Auto Club 500 - John Andretti Notes

John Andretti Notes, Quotes: California 500

‘A West Coast oval looking for two races’

With one of the largest and fastest ovals on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit on the horizon, John Andretti and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the two-mile, D-shaped California Speedway this week for Sunday’s California 500. There have been only six total races at the new facility, which is located just east of Los Angeles, but Andretti ranks as the 12th-highest money earner.

Andretti will be driving for the popular Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program as well. The team will be driving home Cheerios commitment to childhood literacy, with the #43 Dodge carrying that message on the car for the only event in the Los Angeles area. For each of the 250 scheduled laps Andretti competes in the race, Cheerios and First Book, a national children’s literacy organization, will donate 43 books per lap to children in need in the Fontana, Calif., and Los Angeles area.

As many as 10,750 books would be donated by First Book and Cheerios if Andretti completes all 500 miles of the race. The books are slated to go to children participating in Boys and Girls Club of Fontana, Sivaland Head Start and The Agape House, also both in Fontana, and in LA’s Best, an after-school program in Los Angeles.

A native of Indianapolis, Ind., 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 California:

“I like California. We’ve run pretty well out there and have led out there too. It’s like a Michigan, and it can be pretty hard on engines. You are always up on the power. The hardest part of California is getting up off the corner. You want to run in third gear coming off the corners and fourth gear for the straightaway but you just can’t do that. It’s not a Pocono, but that’s the kind of gearing you need. You abuse the engine pretty hard because of that. We’ve got a great engine program so I don’t see any problems.

“California is different. It has three or four different grooves. You can run about the same speed with someone who has a push even if you are loose, if you are both running different grooves. It gives us a chance to see where our car works best.

“If California gets a second date then NASCAR is going to take from an East Coast race. If they do that, everyone is going to have to buckle down and hang on because it’s on. We are going to be traveling more and more, and it’s more of an expense. If that second date comes from a Rockingham or a Darlington, it’s going to be a big effort for everyone. There is a big difference in the amount of time it takes to do that. It’s not only traveling, but also the transportation of race cars and the other things that go with it. Who knows where the end is? Then again, if they say, ‘Hey, we’re having a race,’ everybody is going to be there for it. We’ll show up, you know that.

“I love racing. Let’s run two races when we are out in California this weekend. We can race one on Friday and race one on Sunday. We can just blow off qualifying or we can do one-day shows. I think the answer is not the number of shows, or where they are at, but the length of time that is takes to perform them. If we could do two-day shows, like Richmond does, that seems to be the better answer. It gives you a chance to catch your breath at home, or let some of the guys off to go and work on the cars.

“With body changes that are happening too, it’s so hard to stay ahead. If you start the season behind you pretty much stay behind. Unless you are a team that has an unlimited amount of resources, you just can’t build as many cars as you need. You are building while you are repairing.

“You get a tire in the side, or bump someone in the nose, it’s going to bend it. The new templates, you just don’t beat it off or cut it off, you have to replace it. It requires more effort and down time. It takes people to do that. You can’t just keep building more and more cars. We will get started on a new car and stop to have to repair two other cars. How do you develop a new car when you are trying to just get cars to the races? It’s tough, and everyone deals with it, but the smaller the team the harder it is to deal with.”

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