NASCAR Media Conference |
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Topics: NASCAR
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Reed Sorenson
David Stremme
Martin Truex, Jr.
January 10, 2006
DAVID STREMME: It would probably be pretty wild. I've already started to think about a lot of things of growing up, and right now we'd be working on cars to race locally at home like in my parents' garage, and we'd always -- come Daytona 500 weekend we'd stop and cook a dinner and watch. It was a pretty big thing for us because there was not a lot of racing going on in Indiana at that time. First time I come down here was in 2003, and I walked around, and I was telling Tony Glover on the way down here, it's pretty neat because I walked in the garage area, like, what are all these wooden tables doing here, nobody is using them and they're kind of in the way. He told me guys used to before they had big pit boxes they'd set their tool boxes up there. I thought that was pretty neat, a little bit of history. It's a neat racetrack, it's fast. I enjoy it because you slide around a lot. The last two days it's been pretty boring, and I look forward to more of tomorrow, just getting our car driving better.
Q. Reed, how about the same thing for you, just, thoughts on being best Rookie of the Year candidate and Daytona 500 right off the bat
REED SORENSON: Well, Daytona is not just one of the biggest races for NASCAR but in the United States and the world. I'm pretty excited to be a part of it. It's a different kind of racing, it's new to myself and new to David, as well. I've only done three or four restricted plate races, and it's pretty cool to go out here and to be going around the turn and see that Daytona on the wall. I'm just glad to be here and to get the opportunity to start out the season and looking forward to going some of the other places we're going to and having a chance to run well and competing with David and Truex for Rookie of the Year and just giving it a good shot.
Q. For both David and Reed, can you talk about what it feels like to go into the race knowing you're in, that you don't have to qualify, in fact, you don't have to do that for at least your first five? Talk about how that feels, not to have that burden.
REED SORENSON: Well, we had to deal with that this year in the Busch Car because we didn't have any points so we had to qualify for the first five races. That was the most nerve-wracking thing that I've been through in racing, the first five races, and going to Mexico, travel all the way there and we had one lap; I didn't even know until we got there you only get one qualifying lap. You get one lap to get in the show, and that's horrible. So it's pretty nice to relax a little bit, especially during qualifying time. That's when you're on the edge and you've got to push yourself a little bit further, so it definitely gives you a little bit of breathing room. Hopefully we won't need a provisional and we can make all the races just by qualifying in and we don't have to use them. It's a for sure thing that we're in, and that comforts everybody.
DAVID STREMME: I think one of the things last year when I run the Cup races, it was probably a lot more distracting just knowing you had to qualify in. You're doing more qualifying runs than setting the car up for practice and it probably affects the strategy more of how your car is handling. One of the things my crew chief and myself discussed the last two days, we've been working on the car trying to make improvements, and we haven't made a lot of gains, but more than anything just trying to get the car driving better. I think what's neat about our organization is Reed's car has made a lot of gains, so when we go back we'll be able to share that within our teams. I feel really good. I just look forward to tomorrow, just getting the car handling well. I think the first five we've just got to put in solid efforts, just finish and build on this year and make sure after them races that we're still in.
Q. Both of you were still with the same basic organizations that you were with last year. There was a working relationship between your teams. Martin is with the same group he's with. What's going to have to happen with you all to help bridge that gap, the same guy you've been chasing for the last couple years?
DAVID STREMME: I'm not going to lie about nothing. I thought he's had a lot better equipment than I've had the last couple years. I think Martin is a very talented driver, but I've been with two different organizations, working out of house. Now that I'm in-house at the Chip Ganassi Felix Sabates organization, they've brought in a whole new crew, and I think Chip and Felix have really restructured the organization as far as the teams, too. I think Martin and Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley and everybody in the rookie crops, I mean, very, very good drivers. I mean, it's going to be coming down to whoever is going to win Rookie of the Year is going to have to make the chase and win races. I don't look at the first five or ten of like, oh, we've got to go out and beat the rookies; I'm looking we need to build on for later this season and be consistent with myself starting with a new chew chief and basically a whole new team. The 40 team, the only person that is the same is the truck driver. I mean, everybody is different. We're all having to work together, and already I feel like we've been together six months. I mean, Martin and Reed and a lot of them are going to be tough to beat. But I look at there's a lot of other drivers you've got to beat on the weekend, too.
