NASCAR WCUP: Jeff Burton and Frank Stoddard plan for more success in 2001
20 November 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
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JEFF BURTON --99-- Citgo SUPERGARD Taurus -- YOU'VE HAD A GOOD FINAL MONTH SO YOU MUST BE THINKING GOOD THINGS THIS WEEK. "We are. Atlanta was one of those races that we look back on early in the year with dismay. We were leading the race, qualified poorly, but we drove to the front very quickly, and we were leading the race when we ran over something and cut a right-rear tire and finished dead last. We hope to go back and redeem ourselves. We were very happy with the performance of our car, but we didn't get the result we wanted."
AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE YOUR BEST FINISH IN THE STANDINGS TOO. "Yeah, it really is. It looks pretty good that we will have our best year as far as where we finish in the points. I don't know how the points shake out, but I know Dale Jarrett is a little bit behind us. I think he'd have to win the race and we'd have to finish like 41st or 42nd. I don't know how it all works out, but the main thing is just finishing on a high note. If Dale Earnhardt beats us for second, then he just beats us, or if we beat him, we beat him. But we've had a really strong last three months and I want to end the year on a strong note going into next year -- build some momentum so that all of my guys have their heads held up high and we're ready to go next year. It's more important about finishing Atlanta, having a good strong race, being competitive all day than it is about beating Dale Earnhardt."
IS THERE ANY THING YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE FROM THIS YEAR? "Three races that we really agonize over a lot -- the spring race at Atlanta that I just mentioned, the fall race at Dover in which we were running second and had a catastrophic tire failure, and then Rockingham in the first race when we had a mechanical problem. We've been fairly clean on the race track this year. We haven't been in a lot of tangles on the race track fortunately. Mechanical problems, we had one at Sears Point and one at Rockingham. Then there were some other races where we were running fourth, fifth, sixth at the end of the race and we ended up finishing 11th, and those races hurt us too. But the big ones were the big hits and those big hits were the three races I just mentioned. On top of that, was Talladega where we had a poor finish and Sears Point. So, really, I look at it as missed opportunities. We didn't run as well as I hoped to at some races and ran better than I hoped to in others, and we just had too many bad finishes and that's why we are where we are."
ANY DIFFERENT PREPARATIONS WITH DODGE COMING IN? "The way we compete is by doing the best we can do. We don't know what the Dodge is gonna throw at us. We don't know if they're gonna be good or bad or what they're gonna be. Because of that it's hard to prepare for them. What we always do is set our goal to what we think the best team is and we need to adjust our team to be better than them. We can't adjust to something that we don't know about, so what we're doing is we're looking at ourselves and figuring out how to do our deal better than worrying about what other people are doing."
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AN ADJUSTMENT IN THE POINT SYSTEM? "I don't really think much about it. I think the point system is the point system and you've got to tailor your team and your ability to win the championship based on what the points are. There are days where I think there's an advantage in having more points given to the winner and there are other days I don't. It appears to me that the points system works pretty well to keep point races close, regardless of what we've seen the last two years. Dale Jarrett did a great job last year of running well and not having problems and Bobby Labonte has done the same thing this year. The thing about running a 500-mile race is that reliability is important and being able to run fast for 500 miles is different than being able to run fast for 200 miles. We need to hold teams accountable for not only building fast cars, but for building reliable cars and that's what this point structure does. So I don't have a problem with the point system. I think it's just a matter of tailoring your team so you can take advantage of the point system."
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU WERE THE PRESEASON FAVORITE IN 2001? "That's one of the goals that we've worked for is to have other teams and people around the sport whom we respect, give us compliments to say we are preseason favorites, to say that we are a favorite going into a race. Those are the kind of things that we want. It doesn't really put anymore pressure on us or anything because if you're afraid that people are gonna put pressure on you, then you need to be afraid of ever having success. What we have to do is to improve in some areas. We've got to be, compared to the way we were in the middle portion of this year, we've got to be more competitive. We've got to be faster. The early part of the year and the late part of the year, I think you could put our team up against anybody but we had a low point. So, we have to remain competitive throughout the whole year and we have to avoid those poor finishes. I've been saying that as long as I've raced. As long as I can remember racing for points, poor finishes have killed us. So, I say that and I'm not real sure how to prevent it. We've done pretty well on our mechanical stuff -- we've had two mechanicals this year -- I think one is probably the number that you're looking for and I have to continue to stay out of trouble on the race track. The other things that happened to us, I don't know that there is a whole lot we can learn from 'em. I mean, when you run over something and you cut a tire, how are you gonna prevent that -- and we had that happen twice and both of those finishes were very poor finishes. There's nothing you can do to prevent that, so we've got to have a little bit better pit stops. We're working hard on that. We need to be a little bit better prepared when we show up at the race track, we're prepared for that. We need a little more horsepower, we need a little more downforce. What I'm saying is I think we just need to be a little bit better in all areas. If we can improve just a little bit in all areas, then we'll be a tough team."
