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NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream - Driver Quotes
ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 1, 2007) - The following are quotes from selected
drivers competing in the NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream presented by Old
Spice. The event will take place at 7 p.m. (EDT) June 6 at Eldora
Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The race will be broadcast live on HBO
Pay-Per-View.
HOW TO ORDER:
* The live broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. EDT (4 p.m. PDT), with
an immediate replay and subsequent replays throughout the week and the
following weekend.
* Prospective viewers can order the event as early as Sunday,
June 3, right up until race time on June 6. All that is necessary to
order the event is digital cable or satellite service. A subscription to
HBO is not required.
* The suggested retail price is $24.95 and available to more
than 61 million pay-per-view homes. Ordering information and up-to-the
minute racing information is available at www.hbo.com/sports.
TONY STEWART (Two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion; Owner of
Eldora Speedway):
What is the Nextel Prelude to the Dream?
"It's a typically Saturday night, short track format, but it's the
largest deal that Nextel Cup drivers outside of a Nextel Cup event
(participate in). To have 24 plus driver show up running dirt late
models on a track that they're not familiar with in cars they're not
familiar with, but getting to race each other which is something that's
unique and you don't see outside of a NASCAR sanctioned event. We run
practice sessions. We do a two-lap qualifying like we do at Cup events.
The fields are staggered into heat races that are inverted. We take
four or five cars out of each heat race and the remainder of the field
is set to do a last chance race and then we run a 30-lap main event."
It seems like a natural to you. Having the connection in the Cup
garage, owning the track, having a good personal involvement with
Victory Junction Gang Camp, talk about how this event came together.
"It is a natural fit. To be able to have a great camp to support
obviously makes that easy to name them the benefactor of the event.
Having the facility, having a lot of friends that are also supportive of
Victory Junction, it wasn't hard to put this event together. From the
standpoint of getting the people to come, the drivers to come, Nextel's
involvement and Old Spice coming on for this event has really made this
event bigger and better every year. It's pretty impressive to see how
much support this race has generated and every year we have more drivers
signing up to come because they hear how much fun it is. It's not a big
obligation event where they have to do a lot of things. We show up. We
race. We get to hang out walking back and forth between our cars and
talk to each other and not have the pressure that we have at a Nextel
Cup race. So, you get to race against your peers and the guys that you
compete against every weekend, but in a lot more relaxed atmosphere."
How does the fact that the race is on dirt change the dynamic of the
event, because some guys have a lot of experience racing on dirt and
some guys don't?
"I think the part of it that's been the most fun for me is watching guys
that haven't run on dirt and come the first time and really see how much
talent they have. As an example, I remember when Matt Kenseth came to
Eldora the first time drug the right rear corner off the car during
qualifying which is not uncommon there in a dirt lat model. Even the
best of the best do it. He was up right by the wall and had set quick
time at that point of the night and he took to it like a duck in water.
It really, I think, shows the fans how much talent these drivers have
and why they were able to earn their right as a Nextel Cup driver."
Describe what it's like to race on dirt.
"When you tell people that a lot of times you're turning right to go
left, it doesn't make sense. You know when you're in the corners and
the car is sliding, you're actually turned to the right while you're
still going around a corner to the left. Its car control is what it's
all about. In places like Talladega and Daytona where we can hold the
throttle wide open, you don't have to have a lot of that. But when you
get on the dirt and there's not a lot of grip on the dirt compared to
asphalt, you have to have a lot of confidence in what you're doing and
you really have to know what that car's capable of and not capable of
and how much grip you have or how little grip you have and knowing that
when you're running inches away from the wall sliding that it's either
going to stop or not going to stop. You have to have that confidence in
the car. I think dirt's always really showcased guy's talents. It's
all about car control and that shows why these guys are so good in Cup
cars."
Size up the competition. Who's the guy to beat?
