some good air on your car or you will eventually build up too much air pressure in the right front tire and cause problems. I think right now our focus is on practice, to get the car the best we can, and to get it turning good, to get it turning good in traffic, and then to getting clear air come Sunday, get to the front as soon as possible, at least maintain where we are until the pit stops. You know, I think we saw it last week at Pocono, you know, just track position means a lot. It always does no matter what series or what form of racing you're in, and no matter what track you are. I think track position always means a lot. But at this track in particular, it's going to mean that much more.

 

MODERATOR: Congratulations. Excellent effort. 

 

VICKERS: Thank you. 

 

.BY2004.