Goulds Pumps/ITT Industries 250 - Travis Geisler Notes

Travis Geisler Notes, Quotes: Colorado 250
Familiar track for a rookie

This weekend Travis Geisler and the #36 DCT Motorsports Chevrolet team head to the one-mile Pikes Peak International Raceway, located in Fountain, CO, for Saturday’s Colorado 250 NASCAR Busch Series race.

Geisler will be racing in his seventh Busch Series event of his 2004 rookie campaign. Saturday will be the second time Geisler has raced on the one-mile Pikes Peak International Raceway. He raced at Pikes Peak last year in the International Truck & Engine Midwest Series and brought home an 11th-place finish.

DCT Motorsports’ owners McGill and Natale – the first full-time owners from the Cleveland, Ohio, area NASCAR’s top three divisions have ever seen – 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, 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 DCT Motorsports Chevrolet driver Travis Geisler heading into Pikes Peak:

“I don’t know if it’s the altitude or not, but something about Pikes Peak gets your juices flowing. I had the opportunity to race there last year in what is now known as the NASCAR Autozone Elite Series, and we had a pretty good run. We ran in the top 10 for awhile before finishing 11th. It’s not often a rookie driver gets to race somewhere he has experience. I guess Pikes Peak is about as familiar as it gets for a rookie.”

“I know this weekend will be much more challenging, but we’re making progress everyday here at DCT Motorsports. Ricky Pearson and the crew, me included, have been working extremely hard preparing this car for Pikes Peak. It’s a fun track to race on. It has pretty wide corners that allow you to race side-by-side through the turns, and enough room coming out of the turns where you can pass underneath someone without running over them.

“The thinner air can be a bit of a challenge for an engine tuner. I believe the elevation at the speedway is about 5500 feet, so you can definitely feel a difference, not only in yourself, but in your car as well. As an engine tuner, you definitely have your work cut out this week. You’ll try your best to ‘lean out the engine’ in order to run faster; basically adjusting the air flow to the engine.

“From talking to teams who went to Pikes Peak and tested, they’re saying the track is much faster than last year. Since the track has been repaved, folks are saying they’re turning laps almost a full second quicker than before. The track already had a good racing surface, so I’m interested to see just how much grip we’ll be able to get this weekend in the corners.

“I had the opportunity to visit Colorado several weeks ago and was really impressed with the neighboring cities. We had the chance to visit Fort Carson Army Base and check out the NORAD defense system. That place was pretty cool, but all those guys wanted to do was talk NASCAR. These folks love NASCAR and you’ll definitely be able to feel the electricity on raceday.

“We’re excited about getting back on the racetrack and gaining experience. This is a young team and I’m a young driver, but we’re learning and making great progress on and off the track. Everyone at DCT Motorsports is looking for a clean run and a good finish on Saturday. If we do what we’re capable of doing, there’s no reason we can’t come away from Pikes Peak with a nice finish.”