UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 - John Andretti Notes

John Andretti Notes, Quotes: Las Vegas 400
‘Sizing Up New Spoilers, Qualifying’

This weekend John Andretti and the #14 VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford team head to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Las Vegas 400. Andretti has made six career starts at the track with a highest finish of 12th. He has earned over $475,000 in the track’s seven year history.

This will be the second race of the season that the new lower spoilers will affect the handling of the cars. Much was said before and after California about the quality of racing caused by the newly-sized spoiler.

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.

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 Las Vegas:

“I think, first of all, when you are out there by yourself, you don’t see a huge difference in the cars. You feel it, but it’s not dramatic. I think the big deal is when you are racing with people. Then it’s much more dramatic. There is less spoiler holding you on the ground. If somebody gets on the outside of you, you really feel them a lot more. There is just less air catching and holding the back end down.

“I know of several guys who have crashed and a lot of guys have spun when racing side-by-side. You usually don’t hear a lot of that in testing or practice. I think there are going to be some adjustments for people to really deal with and figure out. I guess the best answer is to have a really, really fast car and run away from the field. That way you don’t have to deal with anyone around you.

“Las Vegas is not all that different from California. It’s tighter corners and all that, but it’s a really smooth race track. All the things we learned at California we think we can apply at Vegas. The things we learned from California are going to make us better at Vegas.

“We tested out there too, but the weather wasn’t very good. It was sunny, but extremely windy. Those are probably the hardest conditions to run in. We had a pretty good test, but we had our problems too. It was a combination test between Vegas and California. Some teams ran well at one and others were better at the other. Hopefully we’ve got everything coming together. Being the third race of the season, we’re still under the new qualifying procedure. I guess we’re gambling a little more than most.

“Right now, we’re going to these race tracks like everybody else and prepare like everybody else. I think that when it’s all said and done, we’ll get through these first five races, and then we can really start concentrating on being like everyone else. Right now, we’re not like 35 other guys. (Top 35 in last season’s owners’ points are guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races). We have to fight our way in, and as we do that, hopefully we won’t have to worry about it after that. Then we can fight to race well with this VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford and not worry about the rest of it.”