"You always look at the guys that have a past on dirt. Dave Blaney is
good. Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman. Jeff Gordon coming back for the first
time since '91, and just because he hasn't been on the dirt for 16 years
doesn't mean anything. He's going to pick it up real quick again. I
think Juan Pablo will be really good in these cars. He's just got so
much natural driving talent that he'll pick it up and be competitive
right away. But then you've got the sleepers, the guys like Mike
Wallace who's run well every time he's been to Eldora. Kurt Busch was
good last year. Matt Kenseth has been great every time he's been there.
Guys like that are guys that can go up there and if their team gets
their car right, they'll win the race."
What will be like to race against Jeff Gordon on dirt? He's raced
almost exclusively in Cup and Busch over the last 16 years. How
exciting will it be to race against him on dirt?
"It's not so much that you're gunning for him. I think more than
anything I'm excited for him. I'm excited to be able to provide a
format and a race that he feels comfortable with to come and run and
give him a chance to go back to his roots and come back to a track that
was on his way up the ladder to becoming a four-time Nextel Cup
champion. I'm excited to see him come back and honored that the first
time in 16 years that he's ever come back to a dirt track, he's coming
to my track at an event that we're hosting. To me it's a huge honor."
As a race car driver, what's your strategy to win the event?
"With the way the format is and with the way that we invert the field, a
lot of times you can't really plan a strategy. It's more just trying to
anticipate what the track conditions are going to be like for the main
event. Where you start, you kind of have to just find weaknesses in
guys just like you do at a Cup race. You have to find what part of the
track are you better than they are and try to set-up a perfect
opportunity to get by. The field last year was so tough. I started
eighth and it took me the entire race to get to the front. If Dave
Blaney doesn't jump over the cushion - I'm running second to him - I
don't even have a shot of winning because we were the same speed. It
just shows how competitive this event really is."
What does it mean for the fans? How exciting is it for the fans, either
at home watching or in the stands?
"I think it's a neat mixture of race fans that we have come to this
event. You have your short track race fans that are used to coming and
seeing dirt late models at Eldora and are used to that action but want
to see the Nextel Cup driver try his shot at it. Then you've got the
Nextel Cup fans that have never even seen dirt racing, have never seen
dirt late models run. They're familiar with their drivers, but it's
kind of a whole new experience for them and a whole different side of
racing that they've never been exposed to before. I've never seen so
many people get excited for qualifying in my life than the first year
that we had the event. It seemed like every other car that went out to
qualify was the new quick time at that point of the night. Seeing
20,000 people just go crazy over qualifying is something that showed me
how excited they were to see this event happen."
What is so special about Eldora?
"Of all the places that I've been to in my career, there are a lot of
tracks that are similar, but there are marquee tracks from East Coast to
West Coast that are very unique and Eldora's one of those. There aren't
many half-mile tracks like Eldora, if any. The groove has always
typically been right up by the wall and when you're running that fast at
a half-mile track, you have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and
in your car that you can run up there without making a mistake. If you
make a mistake, you don't have extra room to gather it back up. You run
out of real estate very quickly. It's a very, very fast, momentum
driven-type race track. You look at the history of the track - winged
sprint cars, dirt late models, modifieds - and you look at the list of
champions that have won, it's a very prestigious list of short track
drivers that have made their mark there."
JEFF GORDON (Four-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion; Making first
Eldora start since 1991):
What motivated you to race in the event this year?
"I've been talking to Tony for years - ever since he bought Eldora and
we've always had that common passion for dirt racing and our background
being dirt racing. But when he bought Eldora, he talked about having
events and us coming out and checking out the track, checking out
events. Last year he talked about this charity event and bringing these
other drivers in. I hate that I missed it last year and so I told him
I'm there next year I'm there. So I'm excited. I've got it on the
calendar and can't wait to get there. It's been a long time since I've
raced at Eldora. Of course, that was in a sprint car or a midget or a
silver crown car and I think four crown may have been the last time I
was there. So I'm really looking forward to racing one of the late
models. I've never done that before. But it's going to be spectacular.
If you look at the list of drivers - I mean this is a NASCAR Nextel Cup
event with dirt late models which I think is going to be very cool."