Q. The fact that you guys have the same car owner, what does that do to the whole scenario?
REED SORENSON: I think the last two years that Martin and his whole team were a championship team and they really proved it last year, where other teams like ours and a couple other teams made mistakes where their team didn't, and they came from behind and won the championship. I don't think you can point the finger at either driver, the crew, the car. I think it's just their whole package was good and they all did their jobs, and that's why they're the champions. I think that's what you've got to do to be a champion in either Busch or Cup. I mean, I think if not it'll be very close. That's hard to say. It's a tough series to come in as a rookie and to make the chase; not to say that I don't think one of us isn't good enough to make it, but it's not easy to do. I mean, you look this year and Jeff Gordon didn't make it in, and he's one of the best there is. It's going to be tough, but I think definitely you're going to have to run up front and at least challenge for wins, get some top-5s to be eligible to be close for that battle.
Q. Going back to the question that was asked, it was being Rookie of the Year candidates and on the same team, how that might shake out.
REED SORENSON: If you're asking if it's going to cause a battle, I don't think it's going to. I think when you get to this level, it's almost a deal where you need each other's help to have success. If you start working against each other, that's definitely not going to help anything. I believe this year that myself and David and Casey and the teams are a lot closer together maybe than they've ever been. I think we're going to work a little bit better together. If I can't win it, I want David to win it, and I think he thinks the same way. We're not going to be sitting there picking battles between each other. We've got to work together to beat 42 other cars or 41 other cars out there, and it's going to be a hard job so we're going to need each other to get through it.
DAVID STREMME: I think the same way as what Reed just said. Already this season, just from what we're talking about, what we need to really concentrate on, Reed has brought up situations that I haven't thought about, and I feel I've brought up situations. We're going to be able to lean on each other. Casey has developed a lot. Casey has developed as a really great driver. I think a lot of people seen that towards the end of the season. I remember a couple years ago when he was a rookie, he come in, didn't hardly have any stock car experience and we were able to talk to him a lot about what struggles he went through going to the Cup level. There's a lot of people within our organization that has a lot of experience, and we're going to lean on them. I mean, I very seldom think of the Rookie of the Year battle and what you're going to have to do. I look at the series as a whole. It's a tough series, top level, and I look at this as something that we need to go in and be competitive and do a lot for our sponsors and the team. In the organization as a whole, we have such a great group of people there, and we have so much talent that I think the last couple years haven't gone how they wanted to. We've had some success but not what they've wanted.
Q. Given you guys are both fresh off a full Busch Series season last year, I assume you have a pretty fresh perspective on where that series lies, where it is. Do you feel like there should be a Busch Series chase?
DAVID STREMME: I don't know. I like the chase format. It's kind of like the playoffs going on now. It's interesting. I know being an outsider last year watching the chase, I mean, it was great to watch. Every race you didn't know what was going to go on. I think it'll make it exciting. I think there's other things that could make that series better. I mean, NASCAR is always working on stuff to improve our sport, and I think they're doing a great job.
REED SORENSON: I don't see where it would hurt it. I think it would be pretty cool. I mean, it's been real exciting for the Cup series for sure. I think everybody was worried about it to begin with, but once it came around, it's been pretty neat. The only thing it might do, just because it's a lower level as far as sponsorship goes and things like that, it might be a little hard on some of the Busch regulars and those teams as far as getting sponsors because, you know, if they can't make the chase, then the sponsor doesn't feel like they have a chance to make the chase and they don't want to be in it. That might be the only thing that would hurt it a little bit. But as far as the standpoint goes of the racing part, I think that it will be pretty cool.
Q. Considering this year has like seven good cars going to rookies, how long do you think it'll be before some rookie is trying to knock y'all out? What kind of career length can y'all expect, both of you?
DAVID STREMME: I don't know. I mean --
REED SORENSON: Does this mean when do we want to retire?
