Ford 300 - John Andretti Notes

Andretti Looking to Finish Season on High Note
Challenges of Homestead and Benefits of Ending Season Strong

This weekend, John Andretti and the #10 Freedom Roads/Camping World/RV.com Ford team head to the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway for Saturday’s Ford 300. Saturday’s race is the season finale of the 2006 NASCAR Busch Series.

Andretti heads into the event 13th in championship points, but is only one point behind Jason Leffler for the 12th position. Andretti is one of only five drivers in the top 13 points that competes solely in the NASCAR Busch Series. His ppc Racing Ford team has earned four top-10 and one top-five finishes so far this season.

Andretti will be making his first career Busch Series start at Homestead this weekend. He has six prior starts in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Andretti started second and third in 1999 and 2001 respectively and has an average starting position of 14.5 at Homestead. Andretti’s best finish at the track is 16th in Nextel Cup.

Comments from Andretti as he prepares for this weekend’s Ford 300:

How did Homestead change when they reconfigured the track?
“I think they like it better because it made for better racing. It added more side-by-side racing and obviously it’s faster. It has banking now, and I think that makes it easier to drive and to race. It is more ‘aero’ dependant and more car dependant than the old track where you really had to figure out how to get your car to turn. The corners were so flat on the old track. You were on the gas, off the gas, on the brake, moving pedals and that’s more of a challenge for the driver.

“The spectators seem to really like this new track. It’s a track that is so wide that you can run nearly wide open around it with a Busch car. And, really, that’s the biggest thing we are working on at ppc Racing. We are going to make our biggest gains at aerodynamic tracks.”

Why do drivers want more banking at a track rather than racing a flat track?
“Banking just makes it easier. It’s easier to set the car up. The speeds go up dramatically and it becomes an aerodynamic track. Bristol is not an aerodynamic track, but Daytona and Talladega are. As you make a track that has higher corner speeds, and center corner speeds, it becomes an ‘aero’ dependant track. But, also, God gave you an ankle to move your feet on-and-off the brake pedal and gas. You don’t use them very much when you’re a track like Homestead.”

What does the last race of the season mean?
“It depends on what your season has been like. It depends on what your last race has been like. Everyone loves to end on a high, but, obviously, not everyone can. The last race is sort like the day after the Daytona 500 or the Indy 500. There are a few guys that are happy and whole bunch of miserable people. We just want to be one of the happy ones.”