When were you on dirt last and how tough will the transition back be for
you?
"I can't even remember the last time I was on dirt. You know it would
have been in the early 90s when I was still racing midgets and sprint
cars before I went full-time into the Cup series. I don't know. I'm sure
it's going be a transition. Anytime you haven't done something in a
while it's going take you a little while to get the hang of it again.
Plus, I've never driven a late model on dirt and they drive a lot
different than sprint car or midget does. So, I've been talking to Tony
a little bit about it and I look forward to going there and giving it my
best shot. It's for charity and that's the most important thing. We're
going to go have fun. I know how competitive all of these guys are. So
we're going to try to go as fast as we can too and go and try to pick it
up as fast as we can."
What would it be like if you won?
"Well, it would be huge. I mean these guys are going to take it
serious. You've got guys that are great on dirt. Probably one of the
most impressive things I've seen Tony Stewart do was finish second at
Knoxville (Iowa) in the late model last year. I thought that was really
incredible, so obviously he's going be tough. I always hear about Clint
Bowyer and you know Kenny Wallace won the event last year. I heard that
he did really well. Carl Edwards will be strong. I think there's going
to be surprises. I think there's going to be guys that have dirt
backgrounds that are going to do well. You never know what the track
conditions are going to be. I think everybody is going to be fired up to
do something so different than what we normally do. And I think it's
going to be a great show for the fans. And Pay Per View, I mean it's
the first time that I've ever raced in a pay-per-view event. So
hopefully it does very well for the Victory Junction Gang Camp -
something that we're all near and dear too."
How is racing a late model different?
"Well with the sprint car, especially the winged sprint cars, it doesn't
take much to get the cars to turn into the corner. With the late models,
they have the rear steer going on so it's getting used to how that car
hikes up and moves around quite a bit and getting it to turn in the
corner. I think once you get the car set then it's going to be finding
out just how far sideways you can run this car. From what I hear they
have quite a bit of downforce in them, especially at a big fast track
like that. So I'm excited about the challenge. It's going to be a lot
of fun."
Talk about strategy in a short event like this.
"I think the strategy is going to be trying to stay out of the way and
not run into anything because you've got guys that have experience,
you've got guys that don't have experience and we've got qualifying and
heat races inverted. It's cool to go back to a format that I'm used to
running years ago that I really loved. It was a great format. It's
exciting for everybody. But you know you've got to run hard. If you
qualify well, you're going to go to the back and you've got to work your
way back. So you have to really race your way in to get that good
starting position. And I think that's what's going to make this very
interesting because you know you're going to have guys that are way off
the pace and some that are super fast and I'm not sure where I'm fit in
that mix. Most importantly it's just going to be trying not to hit
anything."
Why should fans watch the event?
"I think this is going to be one of the coolest events that anybody
could come and see or watch on TV because you've got the best of the
best in the Cup series but you've got them in foreign and unusual
situations. We're used to racing stock cars on big mile and a half race
tracks not on a half mile dirt track that's high banked. Eldora's one
of the most spectacular dirt tracks in the world. And I think these
guys are going to be hungry to go out there, put on a good show, have a
lot of fun and most importantly raise money for a great charity - the
Victory Junction Gang Camp."
Why is VJGC important to you?
"Well, I started the Jeff Gordon Foundation to help children and that's
exactly what the VJGC does - it helps children. So anybody that has an
organization that has the same philosophies and ideas that we follow
with the Jeff Gordon Foundation I'm in support of it. You look at the
Petty's and what they've done for this sport and more importantly what
they've done for children out there around the country, it's been
amazing. It's a beautiful place. It just does incredible things. It
puts smiles, a smile on kids' face that a lot of times doesn't have a
lot of inspiration or a lot of hope and it changes their lives. And
going through this experience and going to this great camp that offers
them so much to do and great care as well. And all you have to do is go
there one time. Your heart's going to break to see these kids but
you're going to be amazed at what this camp brings to those children and
those families. And I'm very proud that we have been able to contribute
to it and that the community has supported it so much the way it has and
race fans around the country."