DAVID STREMME: People talk about age and there's an age difference between Reed and myself. Greg Biffle had a heck of a year last year. I think Bobby Labonte will show a lot come this year. Again, I look at my job is to go out and perform, and I think you've got to have the right people around you. Not one person can do that. I think a lot of owners see that. I've seen stats of where people were being replaced because they weren't winning races and all this stuff. That's kind of BS. It's a team organization, not just one person. I hope I don't get replaced, but I don't think about it.
DAVID STREMME: I mean, if you go out and run good, heck, you can probably go out and win Daytona 500 and nothing else and probably race for the next ten years. I don't know (laughing). I mean, I look at it, I just want to race. I'm the type of person, I don't look at what kind of money I make or anything else. I want to go out and win. If I'm not happy, it's because I'm not competitive. I mean, maybe I'll change the older I get, the money or whatever else, but like I say, I enjoy what I do. I think back to when I used to change snowplow blades working for the city, and that sucks, so I enjoy my job now.
REED SORENSON: I'm going to probably retire in three years (laughter). I'm just kidding. Well, I'll be 20 in February, so you look at some of these guys, they're going into their high 40s. It's a long time racing. If I've still got the physical body to do it, I think NASCAR will probably change a lot by then, but I'll do it as long as somebody will give me a chance to drive their car and feel competitive.
DAVID STREMME: Reed and I, we both got to start Homestead, and it was cool because Ricky Rudd was racing, Rusty, and we were like, hey, we got to race against them guys. If they come back, that would be really neat. I wish I could go back and race against like David Pearson or Richard Petty. To be able to go out and race against guys that we're going to race against, I feel pretty good. I mean, Ken Schrader going to Wood Brothers, I'm excited for him. I think it's going to be a great year for him. I want to go out and see him do good; but on the other hand, I want to beat him, too. I mean, I don't think age matters. I mean, I think it's about the people you're around.
Q. Reed, I know you've answered this before. How much did you follow Bill Elliott coming up, and what kind of relationship do you have with him?
REED SORENSON: Well, when I was growing up, during my time period where I started watching a lot of it on TV, Jeff Gordon was winning a lot. He just got into it and started winning. I was a Dale Earnhardt fan. Those were my two favorites by far. I've got pictures with Jeff and Dale when I was just three years old, four years old. Davey Allison, I was a fan of him, and Bill. I saw him a little bit and I know him now. He was connected with our organization just a little bit. I think he ran the Bud Shootout last year for us. I've talked to him before and he's helped me out a few times. He helped me out at Michigan with some stuff. I haven't got to maybe spend as much time as I would with somebody like that that's been around for so long and that's gone through so much and has had as much success as he has. But I know him a little bit, and I know he was the Georgia driver that dominated. Some tough footsteps to follow, but maybe I can follow in there and make him proud.
Q. By the time you get to this level, you're really not rookies. Could you describe what you should feel like being a rookie at this level?
DAVID STREMME: I mean, I was thinking about that the other day. I mean, I look at mistakes I made in the ASA Series and even in the Busch Series, and when you come to this level you don't need to make mistakes like that. But instead of maybe having a handful of teams that are pretty good, I mean, here you have like a lot of teams that are good and you've got to stay on top of your game. It's easy to start out strong and then fall off, and that's one of the things my crew chief and I talked about; if we do start out pretty good, we need to keep that going. I'd almost like just start out middle of the road and work from there. Just because, I don't know, you see a lot of guys, it's hard to keep that going, and as a driver you need to really carry your crew as far as just being mentally into the game and behind you and behind everybody else. I don't know, I'll tell you at the end of the season.
REED SORENSON: I think being a rookie in the NEXTEL Cup, everybody in the series is not somebody that just started driving. I mean, everybody has been doing it for a long time, whether they're my age or 40 years old. They've all been doing it their whole lives. I think the mean thing for myself next year, just being a rookie, is gaining respect from all those guys that are out there and trying to learn as much as I can about these cars. They're a little bit different than the Busch Cars, just trying to absorb everything I can, learn about the cars mechanically, and that way I can gain experience going into next year to be a little bit stronger and get better.
