This Week In Ford NASCAR Racing - Nextel, Bush

This Week in Ford Racing

August 23, 2005

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series

Mark Martin, driver of the No. 6 Viagra Taurus, has two career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, which is the site of Saturday night's scheduled Sharpie 500. Martin, who goes into the event fifth in the point standings, spoke about the difficulty of this race as well as his team's recent test session at the half-mile bullring.

MARK MARTIN - No. 6 Viagra Taurus -- WHETHER CHASE SPOTS ARE UP FOR GRABS OR NOT, IS IT SAFE TO SAY THAT BRISTOL IS ALWAYS A WILDCARD RACE? "It is because so many things happen there and it is a race track where you can even surprise yourself. You may not be running that well or think you're not running that well, but get in a good position and wind up with a good finish that maybe you didn't expect. The opposite of that can definitely happen as well - you can run well there real easy and not wind up with a good result. That race is full of surprises. It's exciting. It's action-packed and that's what makes it so popular, but all those things make it less predictable, so it's more interesting."

WHETHER YOU HAVE A CUSHION IN THE POINTS OR ARE BATTLING FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF SPOTS, DO YOU STILL RACE LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO THERE? "That possibility is there every week where things can go wrong for you, but it's the highest at Bristol. The next highest is Talladega, but it is the highest at Bristol. So what we have done is we chose to use one of our tests. Even though it really doesn't matter that much, to try and have a reasonable qualifying position and we will hope that the cautions fall such that people aren't able to get on too much of an off-sequence so that we can hover closer to the front of the pack. People get off-sequence there so much that it doesn't matter how good you are, that will shove you back in the pack when you get off-sequence. After you make your stop and they've already made theirs 50 laps ago and they're all lined up in front you, that's just the way it is there. We're gonna make our best effort. We used one of our tests that we've been saving for the chase for that."

IS YOUR LAST WIN AT BRISTOL ONE OF THE THINGS THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU GO BACK THERE? "It's not the first thing that comes to mind, but it is definitely still prominent in my memory bank. When I think about things that are real special, that was a real special win because it came right after my dad's accident. I was in a terrible state of grief and somehow or another that soothed the pain for a few hours. All wins are special. Believe me. They're all special, but some of them are special in different ways and that one is special in that way."

YOU REALLY FEEL THE CROWD AT BRISTOL, WHETHER IT'S DRIVER INTROS OR AFTER THE RACE IS OVER DON'T YOU? "You can definitely feel and hear what their feelings are and it can get to be pretty overwhelming sometimes. My win there in '98 was met with great enthusiasm from the fans because of the tragedy that my family had gone through. Lucky for me I haven't really been on the receiving end of great disapproval as some people have there."

NASCAR Busch Series

It was announced last week that Wood Brothers Racing and ST Motorsports formed a new partnership - Wood Brothers/TJG Racing - a racing enterprise that would compete in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series. Included in the venture will be a centralized fabrication shop from which all cars will be completed and run under the supervision of Michael "Fatback" McSwain. Jon Wood, the 23-year-old son of Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Eddie Wood and current driver of the No. 47 ST Motorsports Busch Series entry, spoke of the formation of Wood Brothers/TJG Racing and the impact it might have on his racing career.

JON WOOD-47-Clorox/Wisk Ford Taurus - YOU HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN BOTH PARTIES OF WOOD BROTHERS/TJG RACING. IS THIS A WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR YOU AND YOUR RACING CAREER? "It is. At ST Motorsports and our 47 team, I look for the weaknesses to become strengths now. Tad (Geschickter, owner) and that entire marketing program that he has is so strong, but it's almost like you can't have the best of both worlds - performance and marketing - and be a single-series team. He's got the money side down; he's got as much of that as any Busch team, but now they're merging with a team that's been in business for over 50 years. For a race team to be in business for as the long as the Wood Brothers has, they have to at some point know how to make cars go fast. I think with Fatback's help on the production side, it will really improve the racing side. It could do nothing but get better."

DO YOU ALREADY HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH FATBACK MCSWAIN? "Fatback and I have a really good relationship and I expect it only to strengthen with the plans that are happening. I'm going to be under his leadership in some capacity, maybe more than is expected right now.

WILL THERE BE ANY VISIBLE SIGNS OF THIS NEW PARTNERSHIP THIS SEASON? "It probably won't take effect until next year. We've only got 10 races to go and we'd have a hard time making something happen in that timeframe. We have a brand-new Ford Fusion debuting next year and I think we're going to have an easier time getting it up to speed with the help of Wood Brothers Racing. This relationship is geared more towards next year, helping my family with sponsorship in the off-season and helping the on-track performance at ST Motorsports. Right now Tad's just feeling out what problems we're having and where he can improve them."

DOES THIS NEW PARTNERSHIP ALLOW YOU AN EASIER TRANSITION TO THE CUP LEVEL? "Yeah, and now if it works out to where I have that opportunity, there's nobody I have to go to ask if I can get out of my contract. I don't have to ask permission and I don't have to hurt anybody's feelings, I can just go do it. I've got the 47 next year locked up no matter what, and I'm as excited about that as anything. I look back to last year at this time and how I wanted to be in that car so bad because the deal I was in wasn't quite as polished and shiny as everyone seemed to think it was. Those feelings still carry over, and if the point comes where there's an opportunity to drive a Cup car for my family, now with ST Motorsports and Wood Brothers being combined everybody is for it."

GREG BIFFLE DRIVES FOR BREWCO IN THE BUSCH SERIES AND ROUSH RACING ON THE CUP SIDE, WHEREAS CARL EDWARDS DRIVES FOR ROUSH RACING IN BOTH SERIES. IS THERE AN ADVANTAGE TO DRIVING FOR THE SAME ORGANIZATION IN BOTH SERIES? "There definitely is. Hypothetically speaking, my NEXTEL Cup crew chief could come and listen and see what goes on in Busch practice and already have one up on the other race teams that don't have Busch cars going into the Cup practice. If the Busch cars qualify before the Cup cars, we'll know if the race track is looser or tighter. It can't be a disadvantage if all of the cars are built the same, whereas if you drive a Busch car for another team other than your Cup team, it's only what the driver sees, not what the crew chief sees and not what the team sees, so you can only carry the advantages so far if you drive for different team in different series."

WITH ST MOTORSPORTS LOCATED IN LOCUST, N.C., AND WOOD BROTHERS RACING LOCATED IN MOORESVILLE, N.C., DO YOU SEE THERE BEING ANY ISSUES GETTING THE CARS BASELINED? "I don't know what the plans are now for what's going where, but they're going to be close enough where I feel assured that one person can oversee everything."