DENNY HAMLIN (Two career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories; Stewart's Joe
Gibbs Racing teammate):
What motivated you to be a part of this event?
"Obviously, Tony Stewart is one motivator but I had never run dirt
before; last year was the first time. Unfortunately, I was the only
driver to actually show up and not race in the main because my car
couldn't make it. So hopefully we're going to improve on that this
year."
What have you done to prepare yourself to make a better effort?
"Last year, I really started to get the hang of it. I was actually third
before I crashed in the heat race. It was so much fun. It's so different
being out there with those guys and kind of being more in their element
than you know on the normal weekends when we're out here. I know I'm
definitely going to be more prepared this year, maybe even go testing
somewhere and try to practice."
What's the most challenging thing for you on dirt?
"The most challenging thing is finding where the grip is at. I think
that's why you see guys like Kasey Kahne and Tony do such a good job
finding lines on Sundays because they can find it on dirt. That was the
biggest thing for me, just trying to stay on that edge and find that
grip. You know those guys really have perfected it.
Who do you want to beat the most?
"I'd like to beat Tony. I'd say really J.J. (Yeley) is the guy that I'd
really like to beat the most. He's got a lot of dirt experience so if I
could beat him that would be a pretty good accomplishment."
How exciting will this event be?
"You're probably going to see a lot of playing around. And I think
that's what we're going to do there, first of all, is have fun. Raising
money for charity, that's what it's all about. Putting Sundays behind us
and going out there and getting back to our roots and probably do a
little beating and banging too. I wouldn't be surprised if that
happens."
Why should fans watch the event?
"If you're looking for a great time, Tony Stewart's event at Eldora is a
great event. It raises money for charity and you'll probably see some
good racing."
KASEY KAHNE (2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Rookie of the Year):
What motivated you to be a part of this event?
"It's going to be a great event. I mean I want to beat Jeff Gordon. I
want to beat Tony Stewart - that's what it's all about. It's going to
be about raising money for the Tony Stewart Foundation, but also beating
on those guys and trying to beat them and they'll be trying to beat me.
It's just going to be an all out dirt race."
Talk about the pride of beating your fellow competitors.
"I've raced against Tony, I've raced against a lot of these guys on dirt
and Jeff Gordon - I've never raced against him on dirt and he's done
really well on dirt in the past. So to race against him in his first
time in a long time in a dirt car will just be really, really neat to do
that. And I want to win. I want to beat those guys and it's going to
be fun. It's going to be a fun exciting entertaining night and then the
race is going to be all about winning.
Talk about your experience on dirt.
"I have a lot of experience on dirt in sprint cars, midgets, that type
of thing non-winged or winged. My last time over the off season when I
raced a couple of dirt races in Australia. So that would've been the
last time. But never in a late model."
How will it be different to race in this type of dirt car?
"Just driving the car, figuring out how to make it turn to make it get
sideways and still go fast will be the biggest thing. It'll come to me
pretty quick, I think. I think it'll take some laps, but we'll get lots
of practice. Hopefully we'll get enough laps for everybody to figure it
out. That way we can have fun and actually race and slide and use
people up a little bit if we have to."
How exciting do you think it will be for the fans?
"It's going to be really exciting. Whether you're at the race or
watching it on pay-per-view, it's going to be fun and exciting to watch
NASCAR guys do something that they're not all used to doing. It will be
a blast. I will be watching. Every time I'm not in a car I will be on
top of a trailer watching and seeing what Kevin Harvick does and what
Juan Montoya does and just kind of watch and see how it happens. It's
going to be really fun."
Who do you want to beat the most in this event?
"Well, you want to beat everyone there, but the guy that's going to be
the guy to beat is Tony Stewart. I mean he's raced these cars. He's
good at it. This is his event and he's going to want to win it too.
He's not going to be easy on anybody. So, I think wanting to beat Tony
and beating Tony at the end of the day will be the best part of the
whole Wednesday night show."
Why should fans watch the event?
