Daytona 500 - Ricky Rudd Notes

RICKY RUDD: ... we were the second fastest Ford in practice last week and fourth overall in qualifying. Four of the Roush cars are behind me and one of the Yates cars is behind me.

Ricky Rudd, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Racing Ford Taurus will be answering his fan's questions each week this season. Last week Ricky talked about Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500. This week he is responding to general questions regarding the new point system, the new rules for Ford and the Robert Yates/Jack Roush engine partnership.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW POINT SYSTEM? "My very first reaction was why are they trying to fix something that is not broken. Maybe tweak it a little bit; maybe do a few incentive things like additional points for the pole or a win - bonus deals like that. But to completely overhaul the thing was pretty big. It wasn't a shock because we heard something was coming. But I kind of questioned where NASCAR's thought process was on this. But then the other part of me says, there is a lot of this that we don't understand, and we can't control it. So we might as well go into it being optimistic about it, and give it a try. We don't have a choice so we might as well make the best of it. And at the end of the year, we're liable to like it."

HOW MUCH IMPACT WILL THE NEW POINT SYSTEM HAVE ON YOUR YEAR AND WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY TO MAKE IT INTO THE TOP-TEN? "I know mentally, my strategy is to treat the season as if it is only 26 races. Forget that you have 10 on the heels of that. I think Richmond is the cutoff point, the 26th race, and treat that as if it is the end of the season, and gear up for that. Don't gear up for the 10 races that are coming. And we'll see how it goes."

HOW DO YOU THINK THE NEW DESIGN FOR THE FORDS WILL PERFORM THIS SEASON? "I don't have all the answers to that yet. At this point we have tested at Daytona and we've tested at Las Vegas. We've come back to Daytona and in qualifying trim run extremely well, and we have the new Roush/Yates engine combination now. When we tested we did not have it. We had Roush motors, but we still ran extremely well. Is that because of the car? I'm looking at the fastest cars in qualifying here and four of them were Fords. And out of those four all of them had the new motor combination and the new body style. I would think the new body is helping. We haven't run enough to know what it's going to do in race trim, and we don't know what it is going to do when we go to the down force tracks."

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ROUSH/YATES MERGER AND WILL IT MAKE WOOD BROTHERS RACING MORE COMPETITIVE? "I think definitely we'll be more competitive. I think all the Fords will be more competitive. If I'm not mistaken I think all of the Fords here are running the Yates/Roush combination. There's not going to be but about six to eight Fords out here this season fulltime. I think it is smart that they (Ford Racing Technology) have been able to get two of the giants together on the motor situation. I know Roush brought a lot to the table and I know Yates did too. You know Yates has always been known for power. But Jack was able to bring some stuff that will help that even more. I think you'll see all the Fords step up this year."

DO YOU BELIEVE YOU GET THE SAME ENGINE THAT MARTIN, BURTON, THE REST OF THE ROUSH DRIVERS AND JARRETT AND SADLER GET WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT? "The only thing I can say is that we're in Daytona now, and we were the second fastest Ford in practice last week and fourth overall in qualifying. Four of the Roush cars are behind me and one of the Yates cars is behind me. This is a horsepower, aerodynamic track and I'm seeing no signs right now that I'm getting anything less."

RICKY RUDD: "Well, Daytona is pretty simple. Everybody goes down there with similar horsepower, so it's really about aero and chassis."

In an effort to give his fans the opportunity to become more personally involved with his racing program, Ricky Rudd, driver of the #21 Motorcraft Racing Ford Taurus, has initiated a question-and-answer forum for each event on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. Here, from the fans, is the first Q-and-A session for the 2004 season. Fans can submit questions to Ricky Rudd via his official website at www.rickyrudd.com.

HOW HAS THE MOVE TO MOORESVILLE, N.C., FROM STUART, VA., AFFECTED YOU AND THE TEAM? "I think it has only affected us really in a positive way. Winter testing has been really good. I guess I was pleasantly surprised when we went to Daytona and ran the fastest speed of anybody down there. I was surprised because with the move you would have figured that the team had gotten behind, but contrary to that, I understand they only lost one day because of the move. It has all been positive so far. We've had two good test sessions, one at Vegas and the one at Daytona. A lot of benefits have come so far from the move to Mooresville."

DOES IT REALLY MATTER THAT YOU RECORDED THE FASTEST TIME IN THE DAYTONA TEST? "Technically, it doesn't matter. But what it does do, though, is show that the guys who have worked all the hours on the cars - it kind of gives them a pat on the back. It says, hey, all the work we've done and all the teams work hard at this time of year, but we ran well every time we went out down there, and it gives them a pat on the back for a job well done. And it gets them excited about going back for the 500."

TO WHAT DO YOU CONTRIBUTE YOUR STRONG SHOWING AT THE DAYTONA TEST - AERO, MOTOR, PERSONNEL, NEW RULES? "Well, Daytona is pretty simple. Everybody goes down there with similar horsepower so it's really about aero and chassis. Also, Ford has a new nosepiece and new rear bumper fascia. So I don't know which area contributed the most, but really all of the above."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PAIRING OF ROUSH AND YATES? "I'm excited about it. We'll be running one of the Roush/Yates combination engines just like the Roush teams will be. I think they both are brilliant engine builders, and I think it is going to strengthen both teams. I think Roush has something positive to bring to the engine camp and, obviously, Yates motors have always been very strong. So I think with the extra technology coming in from Roush, it can only get better, and we're going to be the benefactor."

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW TIRES? WILL THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE RACE AT DAYTONA? "I don't know yet. We tested with them and did a little drafting with them. I haven't seen a great deal of difference between these tires and the old tires. Time will tell. I think the Bud Shootout is going to be the first indication of what we're up against with the new tires. Some guys are saying the cars are sliding around a little bit more than they have in the past. We didn't really see that. But I'm going to watch that Bud Shootout really close and make a judgment after I see that."

