Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - John Andretti Notes

John Andretti Notes, Quotes: Atlanta 500
‘Taking the high road’

This weekend John Andretti and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Atlanta 500. Atlanta Motor Speedway is considered by many observers as the fastest and the most exciting track on the NASCAR Winston Cup schedule. The track has been one identified by NASCAR as one that might lose a race in 2004. Andretti discusses the speeds and characteristics of Atlanta, as well the NASCAR Winston Cup schedule.

Andretti is in his sixth consecutive season with Petty Enterprises with over half of his NASCAR Winston Cup starts coming for the legendary organization. Andretti’s vast racing experience ranks him as one of the most versatile and talented drivers on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. He is one of only two drivers to win in two different major racing series and also win two or more major NASCAR Winston Cup oval races. Winner of the 1991 Gold Coast Grand Prix in Australia, one of CART’s premier events, Andretti was also a winning driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1989 in the series then known as IMSA.

The thoughts of Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge driver John Andretti heading into Atlanta:

“You need a lot of horsepower everywhere. Can you have too much horsepower at Atlanta? Never. Do you ever not have enough? Always. That doesn’t mean our engines aren’t good because they’re great. I feel really confident about our engines. But at a place like at Atlanta, you never feel like you have enough.

“Mike Ege Racing Engines have come a long way. Last year they did a great job for us and that was just their first year. We expect big things out of them and they always come up with them. From the engine side of things we are pretty happy, and proud of the relationship we have with Mike Ege. Obviously the engine is only one part of the equation, but we feel that we have great partners looking over and taking care of that part of it.

“There are guys who go to test at Atlanta and they just start testing the high groove. They will start to do race runs and jump right up into the high groove. That’s where they figure they will be racing, and they’re right. Atlanta has a ton of grooves. It has as many grooves as Talladega, but unlike Talladega, there is really only one fast groove and that ends up being up by the wall. Even though it is the long way around, you can get the car to turn up there and you can keep your momentum up during the race.

“It’s ironic that Atlanta is like that, and then we go to some of these other similar tracks and the bottom is the only place to run. It doesn’t take much to change the characteristics of a race track. The asphalt, the winters, the layout of the track, all help change the characteristics. Texas is probably the closest to the configuration of Atlanta, but they have repaved Texas so much that they have boxed themselves into a one-groove racetrack.

“I look at the schedule and say they can’t grow it any larger than it is. Well, I guess they can because there are still weekends that we don’t race. Logistically NASCAR is just about where they need to be. If you’re going to take one race away from one track, maybe you should take one away from all of them. We should just go to more different places. I love going to some of these tracks and I like going to some of them twice. If the first time you don’t get an opportunity to run well, the next time you will. That is obviously a tough call to make, and that is NASCAR’s.

“I personally would like every race to be within driving distance, but that is not good for our sport. That is a selfish way to look at it. I think that anytime you look at something you can look at it for the benefit of you, but I think you have to look at it for the benefit of the sport. I think that is what NASCAR does well. We are looking to race well this weekend and give this #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge a good run.”

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