Q. Reed, why did you tackle David at the party, at the New Year's party? We heard you talk about it.
REED SORENSON: Well, never mind. I actually got tackled. He was doing something on the floor trying to fix his stereo, and I thought I could help him out, but I'm not too smart with that kind of stuff. I think I made it worse when I got down there and ended up turning the whole thing off and there was no music playing. I think he just wanted a little help.
Q. Martin, you're going to be renewing your battle this year with Clint Bowyer. He's going to be one of your rookie contenders this year. How much of a distraction is that going to be because obviously last year when you were in the Busch Series and you've already won a title, you're on familiar ground around familiar drivers, all of this is kind of new to you, so is that going to be a distraction because I know he's certainly gunning for you. He's made that clear on more than one occasion, that if he couldn't beat you in the Busch Series he wants to win this rookie contest. And a quick follow-up, you said you went deer hunting in Texas. How did that go?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: I'm sure he is gunning for me. If he beat me, I'd be gunning for him, too. It would be cool to renew that battle. We've become friends off the track. He's a really cool guy and I enjoy racing with him. I at least I know what to expect from him on the racetrack, and that's a great competitor that's a lot of fun to race with and that always races clean. I don't have to worry about it. I'm looking forward to racing with him and Reed and Stremme and all these guys I've raced with for a couple years now. I just hope I can continue the trend of beating him. That's going to be tough, no doubt about it. But I think we're up to the challenge, and not just them, but we want to be competitive each and every week, and we want to have a shot at winning some races. But we'll just have to see where it goes from the start of the year. I'm real excited about the year and excited about the opportunity to race with them guys again for Rookie of the Year title. About my deer hunting trip, it didn't go too well for me. I had a good time. I seen a lot of deer and stuff. Bono missed four times. I probably shouldn't tell everybody that (laughing). I never got to shoot. Well, I didn't see any big enough. Yeah, it was a good trip, it was fun.
Q. (Inaudible).
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Yeah, it's not very much fun. I mean, I've been sitting in that car sweating mad for two days that I'm slow, and they just keep making me go out there and run some more, and it doesn't get better.
Q. (Inaudible).
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: No, the A team has got a pretty good car. Our stuff is just a little bit different. Actually, a pretty cool story, yesterday was a long day for us; we were slow yesterday, too, and the heat was fast and I was sitting there pretty much, like, what the hell is going on, you know. We go through the day and I left the track a little bit upset, not at anybody, just -- you know how you get down on anything. When you don't run good, you just sit there by yourself and think about why this is happening and what's going on. So I took a shower at the hotel and Richie called me, Richie Gilmore, and he said he was sending a plane home with five guys on it, and they went straight home and started building a brand new car just like the 8 car. It's refreshing that they're standing behind this deal so good. Richie has done an awesome job of putting all this stuff together, all these people, bringing in new people, and they're dedicated to making these teams work. So they're home building a car right now for Daytona.
Q. Martin, you've talked about the season, about how you and Dale, Jr., will be able to run kind of similar setups and learn from each other in tests. But do you also see any part of your job now as his teammate to possibly pick him up when he gets down? Will it be your job at all to maybe motivate him if he struggles like he did last year?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Well, hopefully -- teams are supposed to work both ways, and hopefully I can do that for him. I'm not really sure how to -- I'm not really sure what to expect yet, how it's all going to work out, how things are going to go. I know our relationship as teammates will be really strong. I just hope that I can help him. I know he's going to help me a bunch. I know him and his whole team getting back together, they're going to be strong, I think, and to have them to lean on, not just Junior as the driver but his whole team and Tony, Jr., and all those guys, I just hope I can give something back. I guess we'll have to wait and see how we start off with the year and how things are going and how good of a job we're doing if that's possible. Hopefully it'll be able to work both ways and we can both run well and help motivate each other and keep each other motivated and learn new things and get DEI back where it should be, and that's running up front every week.
Q. (Inaudible).
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: No, I don't know. It's kind of hard to read him sometimes. He doesn't say too much sometimes about it. He wasn't happy, that's for sure. No racecar driver is happy when they have 30 bad weekends out of 36. It was a rough year for him, but he took a lot of lessons from it, I think, and I'm sure he's going to be better this year than he ever was.
