Checker Auto Parts 500 - John Andretti Notes

John Andretti Notes, Quotes: Checker Auto Parts 500
‘Looking For More Improvements At Different Track’

This weekend John Andretti and the #14 VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford team head to the one-mile Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway for Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500. It will be the team’s third start of the season but its first at a flat track. Andretti has one pole position start at Phoenix, that coming in 1999.

Andretti is one of the most well-known drivers in NASCAR racing, with race victories at two of the most difficult speedways on the circuit – the tight, fast 2.5-mile Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the demanding .526-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. In 1994, he became the first driver to run both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. And he is one of just a handful of drivers in history with major race victories in the top three forms of motorsports – NASCAR Nextel Cup, Indy car and major league sports car racing.

Based in Mooresville, N.C., ppc Racing is one of the most accomplished racing organizations in NASCAR history. Greg Pollex, owner of ppc, has competed in NASCAR for 11 seasons. In five years of competition, ppc has garnered 27 wins, 150 top-fives, 235 top-10’s and has finished in the top five in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings for four consecutive years, including the 2000 national championship. ppc Racing will enter the 2005 season fielding cars in each of NASCAR’s premier racing divisions - the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Victory Brand LLC, headquartered in Coldwater, Mich., produces VB Made In The USA, a premium high-quality blend value price cigarette, with scheduled national distribution beginning in October.

APlus, the Official Pit Stop of NASCAR, is a convenience store chain with over 700 franchise and Sunoco company-owned locations in the Eastern half of the U.S.A. APlus is the exclusive home of Gulliver’s premium brand of coffee, Tobacco Zone, City Deli and Parlor Pizza. Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA and is the Official Fuel of NASCAR.

The thoughts of VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford driver John Andretti heading into Phoenix:

“I think that we have to take each race one at a time - just go in and work as hard as we can with these races we have left. We’re still looking to improve, but it’s almost saying that if you won a race that you’d have enough momentum to win the next one and the next one - that’s not always the case. This series is too hard and the competition is too deep. It’s tough to believe that the next step is always going to be a forward one. It’s just too easy to get pushed back because everyone is still trying to move forward.

“We, however, have had a pretty good start. I think that we are in the part of the season when a lot of new teams are coming out and trying to make races. I can’t remember a time when I went to a track, like Atlanta, and there were nearly 60 cars entered. We have a lot of work to do just for qualifying. We will let the races take care of themselves.

“I’ve liked going out to Phoenix. I liked it when I went out there in Indy cars and I’ve liked it since I’ve run stock cars too. I can’t say that Phoenix has been especially kind to me in the race. I’ve had some bad luck, guys blowing motors in front of me, and other things that have resulted in not getting the results that I think we should have had. This time, with this team, we are going out there with Plan A still in mind. We will work on getting into the event first and then go from there. We will take what we can get the rest of the weekend and continue to build for next season.

“We haven’t tested at the track. We are just going to go out there with what we think will be pretty good. Hopefully we will unload and be pretty good. If not, we are going to work awfully hard to get there. If we are not pretty close the changes will be huge and many. We have two or three ways we can go with the car to get it where we want it.

“The car that we are going to run at Phoenix was in the Robert Yates Racing stable. It’s a car that was built for a track like Phoenix. We have been really lucky and fortunate to have the support of Robert Yates Racing (supplier of Fords for ppc Racing). They have certainly accelerated our growth. They have taken that edge of what it takes for a new team off. We would have had to hire a lot of manpower, and they would be learning each other at the same time they were building cars. The fact that we are getting cars that are relatively complete, and some of them fully complete, it helps.

“These are good cars too. They have been built to win races. Robert Yates Racing is a professional organization and they do everything in a professional and championship manor. They have helped us greatly. It cuts down on a lot of the man hours. It still hasn’t been easy for our guys either. They have been working a lot. It’s to the point that they look forward to getting on the plane and flying somewhere just so they can rest.

“This is the one and only time that we race at Phoenix. We don’t feel that we are at a major disadvantage. Guys have been racing at mile-and-a-half ovals all year. They have a pretty good idea where they want to be when we unload, and are pretty close when they do. As a new team, we have yet to learn how to do that. Charlotte was a little different than Atlanta, but nothing as different as compared to Phoenix. We will go there with what we think is right, talk to enough people that will help us, and have a good weekend with this VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford team.”