SHOULD SOMETHING BE DONE AT ATLANTA AS FAR AS SAFETY GOES? "I don't know that the aerodynamic rules would help or not, but I do think we're going to fast. I think Atlanta, for the size of that race track, is too fast. I've said that from the first day we went there. It has improved. As the groove has widened out, you've run closer to the wall and I think that's made it safer. Any hit at Atlanta is gonna hurt, that's just the way it is. So Atlanta, in my opinion, is one of those tracks that danger is looming. I understand that's part of the attraction to the sport, but I wish we could end up accelerating our soft wall technology. Certainly, we need to accelerate our seats and things, so when you do hit it helps the driver because we're gonna hit. It's inevitable that you're gonna wreck, so safety is a major issue and it needs to be an issue for everybody. Atlanta, in my opinion, is one of the more dangerous race tracks that we run on because of the speed."
WILL YOUR TEAM RETURN INTACT FOR 2001? "Yes they are. Fortunately, our people enjoy working here. We've given them an environment that they enjoy being in. We need to continue to work on that and make is so people want to work at Roush Racing. We are not currently aware of anyone that is leaving. All of our key people are certainly in place. Our pit crew is pretty much set with the exception of one person. I feel really good. I think when you look at our team next year you won't see any faces that you didn't see this year and you'll see some new ones also. So, we're adding some new people, but all of our main people, we believe, are staying so we feel really good about that."
DID THE SPONSOR CHANGE SURPRISE YOU? "I don't think it had much effect. I don't think it had any negative effect. Our relationship with Exide has always been very good. We knew early in the year that they had some corporate changes going on. We knew there was a possibility that they might ask to come off the car. Certainly, we didn't think it would happen during the year. We weren't really concerned about having sponsorship on the car. We thought that we had done a good enough job on the race track and had done some nice things in marketing and we'd be OK, so we didn't worry much about it. I hated to see Exide leave. Exide was the reason that this team was formed. I have a lot of friends at Exide. We had great marketing campaigns. We had a lot of fun doing commercials and I think the commercials were really well received through the public, so I hated to see them leave. At the same time, when they asked if they could step back, it wasn't because of anything we had done. They asked to step back because their structure is changing in that corporation. The way they're gonna sell batteries, who they're selling batteries to and how they're selling batteries is different than it was, so they really don't have a need to have a lot of sponsorship and a lot of advertisement. That gave us an opportunity to put our program for sale. It gave an opportunity for Citgo to come on board, which, in my opinion, is really a good deal. I mean, they've been in racing for 16 years. They've come in with high expectations, which I like. I want a sponsor to believe that we can get it done and they've come in with financial backing that is second to none. Their commitment to racing is second to none. They want to do some neat stuff with marketing and advertising so really, I think, in the long run it's gonna end up being a positive. It already is a positive because their company has been committed to racing for a long time. They're not a company that's gonna be in and out. They're enjoying the relationship that we have, so I think it's really been a positive thing. It did strike us by surprise that it happened in the middle of the year. At the same time it's a good sign for our sport that a major team can replace a sponsor without ever having a car that doesn't have a sponsor on it. It's really an honor to have them on board. They're excited about it and it's fun to have them around."
IS IT FAIR TO SAY THE WAY YOU'RE ENDING THIS SEASON IS SIMILAR TO WHAT BOBBY LABONTE DID LAST YEAR AND SHOULD THAT MAKE YOU A PRESEASON FAVORITE IN 2001? "If you look at it, I think it is very similar. I mean, if you look at what Bobby Labonte did last year. He finished second in the points, I'm not saying we're gonna finish second in the points but we certainly have a good opportunity. He led a lot of laps, he won his share of races. You could see that they were a team that was starting to put it all together -- reliability, performance, the proper employees -- you could kind of see that happening. You could look at our team and see that happening as well. That doesn't guarantee that we're gonna have a good year next year, but it certainly is a trend. It certainly looks a lot like they did and I think that's a good sign. It wouldn't surprise me for people to say that we are a preseason favorite. At the same time, that's a pick. They run these races because we can't pick it and I understand that and respect that a great deal. But we've worked hard to gain that respect and we want to make sure that when we get that respect we keep it. So, if some people are picking us, then we'll take that as a tremendous compliment and we'll do our best to prove 'em right. By running as competitive as we have the last four years, we've been in the top five in points four years in a row, that means a whole lot to me. I think it's shown that we are consistent, that we're not an overnight success. We've been steady. We've learned a lot each year. We've gotten a little better each year and I hope we can eventually tie all that up and maybe next year is the time we can do that."