IS THE 125-MILER A GOOD TEST FOR THE 500 OR JUST PART OF THE DAYTONA SPEED WEEKS "HOOPLA"? "It's definitely an important race. You'll know what you've got when you run the 125's. Actually, you'll know what you've got when you run the Shootout. Unfortunately, we aren't in the Bud Shootout this year, but that gives you a really good tune-up for the 125's. You can pretty much watch that race, watch it real close and you can see what is going on. You don't necessarily have to be in that race itself, but you need to pay close attention to it. You can tell what cars are doing. Sometimes you can tell better on TV than you can being in there watching them. The 125's are important races. There are some good teams that if they don't run well in the 125's, they'll go home, so it is an important race. Would I like to see qualifying there just like other race tracks? Yes and no. The 125's to me are real important to use as a tuning tool for what your car needs during the 500."

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO DRAFT WITH AND DO YOU CHOOSE DRAFTING PARTNERS BEFORE THE RACE OR DURING IT? "You don't have a choice who you are going to draft with. You use anybody and everybody you can to try to get you to the front. You can't say before the race I'm going to pick this guy and that guy. What happens is the better cars sort of find each other. It might not happen right at the start of the race. It might take half of the race to find a group that works good together. The object is to try to get three or four of you together and not necessarily pass each other early on but try to work together to get away from the pack. It doesn't always work. It probably only works about three percent of the time nowadays. You aren't able to get away. But you want to try to get away from some of the heavy traffic and then race amongst yourselves. The object is to try to run nose to tail to pull away. That will happen first. If you're not able to pull away, and you see it is going to be a 40-car pack or whatever, then the racing's on. You'll know probably in the first 20 laps what is going to happen."

CAN FORD LEAD THE DRAFT THIS YEAR? "I didn't really see much of it last year. It is a different car this year and it is a little different set of rules. We'll find out. The DEI cars don't really need the draft. They are strong enough for whatever reason to be able to pull out and not have the draft. But it is kind of hard to lead the draft when you've got guys that can pull out and pass and are just as strong as they are in the draft. Time will tell. The Chevrolets looked like they dominated things last year on the big tracks."

CAN YOU FEEL THE BANKING AT DAYTONA WHEN YOU ARE RACING? "When you drive around it in a street car at the bottom of the track, you look up and it's three or four stories high and that is kind of intimidating. But when you run around the track at speed, one of the biggest things you will notice is that the track doesn't drive like it's banked. It feels very flat to you."

DO YOU EVER RELAX DURING THE RACE AT DAYTONA? "Not really. About the only time you have a chance to relax is under caution after a pit stop. You don't really relax until after the pit stop is done and you are riding around behind the pace car. Generally, that is the time you can take your hands off the wheel and stretch a little bit and regroup and get yourself a sip of water or PowerAde and get ready for the next segment."

IS THERE MORE PRESSURE TO PERFORM WELL AT THE DAYTONA 500 THAN OTHER RACES? "I think there is a lot of pressure that I put on myself at the 500. It is the first race of the season. You want to come out and Daytona and get a good start to the new year. I've been to Daytona when everything has flowed smooth and I've been to Daytona when it's just sort of a nightmare down there for the two weeks. But in recent years, it's gone well. We've done well in the 125's. In qualifying last year I think we were fifth overall when the smoke cleared. How you start off early in the week is how your 500 is going to go for you. You've got to be careful. There's 35 races after the 500 so you don't want to burn your team out or yourself out on that one race."

DO YOU STILL GET A FEELING OF EXCITEMENT WHEN YOU GO TO FLORIDA FOR THE FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON? "Yeah, I think definitely to me there always has been. During the winter you've done a little bit of testing. It is kind of the calm before the storm. You know what is coming up. You know the 500 is a pretty intense white-knuckle affair. It is kind of one of those deals where your adrenalin is going and you wish you could start the race like a normal format where you come, qualify Friday, practice and race Sunday because you know you have seven days from the time you get down there until you really race. A lot of anticipation builds up until the 125 race. After the 125's, things tend to calm down a little bit until 500 day. Again, you've got to remember what you're down there for, the big picture, and that's the 500."

DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR SUPERSTITIONS THAT ARE PART OF YOUR PREPARATION FOR THE 500? "Not really, nothing really special. The biggest thing about Daytona, you have to be careful that you don't get caught up in all the pre-race hype. There's so much media there. There's something going on every day and every night. And you've got to be careful that you get the rest that you need. There's radio shows, and dinners and receptions pretty much every night. You have to work hard to be able to get your eight hours of sleep there. That is something you have to work at and it is hard especially if you qualify up front and you become popular for the week. You are being pulled in so many different directions and it goes on so long before the race you have to be careful not to get yourself tired or worn out before the race even starts."

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR CHANCES ARE FOR WINNING THE 500? "I'm not very good at making predictions. I don't know if anybody is on restrictor-plate races. You have to look at the DEI cars. Based on previous races, you have to say those guys are the favorites. At some point in time they are going to be beaten. They are going to be knocked off the bubble and there is going to be a new dominant force. We're hoping this Daytona 500 will be our turn. You've got the new engine combination and set up and I feel like we're going to have some of the best engines at Daytona of any of the teams down there. I feel good about that."

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO YOU TO WIN THE 500? "It would be a big deal. It would be big. You talk to somebody that doesn't really know racing and over the years I've always used it to describe what I do. I say, 'You know the Daytona 500?', and they say, 'Oh, yeah, I know what kind of racing you do now.' Even if they aren't familiar with the sport, you mention the Daytona 500 and they know about that race. It would mean a lot."