EA Sports 500 - Raybestos® Rookie Notes

SCOTT RIGGS IN THE #10 VALVOLINE CHEVROLET WAS THE TOP RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE QUALIFIER IN THE TWO MOST RECENT RESTRICTOR PLATE RACES. HE STARTED SEVENTH IN THE PEPSI 400 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY AND FIFTH IN THE AARON'S 499 AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY. "We've had great plate cars this year. We've qualified pretty good at the last couple plate races and we drafted real good so I'm looking forward to it. I look forward to going back and having a good solid qualifying effort and hopefully we can stay up front and miss all those big wrecks." HOW FRUSTRATING IS IT TO RACE THERE? "It's very frustrating racing at the plate races. It's such a chess game and unless you are able to be a spotter and see what's going on around you, it's hard to know where to position yourself. You've got to be really aggressive, almost too aggressive. A lot of the guys who are too aggressive in my opinion on the racetrack they either run very well or get caught up in wrecks, one of the two. Unfortunately we get caught up in a lot of them most of the time. I'm getting to be more aggressive as far as we go to plate races knowing that you have to up the stakes and be a little more aggressive toward each other to try to get the positions made. We've got a good car so I hope we can go there and hope to use it and have a good finish." HOW MUCH CONTACT IS MADE ON THE TRACK? "It all depends on how aggressive you're going to be. You want to keep the fender straight and you want to keep the sides of the car straight because you want a good aero piece but at the same time if you get into the heat of battle when someone tries to close the door you've got to use those fenders and use those tires to push those guys and let them know that you're coming through there and you're making a hole. Last time at Talladega it seemed like the guys that would muscle their way in between cars, even if there was three foot there, they would keep pushing both of them back and forth until they got the hole opened up and they would be able to draft right up through the center. That's what I'm going to plan on doing when we come back."

BRIAN VICKERS IN THE #25 GMAC CHEVROLET WAS THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE RACE IN THE PEPSI 400, GRABBING A NINTH PLACE FINISH. "Daytona was a fun race. I've come to like the superspeedways a lot. I enjoy them. They're fun, fast, and I like the beating and banging and pushing. It's pretty fun. To be able to do it three wide at 200 miles per hour is pretty neat." WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT YOUR FIRST RACE AT TALLADEGA? "I liked it. I like Daytona. I think it's a good mix. I'm glad that we have both, to be honest with you. I wouldn't want to go to either one all the time but I'm the kind of person that likes a variety. There is a big difference between Daytona and Talladega. I remember my first time there I realized that right away. The first track I went to was Daytona and the second one was Talladega. The first thing I noticed was how big of a difference there was between Daytona and Talladega. Talladega is fun because you can run three wide easier and you don't have to worry so much about handling. It's more about drafting and having a fast car. Daytona is a lot about handling, especially in the summer race. If your car is not handling good, it's going to show up." IS IT EASY FOR THE BEATING AND BANGING TO GET OUT OF CONTROL? "More so at Talladega than Daytona. At Daytona the field usually thins out pretty quick and won't stay three wide for long, especially in the fall race because it's so hot and slick. With the fuel cell rules that we have it will not only go to two wide pretty quick and also because the tires fall off so much and get so slick. Daytona will go to one groove pretty quick, single file, and that limits that a lot. At Talladega there is really no handling issue. The track is so wide and the track is bigger and the banking lasts longer coming into the corners and coming off the corners so you don't have to worry about the handing as much and therefore you see more two and three wide racing which causes everybody to pack back up more." HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO PIT UNDER GREEN AT TALLADEGA? "It's tough, it's really tough. You don't realize how fast you're going because of the banking and because it's such a big track until you get on pit road. You have those little bitty brakes and you're hauling the mail and then you have to stop those cars. You have all four tires locked up and you're still doing 100 miles per hour so you have to be careful." IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO AVOID THE "BIG ONE"? "Some guys say get to the back and some guys say go to the front. I personally go to the front but I probably wouldn't be the best one to ask, either. I've gotten into a lot of trouble at the superspeedway races this season whether it's my fault or not. It's a tough situation. I think a lot of it is just luck and putting yourself at the right place at the right time and who you put yourself around." YOU HAD A GOOD RUN AT TALLADGA IN THE SPRING. "We led for a while and we've had some good runs at the superspeedways so I'm excited about going back."

BOB DODGE, ENGINE BUILDER, #77 KODAK EASY SHARE/JASPER ENGINES AND TRANSMISSIONS DODGE: WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PREPARING AN ENGINE FOR A PLATE RACE VERSUS A NON-RESTRICTOR PLATE TRACK? "They're totally different. Everything from the intake manifold, crankshafts, oil pans, everything. You completely build a motor for restrictor plate races. It's really a waste of money. If they want to save us money, that would be one way to do it." AS AN ENGINE BUILDER, DO YOU ANTICIAPTE ANY RULE CHANGES FOR THE 2005 DAYTONA 500? "I don't think for Daytona, but I'm hearing for the other restrictor plate races they are talking qualify and then line 'em up and go race. I think that would be good. That would get rid of a lot of the work that we do. Some of these guys rebuild their cars after qualifying. It's ridiculous. That's a step in the right direction, I think." WOULD THAT SCHEDULE CHANGE HOW YOU CONSTRUCT THE RESTRICTOR PLATE ENGINES? "Probably not, no. I don't really think we would need any extra dyno time. The race and everything is still the same. You still qualify and go right to race you just eliminate two practices. I don't really see anything different. On some of these races, guys will be changing valve springs before a race and it will eliminate that. You're not going to be able to do that so it might change things for a couple of guys. It's probably possible maybe that some guys have rocker arms and stuff that they do before qualifying and it will eliminate that." IT SEEMS LIKE OVERHEATING IS ALWAYS A BIG FACTOR AT DAYTONA AND TALLADEGA. "Everybody that gets in the draft gets hot. You're right next to somebody and can't get any air into the thing and the hotter the outside temperature the worse that it makes it and it's always hot at Talladega." WHAT CAN YOU DO TO KEEP THE ENGINE AS COOL AS POSSIBLE? "Sometimes you put different jetting, you can add more jet to it and it will cool the motor off a little bit or just take more tape off the grill. Sometimes the car has to pull out like he's going to pass just to get fresh air into the grill. That's about all you can do. You might try different radiators, different fin radiators might help."

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS - NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES