Sylvania 300 - Christian Fittipaldi Notes

Christian Fittipaldi Notes, Quotes: New Hampshire 300

‘Looking for some magic at the Magic Mile’

Returning to the track where he was having his season’s best performance before being hit from behind, Christian Fittipaldi and the #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge team head to the 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Speedway for Sunday’s New Hampshire 300.

In the July race, Fittipaldi started 37th, but quickly worked himself into the top 25 and was as high as 16th. But he was then hit and spun into the wall. The team returns this weekend looking for the same performance, and better luck.

In the summer of 2002 Fittipaldi signed on to drive for the legendary Petty Enterprises. An open-wheel star, Fittipaldi, 33, is a former two-time CART winner (California Speedway and Road America) and Formula One World Championship driver. Fittipaldi is the first-ever Brazilian native to run full time in NASCAR’s top series and is the only full-time NASCAR driver to have also raced full-time in Formula One and CART.

The thoughts of #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge driver Christian Fittipaldi heading into New Hampshire:

“I guess we just need to get some better luck on the side of this Cheerios team. We’ve had some good runs, but we’ve had more misfortune than what we’ve planned on. It’s tough on everyone, but we’re ready to get back to New Hampshire. We were having a great run at New Hampshire in July and we just got hit from behind. It cost us a good finish, but that’s the nature of things on short tracks.

“New Hampshire is so different because it’s only a one-mile track. It’s pretty much a short track, as far as Winston Cup standards are concerned, and that makes the racing really close. The racing is a bit tighter and guys are rubbing on each other a little bit more. Things are going to happen at places like that. In Formula One or CART, where you are racing street and road courses, we would get pretty spread apart. You never really had to worry about touching someone going through every corner. In Winston Cup we are lined up nose-to-tail, side-by-side nearly the whole race on the shorter tracks. It makes New Hampshire exciting and it makes it even more exciting for us to drive.

“The track is special in New Hampshire because, although it is a shorter track, it does have a good high groove. I know that the track has worked very hard trying to make it a better racing surface, and I think they have done a very good job. There is a little bump going from one groove to the other, but it’s not anything to worry about. It’s hardly noticeable and I think the track is great for side-by-side racing. It’s a fast place, the racing is close, and you have room to pass. I don’t know what else the track needs to make it better.

“I know they call the place the ‘magic mile’, but maybe they need to call it the ‘action track.’ There is always something going on and hopefully this time around we won’t be a part of the action. I think there is so much happening there because you need to get on the brakes really hard going into the turns. You are going so fast coming up off the turns and down the straightaways that you need to really smash on the brake pedal going into the turn. Well, sometimes you get guys that hit the brakes really early, or too late, and it just causes a big log jam. It’s pretty congested at times going into the turns.

“I like the track because you really have to finesse your way around it. You have to be perfect on your timing getting on the gas and onto the brake. The deeper you can go in without hitting the brake the better. It’s just finding that fine line getting into the corner that is hard. You don’t want to dive into the turn too hard and find yourself up in the fence. We can get into the turns pretty hard there because we get tremendous grip with the Goodyear tires. Guys were running a long time on the same tires and still going pretty fast here in July. It’s better with fresh tires, but if it comes to the end of the race, I don’t know if you’ll see a lot of four-tire stops.

“I think we’re ready to get back to New Hampshire and complete some unfinished business. This Cheerios team was having a good run and I think we can duplicate this weekend with only a better result. I learned a lot more about the track in July and the guys on this crew learned some things too. This #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker team is ready to get back.”

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