Ford 400 - Greg Sacks Notes

GREG SACKS NOTES, QUOTES: Miami 400
‘The first race of the 2005 season’

The “final tune-up” for the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, Greg Sacks and the #13 ARC Dehooker/Vita Coca Dodge team head to the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Motorsports Complex for Sunday’s Miami 500, the final race of the 2004 season.

Daytona Speed, Inc., which fields Sacks’ car, is preparing for a strong charge throughout this year and into next season in NASCAR’s top series. The team is planning on a full-schedule, two-car effort in 2005 following a limited schedule the rest of this year.

Sacks, the only Long Island, N.Y., native in racing’s most popular series, drives the Dodge for the team owned by himself, Ed Raabe and James Wilsberg. Sacks, a former NASCAR Nextel Cup winner at Daytona International Speedway, is well known throughout the racing world as a winner in every series he has attempted. From his championship days of NASCAR Modified racing – which many consider the most exciting stock car racing – to his major league days, the Mattituck, N.Y., native who now lives in Port Orange, Fla., has never failed to prove his talents.

Ed and Ann Raabe, commercial and residential contractors, head the marketing ventures of the team through their family-owned Anga M’hak Publishing, along with the team’s Director of Marketing, veteran Rick Turbin.

James Wilsberg, owner of Mattituck Plumbing and Supplies, was also the owner/crew chief of the now famous Wilsberg #5 car piloted by Greg Sacks. In 1982 together they took the Modified Series by storm racking up an incredible 28 wins in 38 races. As Sacks recently said, “What excites me the most about having Jamie with us is that he brings his own winning attitude and formula for success to our organization”

The thoughts of ARC Dehooker/Vita Coca Dodge driver Greg Sacks heading into Homestead:

“Everywhere we have gone and tested, we have run pretty well once we got to the race track. We’re figuring that is going to make a big difference in what we’re able to do at Homestead this week.

“We tested last week and spent a lot of time trying a lot of different things. The track has changed a lot in the past two years, obviously, with the reconfiguration for last year’s race. But it has changed a good bit since last year too, and the things that might have worked fairly well last year might not work so well this year.

“Testing isn’t necessarily finding out what works as much as finding out what doesn’t work. If you can save that time in Friday’s practice of throwing out the stuff you can’t use, then it’s time you can use to get the car where it needs to be. With the schedule as tight as it is for practice, we have to make the best use of every possible second.

“Keep in mind this team, right now, doesn’t get as much practice time as the top teams. They go through inspection by the points standings, which they should. But the top teams are inspected and ready to go, and as soon as they throw the green flag on practice, they are out there. When you are as far back as we are – and we are a long way back because we haven’t run a full schedule – then you are still in the inspection line while the top teams are on the race track. So we have to be very efficient with our time. Getting a couple of days of testing in last week helps with that efficiency on Friday.

“Friday is the biggest day of the weekend for us. Anything . . . everything . . . we are able to do the rest of the weekend depends on how things work out on Friday.

“With a brand new race team, we don’t have the luxury of provisionals to fall back on. There are some teams that can work on some race setups and those sorts of things during practice. Not us. We have to work on qualifying, doing everything we can to get every single ounce of speed we can out of our car.

“I’ve heard a lot about pressure in this sport but, to me, running for the pole isn’t pressure. It’s seeing a driver back on our end of the garage throwing up, wondering if his car has enough to make the field . . . that is pressure.

“That’s what this season is all about for this race team – making progress. You don’t start brand new in the middle of the season like we did and immediately start winning races and piling up points. It just doesn’t happen. It’s unrealistic.

“Our ‘shake out’ time is drawing to a close though. This is it – the last race of 2004. For a lot of people, this is the first race of the 2005 season. This is the race that shows you where you are as a race team, and gives you your last chance under competition before the points are awarded in February at Daytona. It’s not a test session, but it has a lot of those characteristics. Believe me, we’re not the only team that feels that way.

“Each week, we’ve done that better and better. We’re a little better prepared, a little more ready, a little bit better in general, every time we go to a race. And that’s our thinking. All of these races in 2004 are important, sure. But they are important in the ways they help us prepare for that full-season run in 2005. That’s when the hard work, and the setbacks too, this ARC Dehooker/Vita Coca Dodge team has seen this year will really start paying off.”