"When was the last time you saw Jeff Gordon race on dirt? When was the
last time you saw 25 NASCAR drivers race against each other and throw
Juan Montoya in the middle of it? It's going to be an all out rumble
and it's going to be a lot of fun to race Eldora speedway on the dirt."
What's been your involvement with Victory Junction Gang Camp?
"We've raised money through the Kasey Kahne Foundation which goes to
kids and underprivileged kids and some of it goes to Victory Junction.
I've done a softball event and just different things with the camp and
enjoy it and want to do more."
KYLE PETTY (Eight-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner; Co-founder,
Victory Junction Gang Camp):
How has VJGC grown with help from the NASCAR community?
"It's phenomenal how it's grown. It has grown because of the NASCAR
community. I've been around to different places, but when you go around
the NASCAR fans - because of Tony Stewart because of Michael Waltrip
because of Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth and guys like
that they think the camp is part theirs and it is theirs because they've
invested in it. Obviously after Adam's accident then we looked at it
and said you know what can we do? And what do we want to do? And I
think the camp was something that Adam had had a vision of, that we had
a vision of and we have just been very blessed to be in the NASCAR
community. So many people have believed in the project and because of
that a lot of kids have benefited. We don't really do anything. I just
go over and play with the kids and hang out and ride around in circles
on Sunday that's basically all I do. But so many other people work
really, really hard to make it happen."
What types of kids come to the camp?
"The kids that come to the VJGC are kids with chronic and life
threatening diseases, not necessarily terminal diseases. I think a lot
of times we're mistaken for a camp for children with terminal illnesses.
These are life threatening and chronic illnesses. And a chronic illness
is something that they will fight their entire lives. Sickle cell,
asthma, arthritis, hemophilia, we see kids that have been burnt, burned
kids. We see full blown AIDS, we do see AIDS kids and we see certain
blood born diseases. We see certain forms of cancer, cancers that have
gone into remission and back, that these children will have their entire
lives. Heart and kidney disease. Until they find a cure for these
diseases, these are chronic illnesses and these are things that these
children live with every day. It's pretty phenomenal to hang out with
some of these kids that are 12 and 13 years old and you understand their
medical knowledge because it's so far beyond anything that I know about.
But that's their world. The medical community is their world. And all
we really do at the camp is give them the opportunity to play, to just
be kids and be a kid without a disease. Basically it's a hospital. We
can do chemo there. We can do dialysis there. We can do certain other
procedures there. We have a full time doctor and four full-time nurses,
365, but when camp goes on those numbers swell to something like
sometimes 10 or 15 doctors and something like 50 or 60 nurses, all
volunteer staff. So it's a pretty phenomenal place and it just lets
these kids be kids for a day. They're Mike, they're Kyle, they're
Billy, they're whoever, they're not 'Oh you're the kid who has asthma,
oh you're the kid that can't play this can't play that. These kids get
to be the majority when they're at camp."
How proud are you of the people who rally behind the camp?
"I think that's the part for me that has been more gratifying than
anything else. When it's all said and done, like I said, we all kind of
raised our hands and said 'Hey this is what we want to do, this is what
we're doing for a personal reason.' And guys like Tony and I think Tony
said it best and he does some of the stuff in our video and he said you
know racers just help racers and that's the way it is. And that's the
way it always is in this garage area. It seems like when a driver or a
team or somebody has a tragedy in their life or something happens or
something is said in the driver's meeting or a flyer is past out from
truck to truck, somebody's always donating something for an auction or
going on a toy run for I don't know a motorcycle rider or something like
that. That's the part for me. I tell people I grew up in a strange
world living a strange life. My community is this garage area. And
that's the way I truly look at it. I travel four days a week. I'm at
this race track. I'm in the garage area with NASCAR officials, with
team owners, with sponsors, with other drivers, with crew members from
other teams and this is our community. You know, there's 1,500 to 2,000
of us that travel around the country thirty-some odd weekends a year. I
may live in Level Cross, N.C. or Trinity, N.C. or Randleman (N.C.) but
this is my community. So I think any time you do something and your
community really gets behind it then it's a very gratifying experience.
