Keys for Success: Dodge Challenger 500- Darlington Raceway

DARLINGTON S.C., (May 9, 2008) – Each race weekend, random Dodge Motorsports crew chiefs, drivers, engine specialists and team members will give their insight on the ‘keys to success’ for the upcoming race. This week, the green flag drops at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval at Darlington Raceway for the Dodge Challenger 500.

Track: Darlington Raceway (race 11 of 36 on the NSCS point’s schedule)
Race: Dodge Challenger 500
Track Length: 1.366 miles
Banking in Corners: 23-25
Banking on Straights: 6 degrees
Race Record: Dale Earnhardt, 139.958 mph (March 28, 1993)

ROBBY GORDON (No. 7 Jim Beam Dodge Charger)

“Qualifying and track position will be key. You’re on the edge every lap around this track. It’s a completely different race track from what we are use to. Look at how many cars are banged-up here during the practices today. It’s tough.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)

“Just don’t hit he wall. I think every car on the track is going to hit it (wall), it’s just how hard is everyone going to hit it. It’s a pretty tough track. It’s fast. It’s really going to be tough to pass. I think the key is mainly how hard you’re going to hit it (wall), that’s a big thing.”

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 McDonalds Dodge Charger)

“You better be paying attention and race the track; it’s tricky. It’s still Darlington, but it’s going to be tough first-time racing here. The track is smooth without a lot of bumps, but you’re still seeing plenty of ‘Darlington Stripes’. You can pretty much run wide open. You’re going to see a lot of side-by-side racing. Most likely we’ll be running single file most of the night. Pit strategy will be interesting. You may see a lot of two-tire and no-tire stops during the race.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger)

WHEN LOOKING AT THE EARNHARDT-KYLE BUSCH INCIDENT LAST WEEK IN RICHMOND, AS A DRIVER, WOULD YOU HAVE A ‘PAY BACK’ MINDSET GOING INTO THE NEXT RACE? “I don’t know. Their situation is a little different than most of ours. It’s between them two. Everybody is different. You have different guys racing different ways throughout the year and they’ll have problems. When you do, things are different. It’s between those two (Earnhardt and Kyle Busch). I have no idea what either one of them are thinking.”

HOW DID THE CAR SHAKE OUT YESTERDAY? “It’s pretty decent. We weren’t as fast as we wanted it to be, but we got it to where it seemed like it was handling good and doing the things I was looking for. The times just weren’t quite what we were looking for, so we’ll have to work on that a little more today. I think we made some gains the last couple weeks as far as with the test in Charlotte then basically a test yesterday. It’s all been good.”

WHERE IS GILLETT EVERNHAM TODAY AS COMPARED TO A YEAR AGO? “Last year this time, we were the eighth-best team. I’d say now we are about the sixth-best team. We’ve come a little ways. I’m not sure that’s the best way to categorize it, but I think we’ve gained a little bit. We haven’t gained as much as we need to, but we definitely gained something.”

CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE RACE CAR FROM LAST YEAR? “I can definitely tell a difference; we’re still not there, but we’ve made some good progress.”

YOU HAVE THREE POLE POSITIONS HERE AT DARLINGTON; DOES THAT GIVE YOU MORE CONFIDENCE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND? “Yeah. We’ve always qualified well here. I’d say we can qualify pretty well again here today and get a good top-five starting spot. It’s been a pretty good track for us as far as qualifying and race so. We’ve always done pretty decent.”

WHAT ARE THE KEYS FOR THE RACE TOMORROW? “Just don’t hit he wall. I think every car on the track is going to hit it (wall); it’s just how hard everyone is going to hit it. It’s a pretty tough track. It’s fast. It’s really going to be tough to pass. I think the key is mainly how hard you’re going to hit it (wall), that’s a big thing.”

WILL WE SEE SINGLE-FILE RACING A LOT TOMORROW? “Yeah. Basically it’s going to be real hard to pass. It’s so fast and there is so little room. You move around a little bit and your car is a lot tighter and your car doesn’t turn as good. There is a certain spot that you need your car to be in and if you can’t be there, you feel like you’re going to get a spot taken from you.”