FRANK STODDARD, Crew Chief --99-- Citgo SUPERGARD Taurus -- WHAT ABOUT ATLANTA? "We have run well there in the past. It's a fast race track. It's a place where you can get in trouble in a hurry. We usually try to set the car up to handle real well all day. On long runs it's real important that you handle well at those speeds. We look forward to going to Atlanta. It's a fast race track, but it's a nice, easy race track to pass on. It's got a lot of grooves and it makes racing well for the fans and for the competitors."
JEFF IS GOOD WITH THE CHASSIS. DOES THAT HELP A LOT ON RACE DAY? "It certainly does. Anytime you can have two people working toward the same goal, it's a lot easier than it is just having one person that handles the chassis. Jeff is certainly on top of his game when it comes to the chassis calls. A lot of times he'll come in off the race track and have an idea in his head already. When he's in practice coming down pit road, he'll relay something to me and then when he gets in there we'll talk about it. I'll throw a couple of ideas at him and we'll end up coming up with what we think is the best combination to put back in the car and to go out and make it a little bit faster than what it was on that run."
DO YOU SEE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN YOUR FINISH THIS YEAR AND LABONTE'S LAST YEAR, AND SHOULD THAT MAKE YOU A FAVORITE IN 2001? "I think if you go off of Homestead, we won't be that choice. We certainly have worked hard over the last five or six years to try to put ourselves in position. Obviously, that's what everybody does is to try to put themselves in position for a championship. We don't think, based on what we've done this year, is gonna give us a championship next year. But we do think that we've done well enough this year that we have confidence going into next year. Then if we do some of the things next year that we've done in the second half this year, then, hopefully, we'll be in contention again. That's the key deal -- being in contention. The reason we're not in contention this year is because of two DNFs. Two blown tires have really eliminated us from having a championship race going into Atlanta. Certainly, if you run well you feel like you'll be in contention, but the key is not to have any DNFs next year and with a 36-race schedule for points next year, you might have a little bit more ease of overcoming one DNF, but it's shown fairly true the last two or three years that you can't have any DNFs. But, we hope that people think that we've done well enough this year and we've done well enough over that last fives, that people think of us to be in the top five again next year but there are no guarantees. We're gonna do our best."
HOW HAS JACK CHANGED THIS YEAR? "I haven't had to fight with him as much this year. But, seriously, I think Jack has so many business interests today. He has so many teams that he tries to be successful with all of them, that he ends up spreading himself a little bit more out among all of them and maybe he's a little bit less confrontational with me. He lets a few subjects pass by that if he only had me to focus on or me and Jimmy Fennig to focus on, then he might be a little more confrontational in a few areas, but I think his desire is for all of his race teams to be successful and in order to do that he probably has realized or looked back and said that he needs to at least allow me to make a few decisions and maybe a few mistakes in a few areas and not worry about as much about them as long as the big-time picture ends up coming out OK. He's been great with me this year. I can't say enough about my relationship and how it's evolved through the year with Jack and I, and I look forward to next year based on that."
HOW MUCH WOULD IT MEAN TO FINISH SECOND IN THE POINT STANDINGS THIS YEAR? "What it would mean to me is that we've done a good job for one more year. It would mean that if we hadn't had the DNFs we've had this year, we would have been in contention to try to win the championship this year. So it's a steady progression we've made the last four or five years of finishing in the top five, top 10 in the points and working our way towards being a stronger championship contender. That's what it's all about. I think it's important to finish as high as you can in the points. Winston does a great job with the purse structure in the points championship. That obviously would mean a little bit to the guys back at the shop that worked hard all year away from their families and the more money that we can make off the points helps all of them make it worthwhile. Certainly being second in the points, to beat Dale Earnhardt who has been a seven-time champion, if we're able to accomplish that it's a small feat in it's own right, I think."
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