Budweiser Shootout - Ricky Rudd Notes

Ricky Rudd - #21 Motorcraft Racing Bud Shootout Advance

Eddie Wood: "I think we are better prepared going into the Daytona 500 for the rest of the year than we've ever been."

All teams head for Daytona in February full of optimism. It is a new year and a clean slate for everyone. Following the Motorcraft Genuine Parts and Service team tests in Las Vegas and Fontana, Wood Brothers Racing co-owner Eddie Wood talked about his own optimistic view for this year and the team's preparation for 2005.

HOW WERE THE TESTS? "All of our tests went really, really, really well. There was wind in California, but everybody had to deal with it, and you may have to deal with it when you go back - who knows? I was in Ontario 1977 or '78 when there was a big windstorm. And, this was nothing compared to that. You couldn't see. It was like it was snowing dirt. This was pretty bad. They had a lot of gusts while we were there. But, we had good tests. We shook down three cars between the two tests out there. We are really happy with everything. It went really well and there were no problems. All the logistics worked out. NASCAR let us have the two days in Vegas and then two days in Fontana. We're ready to go."

EVERYBODY MAKES STATEMENTS LIKE THAT THIS TIME OF YEAR. WHY IS IT DIFFERENT FOR WOOD BROTHERS RACING? "Because we're running well. I think we are better prepared going into the Daytona 500 for the rest of the year than we've ever been."

WHAT MAKES THIS YEAR DIFFERENT? "It gets back to the chemistry thing. Whatever makes things work, and it's all clicking right now. It's just a good feeling that you have about the cars, the shop, everything. Everybody is really upbeat. The cars blew really, really well in the tunnel and they backed that up on the race track. The car that blew the best ran the best. A lot of times that doesn't happen, but it seems that the preparation and all the hard work the guys have done is falling into place."

YOU WEREN'T AT THE TOP OF THE SPEED CHART AT THE DAYTONA TEST LIKE YOU WERE LAST YEAR. DOES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? "We took a different approach to it this year because we are locked in to the race with the top 35 in points. So we concentrated on the race. In years past we concentrated on the two laps for qualifying. This year we went with stuff that we wanted to race, and that is what we worked on. Our cars, by themselves for a qualifying lap, don't seem to be fast enough to get the pole. And, if you can't get the pole or on the front row, it doesn't matter any way because you are going to be where you are. And, you are going to be at the front of the pack, the middle of the pack or the back some time during the race and during the qualifiers. So we just took that approach to it. We are actually taking back the car that drove the best in race trim rather than the one that was fastest in qualifying trim. The Shootout car is our third car. It was the backup last year and in the wind tunnel it was just a little bit off the other car. In the Shootout you don't qualify, you draw for your starting spot. You unload in race trim. We're taking everything we learned at the Daytona test with the other cars and apply it to this one and basically have at it."

WILL THE DIFFERENCE IN FORMAT FOR THE QUALIFIERS CHANGE YOUR APPROACH TO THE RACE? "They are 150 miles now so you will have to stop once and you may have to stop twice. I'm not sure about that. Tires are going to be an issue and whether you want to spend time on pit road getting tires. I think from what we saw tires are speed so you probably will want to get four if you can, depending on how the cautions fall. But, you may be able to only get two if thing goes green and you have to stop under green. You can lay out 100 plans before the race, but it can all work out differently. It just depends on what hand you're dealt. A lot depends on where you are in relation to the leader, or you could be the leader. It just depends on where you are on the race track."