NASCAR WCUP: Pontiac Racing quotes - Advance, Bristol
26 March 2000
NOTES AND QUOTES; ADVANCE MATERIAL; BRISTOL; MARCH 25; A.J. FOYT, CAR OWNER, NO. 14 CONSECO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: (ON THIS BEING HIS FIRST TRIP TO BRISTOL) "This is the first time I've ever been to Bristol. I've seen it a lot on TV and watched it. Of all the racetracks in the U.S., I've probably been to 95 percent of them. But this is the first time I've ever been here." (HOW HE STAYED AWAY FROM BRISTOL SO LONG) "I really can't answer that. I must have always had races going on the same weekend somewhere else. That's the probably the big reason. I've had a of my friends that have been down here before, but I've always had something else going on." (WOULD HE LIKE BRISTOL AS A DRIVER) "I think I would because it's kind of a high-bank. Back over the years I ran Salem (Ind.) and Winchester (Ind.), and they are both half-miles that are very fast. I ran pretty good on half-mile high-banks. I think this would have fit my style pretty good." (HIS IMPRESSIONS OF BRISTOL) "This is a driver's racetrack. I think you've got to have your car working and you've got to have a good crew. But I think is very much a driver's racetrack." (ON SEEING MORE SHORT TRACKS ON THE SCHEDULE) "It's awfully hard on equipment and things like that. When you have a big circuit like NASCAR has, I think too many of this type of track would cause too much of a hardship on the crews and on the ownership. It would cost a little too much money to run them." (PITTING ON THE FRONT STRAIGHTAWAY) "I'm glad we're in and pitting on the front straightaway. But I don't like being right there where they come in. I told Waddell (Wilson), 'With my being on crutches, I don't know if this is a good idea or not.' If I've got to move in a hurry - I can move, but I don't know if I can move quick enough. I might be in the background a little more tomorrow and give myself some extra room." TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: (ON THIS MORNING'S INCIDENT) "We blew a motor." (HOW CLOSE HE CAME TO HITTING THE WALL) "I wasn't close. I was just trying to get out of the groove so I didn't oil down the track for everybody else." (REBOUNDING FROM THIS) "It's just been a long weekend already. Yesterday's qualifying run was terrible and then we lost all of our practice this morning. It's just not a very good weekend right now. But I've been racing for 20 years. This isn't the first motor I've blown." (DEALING WITH LAPPED TRAFFIC SUNDAY) "You just have to be real patient. Most of the time they're pretty good about letting you go. It's hard. The track's crowded. But I felt that in traffic was where we excelled at times last year. We seemed to get through traffic at the right times and we were able to pull away afterward. I actually look forward to lapped traffic because I'm able to use it to my advantage." NOTES AND QUOTES; ADVANCE MATERIAL; BRISTOL; MARCH 25; TONY STEWART, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: (ON STAYING FOCUED AT BRISTOL) "You just don't have time to relax. Everything happens so fast. At the end of the day when the race is done and your adrenaline wears off, you're worn out. But when you're in the car the adrenaline's pumping, you don't get in that smooth, calm rhythm that you do at a place like Michigan or California where you've got big, sweeping corners and long straightaways. There's no time to relax. You don't get that luxury at Bristol. It's standard short track racing." (DEALING WITH FATIGUE) "There are some other places where it's big, but you hear a lot of drivers talk about how physical Bristol is. If your car's not right it can make for a really long race. If your car's right it's not a big factor. But if it's off, it can be a problem." (ON SEEING MORE PLACES LIKE BRISTOL ON THE SCHEDULE) "I'd like to see some new short tracks come up. Everybody that's building new facilities are building great facilities, but it would be nice to see someone build a smaller track that could hold the same amount of people like they do at Bristol. But everybody's building these big, huge monster venues."