Differences between Busch and Winston Cup cars.
"There are three basic differences between my #30 Pennzoil Pontiac and a Busch car. The Winston Cup car has a wheel base five inches longer than the Busch car; it weighs 100 pounds more and also has more horsepower. Some drivers think the biggest adjustments are dealing with the horsepower or aerodynamics. But, for me, adapting to the longer wheel base is the most noticeable difference. That extra five inches and the fact that you have higher entry speeds into the corners lessens the car's turning radius."
Winston Cup vs. Busch Competition
"In a Winston Cup car, if you are just a little off, you are junk. In a Busch car, you can make some changes and adapt to the situation. The changes seem to be more effective in the Busch cars. In Winston Cup, the car has to be awful dang close at the start of the race or you are in big trouble. The Busch car responds a bit better than a Cup car; that -- and the competition have been the biggest challenges so far.
Abilities of the drivers
"All the drivers in Winston Cup and the Busch series are very good, but the guys in the Winston Cup series are extremely good. To be on the track by yourself and run fast is one thing, but to be fast and run with a bunch of cars is another thing. It’s easier in the aspect that they are going to give you a lot of room and things like that nature, but it's harder because they are going to be running faster. It seems like they run faster longer in Winston Cup than they do in the Busch series. I don't know if that is a testimony to the cars or the drivers or both, but it makes it hard on a rookie.
Being a Rookie in American Speed Association (ASA), Busch and Winston Cup Series.
It's just plain harder in Winston Cup. That's the only way to put it. But, you are at the top of the heap here and it should be harder than at the other places.
Saturday Afternoons
It's been relaxing watching the Busch races on television or standing on the Pennzoil truck. It would be fun to go racing, but by the same token, when I ran in the Busch series I didn't run very much ASA. Now that we are in Winston Cup, I doubt we will race much in the Busch series. When you move up you have to spend a lot of time and concentration on what you are doing and it makes it harder to do other things. This year I'm devoting my full attention to the #30 Pennzoil Pontiac.
1996 Performance
It's been up and down so far. I am a rookie and the team has to deal with a new car and a rookie at the same time. That's tough to do. Some of the other teams only have to deal with the Pontiac body change. I think it's going to take some time before it's going to be an even better situation than it is now. I think our pole at Atlanta is just a preview of what is to come. Nothing has been any different than what I expected. This is a tough sport, but I’m confident about the Pontiac, the Bahari’ team and the support we get from Pennzoil.”
1996 Strategy
My goal is to get to the half way point of the year and see what we have learned. Then when we go back to these tracks for a second time we can apply what we learned the first time and improve our performance. I have always approached racing that way. The first half of the year is a bigger learning curve than the second half of the year. The learning curve is always continuous, but now it's straight up and down. In the second half of the year it’s at little more of an angle.