Q. Martin, will your mindset change now that you're going Cup full-time from your Busch experience? And two, you were talking about working together with the 8. Will that be race to race, if something is working better for you, will the two crews share that information together, or will you keep the two crews separate?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Well, we're planning on doing everything together. We are moving into the same shop as soon as it's done. It probably won't be done until we race here. But that will be instrumental in our teamwork, I think, is building cars together and being in another shop. You know, a lot of things are different when two different sets of guys are building cars. You may think everything is the same but a couple things here and there make a big difference. So to be in the same shop will help us a lot. I'm sure we'll do some of our own stuff, and like that's what happened here; our car is basically no good so we're going home and building one just like theirs. If we had a down force car when we go to Vegas that's really good and theirs was different, then they could build something like ours, too. We just try to help each other, hold each other up, make each other -- the plan is we just wan to run good no matter what it takes. I don't think the egos are -- there's any egos there where everybody is going to want to say that was my idea and wants to take credit for everything. I don't think that's the case. We'll just have to see how it goes, but I'm real excited about it.
Q. Do you have a different mindset this year?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: No, I don't think so. I mean, expectations for myself probably have to change a little bit I would say. I'd be stupid if I said I could go out and win every race or have a shot at winning every race because it's just so competitive. If I didn't have a chance last year or the year before, I was usually pretty upset after a race. I have to be cool with running 10th or 15th sometimes if that's what the day brings. I don't really want to change my attitude or the way I go about racing. I still want to win and be the best there is out there. I don't plan on changing my outlook on how I'm going to try to make this happen.
Q. Richie Gilmore said that even at dinner last night he could tell that you and Dale, Jr., have an extremely healthy competition and that you're competitive but in a good way. He said as long as it stays healthy, it's going to be great. Can you explain what he means by that?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Well, we want to help each other win the race, but we also want to beat each other to win the race. We both want to be 1st and we both can't do it, so one of us has got to get 2nd. As long as we're up there helping each other and having fun -- we have fun racing, we enjoy racing together. We haven't done it much in the past, but when we run our Busch Cars here we have a blast when we run up front and push each other around, we just have a lot of fun with it. But we still like to beat each other, and that's the bottom line.
Q. This may not apply to you because of the pedigree that you come into the sport with, but there's seven rookies, and we can go back and make a list of the years where there's been four or five rookies and it always seems there's two or three that not only don't make it down the road, they just don't make it pretty much that whole year. I mean, the field will wear itself out. It seems like you've got this really strong rookie class with six or seven guys that have good equipment and good records and good potential. Do you think that the competition among those guys is going to be more intense because you really are, from the very time you get into the sport, fighting for your job every time you go out there?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be tough, like you said, just the six or seven of us racing each other for that Rookie of the Year thing. That's going to be like it was racing for the championship last year. It's going to be tough. It's not going to be easy, and the guy that wins it is going to have a lot of pride in it. I remember years where there's been one or two guys and one guy usually runs away with the rookie deal, but I don't think that's going to happen, this year especially and maybe never again. It would be a huge honor to win it. I don't think it'll equal a championship in the Busch Series, but it'll be right up there with it.
Q. (Inaudible).
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: I'd like to do both, yeah. I don't know. Probably I would say. I don't know, there's a lot of good cars, so I wouldn't say that. You have to be competitive, and you couldn't have five, ten DNFs or something like that. You'd have to have a lot of top-10 finishes, that's for sure.
Q. Martin, just to follow up kind of on what you said before, you said Junior learned a lot of lessons last year that apply to this year. Can you kind of expand? What do you think that he learned?
MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: Well, I'm not real sure. He could tell you better than I could, but I've heard him say it's mostly about people and working with people and how to treat each other and stuff. I think him getting back with -- him and Tony, Jr., used to bicker like brother and sister, or brothers because that's kind of what they were, and they realize now that they appreciate each other a whole lot more than they used to, and their relationship is a lot stronger. That's probably one of the biggest lessons they've learned that I can see from the outside looking in. I'm not real sure about all the stuff, but I'm sure the way he talks about it, it was a good learning year for him. He didn't take much out of it, but he learned a lot that he's going to be able to use in the future, I think.