Stremme to Finish Out Season in Yellow Dodge

David Stremme will finish the 2003 season driving the Yellow Dodge for car owner James Finch. Entering Friday's race at Charlotte, Stremme has two top-five and five top-10 finishes in 12 starts. He has led two races for a total of 34 laps and is one of just three Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap this season. He is third in the Raybestos® Rookie standings, 45 points behind leader Coy Gibbs.

David Stremme

DAVID STREMME, NO. 1 YELLOW TRANSPORTATION DODGE:

"We were scheduled to run all of them but Homestead. With Yellow coming on board full time next year, the last race was going to be with the Miccosukee Indians and Jamie (McMurray) with Yellow as an associate and they decided to have a whole Yellow car. And with Homestead being a new track with limited testing, we also figure between the Busch operation with Phoenix and the Ganassi organization if we run another Busch car we would be able to get a lot more information. Hopefully it will help out with my Raybestos Rookie standings and everything at the end of the season so there are two benefits to it."

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOUR TEAM TO WIN RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? "At the beginning of the year we really didn't look at it as much. We just wanted to get experience. Well now, Jamie is trying to lock up Raybestos Rookie of the Year in Winston Cup and if he got rookie of the year in Winston Cup and if I could get it in Busch and we've got another development driver in ASA and he's already won rookie of the year there, that would be three drivers. Plus since Jamie and I shared the Yellow car and if he won Cup and I won Busch that would be really cool. It's something that we looked at and we're going to try win it."

WHAT'S THE ONE THING THAT YOU'VE LEARNED MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE? "Probably a lot of patience and communication and working within the team. It's been pretty huge and I've had a lot of help. Adapting to the cars: once you're out of a car getting back in it and getting comfortable again. That's what I really look at this last stretch and I feel pretty good going into it. We've done a lot of testing and we still have a test left because in the mid part of the summer we ran like four weeks straight and I had to get out and it kind of hurt a little. Then it's been kind of hit and miss here lately and we're going to really look at that. I've had a lot of help adapting to the cars."

HOW DIFFICULT HAS THE LIMITED SCHEDULE BEEN FOR YOU AS A DRIVER? "The plan was to run selected races and be able to stand back and watch a teammate like Jamie where I can ask him questions. Say if there is something in the car that I feel is uncomfortable then he can get in there and see if it's me or the car or whatever. And that learning curve has been shortened because of the whole Yellow team here and with Jamie driving the car. When you run the whole season you kind of loose track of what you really need to improve on because you are so busy week in and week out. When you are able to take a couple of races off, look and say 'Okay, this is what we need to really work on.' But on the other hand it hurts trying to learn the cars and get adapted to the tracks and so forth. When you get out of the car, obviously it's harder when you end up back in the car and these guys have been in every week."

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO STAY SHARP AS A DRIVER? 'We've done some tests. I go to the track every week and watch and learn. I don't think anything will give you experience unless you are in a Busch or Cup car."

HOW MUCH CAN YOU LEARN BEING AT THE SHOP? 'I think you can learn a great deal within team chemistry, working with different guys, getting to where they understand you and you understand them. During the week I'll go in the shop and help them out with whatever I can just to help myself understand the cars better so when we make adjustments I know how things operate. The Busch and Cup cars are different than like a short track car that you'd see running at your local races. I've always had hands-on experience with cars that I've drove so I think it helps out within the whole team plus it shows the crew 'Hey look, I'm going to give 100 percent' and they're giving me 100 percent and hopefully it works out."

HOW IMPORTANT IS CONFIEDENCE? "I haven't had to great of runs here lately and a lot of it is just having bad luck. For a while we were on a roll and I felt pretty good but I feel pretty good coming back because we tested and we had a good test. I'm looking at a lot of tracks that we're going to that I really enjoy racing at. You have to have your confidence built up because if you start doubting yourself or thinking twice about what you're doing then it's going to affect your performance. You've got to have good people around you. They've got to keep you pumped up. It's team atmosphere and between the whole Yellow team here and the Ganassi organization, it's been a great help."

WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR 2004? "We're going to run full Busch and see how things go from there. A lot is up to Finch and Ganassi and what goes on after that year but right now we're going to concentrate on finishing this year out and build for next year. A lot happened this year throughout our team. We moved the shop from Florida to South Carolina and had changes in personnel throughout our team so it's been a building year plus the switch of the manufacturer from Chevrolet to Dodge. I think that's been a great help to the team but on the other hand we had to build cars and redo cars. We're building for next year and I'm really looking forward to staying in the car every week. I'm gaining experience this year to go towards next year."

AT THIS POINT OF THE SEASON ARE YOU "FRESHER" THAN DRIVERS WHO RACE HERE EVERY WEEK? "I can't get enough racing. I'm at a track every week and I feel more wore out when I'm not driving. Last week at Kansas, I wasn't in the car but I was doing a lot of hospitality for Yellow and I'm a lot more tired from that that I am from racing. The racing really keeps you going and every time throughout my racing career as the season goes on I get stronger. I hate to see it end and that's what's neat coming to the Busch Series because you have so many races. I see it wear and tear on guys and I'm like I'm ready to go even more. I think a lot of that has to do with how I grew up. In Indiana you'd have cold winters but you'd still work on racecars. You'd get excited to go race again. I see that a lot here. I wish we'd race two or three times a week."

CAN YOU WIN A RACE BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON? "I'd like to and I think we can. I think the team is strong enough. Obviously everything has to fall into place. I've got to work on some things. We're going to racetracks that I really enjoy but going to Homestead nobody has any experience there. I feel like we'll be on equal playing ground there. We're going to take the same car back to Rockingham that Jamie dominated with. The setups he run and I run are very similar. Hopefully we can get a least a win Yellow and for myself would be really great."

BECAUSE MCMURRAY RAN SO WELL, DOES THAT PUT EXTRA PRESSURE ON YOU? "I put the most pressure on myself, more than anybody. I'm harder on myself than anybody in the garage, my parents, anybody, because I want to win. It doesn't matter how much it's paying. It's knowing that when you are competing against everybody else that you've beat them and that's always how I've raced. You just feel that you did your job that day and you want to go to the next track. If we can win races we'll succeed at all the hard work that the whole team has done."