The mix of bravado and personality in these racers brings many divergent competitors to the start line. We bring you their words about the 2005 season and let you see the character and drive that separates them from many of us who seek the thrill of high speed but never experience it.
We urge all motorsports fans to experience NHRA POWERade drag racing in person at an event nearest you. Come see and feel what TV cannot transfer to your living room.
Will the 2005 NHRA POWERade season be a combination of wake up calls, a year of parity, fierce competition and winners on any given Sunday? Read what a group of top NHRA drivers have to say about their outlook for the near future. We feel driver answers are often better than reporter opinions. We prefer to let fans read what they may into driver opinions. Driver words emanate from time in their cars, on the track, and knowing their competitors. They are all a part of big speed. The rest of us who don’t race are just big eyes on a big track.
Zoomster always tries to ask the right questions to bring fans the best answers. Our 2005 season question is a simple one.
Dwight asked Tony Schumacher, Eric Medlen, David Baca, Cory McClenathan, Kenny Koretsky, Richie Stevens, Andrew Hines, Angelle Sampey, Antron Brown, GT Tonglet, Craig Treble, Geno Scali, Shawn Gann, and Angie McBride:
What’s your outlook on the season?
Tony Schumacher:
“Wonderful. Wonderful. Just loving life. I’ve got a great car. I’ve got the best deal. You know I wouldn’t trade my team for any team in the world.”
Eric Medlen:
“I think we had a rough outing at Pomona. All of our Mustangs kind of went out early, but maybe that gave us a little bit of a wake up call. Not that we really needed it, but once in a while whether you need it or not, you need to be shook up a little bit because the competition out here is fierce. We went to the shop and didn’t work any harder than we would have, but we did work hard, got everything back together to go to Phoenix and we had a pretty good outing.
“We came here to Gainesville. It’s usually kind of warm here, but the first day we had cool conditions and we were pretty successful. Now it’s warm, so let’s see what happens. It looks like Robert’s car is running good. Qualify. You just try to make the best four passes you can. On race day just try to get four win lights as much as you can.
“For the rest of the year all you can do is go out there and try your hardest and have fun. And see where the chips fall at the end of the year. Hopefully they are in your favor. If not, it doesn’t mean you didn’t work any harder or less than anybody eles, you just got to try it again next year. So we’ve been fortunate to win 14 championships so we must know a little bit about what we’re doing. It’s just a matter of keeping it going where we left off.
Cory Mac:
“Gosh, I think where there are so many competitive cars we’re going to see some parity this year. We’re not going to see one Army car going out there winning all the races. I think we’ve already seen that. Scott Kalitta winning the first one and Tony winning the second one. He had an outstanding car in Phoenix, but as you can see instead of having three, four or five good cars, there’s eight, nine or ten good cars out there that can actually throw down a good pass. It’s going to be a very tough competitive season.”
Angelle Sampey:
“I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t go first into the sixes, but I don’t mean anything other than that we really wish that we could have done it. We did it in testing and I knew we were capable of doing it. It really didn’t matter though, we could have run a 6.50 and it wouldn’t have changed the situation because we were lined up last to pair out. Whoever got to go first was going to get it. We didn’t do it anyway. We had the wrong combination at that particular time. The weather was so tricky and the track was so cold. It’s just disappointing because my guys have been working 16 hour days in the shop. I feel sad because I know they deserved it. I know that they are working and hard. All of them. They are in that shop seven days a week, so many hours a day that I want them to win.”
“I want to win for them more than I want to win for myself. That’s the part about not getting to be a part of all the excitement. You know what that was the first in the sixes, thank God, it’s finally over. We can stop worrying about whose going to be the first bike in the sixes. And now we can just race. It matters when it comes down to competition – what kind of job you and your team do. What really matters when it comes down to winning the POWERade points championship, it’s who does the best job on Sunday. I just hope my team prevails on that day.”
David Baca:
“The performance potential you’re starting to see out of these cars is amazing. For example last night Tony and I went 2.11 and 3.02 to half track side by side. I mean wow. Those are impressive numbers. Granted we were in a mine shaft last night. We’re pretty pumped. We think the performance this year is going to be excellent. We think the competition is going to be closer. I think there are eight or ten cars that on any given Sunday can win this thing. ”
Andrew Hines
“We did some testing early last week and we found some developing things. We built two brand new bikes this year and the first time we went down the track they were faster than either bike we had last year. It’s going to be an awesome year. It’s going to be tough with all the competitors with the new Buells and all the other Suzuki guys are going to step up their program. We’ve been working real hard at the shop all winter long and we’re just going to go with what we have now and see what we can do the first race.”
GT Tonglet:
“I feel this season is going to be my best. I’m looking at it that way because we’ve done some testing and my new bike is a lot better than the old one. Everything seems to be in order so and I hoping this could be my year.”
Kenny Korestsky:
“So far we qualified 15th and I thought maybe the motor was a little down on power. We went to Phoenix and tried three different motors and we were just struggling. We tested at Valdosta, Ga., on Monday and Tuesday came here and broke the national record Friday night with a 666 with a zero. Things are working good. I’m working on some new clutch stuff. I think you’ll see the Nitro Fish car in the top five this year.”
Karen Stoffer:
“We don’t have any upgrades yet. We’re going to get our updates probably midway through the season, but I think we’ve got enough. We’ve got it figured out and I think we’re going to put on a great show.”
Antron Brown:
“I’m feeling really good right now. The team is surging. The boys in the shop, Steve Battaglio our new crew chief and I have been pushing real hard in the off season. It’s coming together. We’ve got our growing pains. Everything is new. Everybody’s got new responsibilities this year. We’re adapting well. First race here we got both bikes into the second round. We’re just going to take it in stride. We’re not going to get greedy. We’re going to keep on working. Our main goal is to be consistent and we’re working toward that goal. I’m happy. I know where our team is heading and we’re we are going to be. That’s all we can do is to keep working. It’s going to pay off in the long run.”
Richie Stevens:
“So far it’s good. I’m very surprised of how things have been going as little time we have had with the team. Bob is doing an excellent job developing the power for the cars. To go to Pomona and qualify both cars and got to Phoenix and get the number one spot. And to come here and again qualify both cars, it feels good. I think we’ve gone a lot further than anyone expected us to do this soon in the game. I don’t think a win is too far out of reach for us. “
Craig Treble
“Let’s get more particular at today in Gainesville. I think you’re going to see six second thing hit. I don’t know if it will be us, but it’s looking stout. Everybody’s gearing up.”
“About 2005 the Harleys and the V-Twins running and they are flat flying. I hope the Suzukis are up to par because we have to be on our A-game to be competitive this year. We’ll see how it goes. ”
Courtesy NHRA
Shawn Gann:
“We’ve got a great deal going – got a lot of power, obviously that’s what you’ve got to have to be competitive here, but just how good can you run beside twice the cubic inches. The Harleys twice the motor so it’s not rocket science there. Everything we got going on is as far as we can take it. About a six second pass, they’re already in the sixes. Byron is just playing. He’s just playing. ”
Angie McBride “
We’re going to run between five and eight races depending on funding, something like that. We’re talking to a couple of people about sponsorships and if that happens, we’ll run the full season.”
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario