Mr. Goodcents 300 - Travis Geisler Notes

Travis Geisler Notes, Quotes: Mr. Goodcents 300
For rookie driver, ‘cookie cutter’ is beneficial

This weekend Travis Geisler and the #36 DCT Motorsports Chevrolet team head to the 1.5-mile, Kansas (Kan.) Speedway for Saturday’s Mr. Goodcents 300 NASCAR Busch Series race.

Geisler is a native of Cranberry Township, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh, who has grown up in the sport. The young driver brings an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University to the DCT Motorsports team.

DCT Motorsports’ owners John McGill and Carl Natale are the first full-time owners from Cleveland, Ohio, NASCAR’s top three divisions have ever seen. Still, their marketing and business savvy is a breath of fresh air that has captured the imagination of the sport’s business minds. McGill and Natale have developed the sport’s most cost-efficient, sponsor-friendly marketing setup. It is based on giving full value to sponsors, and utilizing the many business-to-business contacts McGill, a developer, and Natale, a major earthwork contractor, have in place.

DCT Motorsports is seeking sponsorship for next year and the remainder of this season, is in the midst of a 25-race schedule for 2004, hitting all of the major NASCAR Busch Series events and markets. One of the most comprehensive sponsorship packages in any form of motorsports, DCT offers a complete package of top racing equipment, hospitality, public relations, publicity, appearances and show cars.

The thoughts of #36 DCT Motorsports Chevrolet rookie driver Travis Geisler heading into Kansas:

“Not only is the Kansas Speedway an unfamiliar race track, Kansas City, the whole area really, is unfamiliar as well. So, how do you prepare for a complete unknown? Well, for one, it helps that so many of the new tracks we race at look and race fairly similar to one another.

“Luckily, we’ve raced at Kentucky and Chicago, both 1.5-mile, brand new tri-ovals. From what I’ve heard, our experience at these two tracks should help us at Kansas. The term ‘cookie cutter’ is thrown around loosely at these new 1.5-mile tracks. We’re hoping that’s the case. When we go out to practice on Friday morning, that’ll be the first time we’ve had the chance to see Kansas Speedway, we’re hoping that it is a ‘cookie-cutter’ track and very similar to the other tracks we’ve ran at with the same moniker.

“With our experience at similar tracks, there’s a bigger advantage to racing Kansas for the first time as it would be at say, Atlanta or Charlotte. Yes, they’re all 1.5-mile tracks, but the new ‘cookie-cutter’ tracks such as Kentucky, Texas, Chicago, Kansas are all smooth, new surfaces. That’s not the case Atlanta and Charlotte, which have, for lack of a better term, aged.

“The tracks like Atlanta and Charlotte have settled, developed bumps; it’s a rougher surface and it takes a little while longer to learn what to expect from the track and how to handle the entry and exit of the turns. That’s not the case at these newer tracks. Because of these tracks newer and smooth surface, you don’t have to learn the ‘feel’ of the track as much, and you can concentrate on finding the fastest line.

“For us to be good this weekend we’ll have to adjust quickly in our first practice session. It’s the first time I’ve been to Kansas and it’s the first time this DCT Motorsports team has been to Kansas. How fast we’re able to learn what the car wants to do and how fast we’re able to adjust it to what we want it to do will determine how good we’ll qualify. That’s the disadvantage to being a young team and me being a rookie driver. Other teams know what to expect going in, but our learning curve is much steeper.

“If we can qualify well, we’ll be in good shape on race day. By starting closer to the front it will give us a bit more leeway and time on adjusting the car throughout the race. Like every track we visit for the first time, it’s important for me to be a ‘sponge,’ to soak up everything the car’s doing, the track’s doing, what the infield maintenance crew’s doing… everything. Hopefully, the weekend will be a good stepping stone for this team as we continue to grow and learn.”