HOW WEIRD IS IT NOT TO SEE ALL THE TIRE RUBBER ALL CHEWED UP ON THE TRACK? “It’s really bazaar. It’s really different than usual. I always like that part of it. I like Darlington because the tires fell off and you had to really work your car to not get into the wall. Now, the only way that you’re going to get into the wall is if you try and go too fast. It’s not because you slid the back (of the car) into it (wall), instead you went too fast and hit the wall. It’s a big difference.”

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger)

YOU WERE INVOLVED IN THE GOODYEAR TIRE TEST HERE AND HAD TWO PRACTICE SESSIONS YESTERDAY…HOW IS THE RACE TRACK? “I think the racetrack and the tire combinations are in good condition, respectively. I felt the speeds were very close to what we had anticipated from the tire tests and the fact we purposely were slower at the test and were going to pick up the speed here at the track competition wise. I thought everything was good. The track, I feel, they did a great job. Keeping the old traditional Darlington shape and the character with the exception of the bumps that was the reason for the repave.”

YOU ARE THE DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION, WHAT WOULD A WIN AT DARLINGTON MEAN? “I’ve always said it was my favorite racetrack. Obviously it has changed a little bit with the repave, but man it’s a special place. We ran second to Jeff (Gordon) at the Southern 500 (2002). We’ve run well here (six top-six finishes in eight races). I’ve always liked it. We’ve always been fast. We’ve some failures and things like that. Typically, I’m a conservative driver in the essence that I keep it off the wall and probably limit myself a little bit speed wise, but I have a good car there at the end and that will be the goal on Saturday night.”

WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE RACING AT RICHMOND LAST WEEK THAT YOU SAID WASN’T UP TO PAR? “In general, I don’t know what my exact comment was that you are referring to, but I would say the racing at Richmond wasn’t as exciting as it typically is. I don’t know what the stats are, but I don’t think there were as many passes. From my standpoint in the car, it was kind of boring racing and didn’t seem to have the excitement that Richmond usually offers. I don’t know if it was just that race or a combination of this car and the fact we can’t turn each other around with the bumpers or what. It just didn’t stand out as the typical exciting Richmond.”

DOING A STORY ON THE CLOSENESS OF COMPETITION OF NASCAR RACES. THESE DAYS, THE MARGIN OF VICTORY IS BY TIME. I’M CURIOUS WHAT YOUR GUESS WOULD BE FOR LAST YEAR’S 36 RACES, THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE MARGIN OF VICTORY? “A little math quiz here. Number one, you want to see if I can really add. And second, to see if I’m smart enough to figure out the question. Do you have the answer? OK, I’m going to go with 52 (seconds).” The answer: 60.9 seconds.

DOES THAT SURPRISE YOU? “No. Not at all really. The level of competition has increasingly grown tighter and tighter. Here’s a question for you. What was the last race that was won by at least a lap?”

Answer: Geoffrey Bodine at North Wilkesboro in 1994.

DID THE TEST AT LOWE’S EARLIER IN THE WEEK HELP YOU FOR THE SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE AND THE COCA-COLA 600? “As long as you have a decent test, absolutely it helps you preparing for those things. I wish personally that we didn’t have the time to test there because I think the better prepared teams will shine with less testing and less practice whereas you can only catch up so much. You can only make a car so good. I would rather it be where we just show up and race. I don’t think we need to show up and test. Somebody told me yesterday that we have a test there again in the fall. I mean, it’s ridiculous. We don’t need to waste our time, the team’s time.

It’s not like the fans are getting anything out of it. It’s not good for the sport in my opinion. It shouldn’t be a science project where we have to come to the track and figure out if the tire is going to live; the car is going to be competitive and things like that. We should have a better idea than having to go and test to see if we can make better racing. The sport has done well over the last 50 years having good racing without having to spend two days testing at the race track.”