I've always said that racing people are the greatest people in the
world."
How excited are you to participate in the event?
"You know when Nextel started this with Tony Stewart at Eldora it was
one of those deals like 'OK, I'll come run around in circles so ya'll
can lap me every forty laps. That's okay, I don't care. I don't know
anything about dirt. I didn't grow up on dirt.' But it's been a lot of
fun. To go there and be with Tony, to be with Denny Hamlin, to be with
Matt Kenseth to see Matt drive for the first time; Bobby Labonte got so
excited about it he went out and bought a dirt car. So he's had a dirt
car for a couple of years now. And I think when you look at Schrader and
you look at Blaney and you look at guys like that who grew up on it,
there's an art and a talent to drive in dirt. And when you go see Tony
Stewart and you go see these other guys do it, it's pretty phenomenal.
And they're kind to us, they've been really kind to us. Kenny Wallace
has gotten phenomenal at it recently, but they've been pretty kind to
us. But when you look at the list this year, when you look at Jeff
Gordon coming back to dirt, when you look at Juan Montoya never running
dirt and some of that stuff and you look at the group that they have
this year it's definitely an 'A' list of Cup drivers that'll be there
that night."
What's the biggest challenge to drive on dirt for you?
"Dirt's a lot more forgiving - from a pavement standpoint. When you get
out of shape at Talladega, you're out of shape. On dirt you know you
get out of shape you can stand on the gas or tap the brake or turn to
the right and you know sometimes you can bring yourself out of it. Guys
that really know how to do it look like they're on the edge all the
time. Guys like me are on the edge all the time when I'm on dirt. I
think guys like Tony and those guys they make it look easy. There's
nothing, I don't think there's nothing...Daytona, Talladega places like
that maybe there is, there's a majestic look about seeing a couple of
cars go off into the corner, backing in the corner and standing on the
gas and throwing a rooster tail of dirt and doing 7 or 8 inches from
each other and coming off and not running into each other and you say
'My god, how did that happen?' But there's an art to doing it."
How do you feel about bragging rights? Who do you want to beat?
"You know I think for...I'm probably a little bit different. Because I
look at it and I say man you know you'd love to go beat those guys. To
beat Tony Stewart at his own race track, he owns the place, you know
what I mean? To be able to run with Jeff and beat somebody like that or
Blaney and those guys like that, that would be phenomenal for a guy like
me. Now those guys are in their own little world, they're in their own
stuff. But you look at it, and I think all drivers, you put 'em in a car
and whether we're going down the street here to get a Coca-Cola or we're
going back to the hotel, they're gonna race hard to get it. But for me
I look at it and I can sit here and truly say today that because of Tony
Stewart and because of Old Spice and because of HBO and everything
that's going on in this event, hey I've already won. I'll walk away as
a winner because of the Victory Junction Gang Camp. So I couldn't be
any happier to be a part of it. To be able to come in and drive the
racecar is just icing on the cake."
Why should fans watch the event?
"When you tune in on June 6th you're going to see some of the greatest
drivers in the U.S. drive in an element that a lot of us aren't used to.
You got guys like Tony Stewart, you got guys like Schrader some of those
guys. And guys like Jeff Gordon who have grown up on dirt, who know how
to do it. You got guys like me, I've dabbled in it a little bit. I
can't say I'm anything special with it. Then you got guys like Juan
Montoya and Matt Kenseth guys that have only done it once or twice or
maybe never. But at the same time this will show the natural talent of
what these drivers do. You see them at Daytona you see them at Talladega
you see them at race tracks all over the U.S. You don't usually see
them on dirt, and I think it's a huge event. It's a huge event for a
number of reasons because to bring that many Cup drivers together in a
venue other than a Cup event but at the same time it's a charity event
and I think you'll see the true essence of what Cup racing is all about
what NASCAR racing is all about and what these guys are all about.
They're there giving back to the VJGC and other charities and I think
that's the main thing and the main thing you'll see that night."
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