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Featured interviews from SpeedwayMedia.com

  • Marcos Ambrose Reflects on Life, Loudon and Spewing

    Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 9 DEWALT Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports, may not be in the Chase for the Cup championship but he still has an agenda for Loudon, the rest of the season and for next year. And he even has time to explain his Australian word of the week, spewing.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”228″][/media-credit]As far as the ‘Magic Mile’, Ambrose has made five career Cup Series starts at the ‘Magic Mile’. His best finish, ninth, came in last year’s spring race.

    “No doubt it’s going to be challenging,” Ambrose said of this weekend’s race. “Qualifying becomes very important. It sets the grid.”

    “You have to practice fast but you also have to go out in qualifying trim,” Ambrose continued. “So you really have to juggle and take your chances on your set ups.”

    Ambrose also acknowledged that track position reigns, especially for the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Passing is another challenge at the track, as, according to Ambrose, each spot requires the perfect set up prior to the pass.

    “If you’ve got a fast car, you can pass,” Ambrose said. “But it just takes a little longer here.”

    “If you’ve got a fast car, you have to set up each pass individually and pick them up one by one, which takes time.”

    Along with every other driver in the race, Ambrose is also consumed with the fuel mileage question. But for the Aussie, fuel mileage racing is just the price of doing business.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Ambrose said. “It’s just part of the business.”

    “It’s another facet to racing that is unusual,” Ambrose continued. “It’s hard to save fuel because you don’t know. There’s no fuel gauge in the car.”

    “So, it’s a challenging thing,” Ambrose continued. “Some guys are good at it and some aren’t. I like it when races come down to different strategies.”

    Does Ambrose’s vast experience in other racing series help with saving fuel? Not necessarily as far as Ambrose is concerned.

    “No, generally speaking if the motor’s shut off or the gas pedal is off, you’re going to save fuel,” Ambrose said. “You’ve got to work out the best way to do it.”

    “It’s definitely an art,” Ambrose continued. “It’s a skill you acquire over time.”

    “The penalty for making a mistake is huge,” Ambrose said. “If you come up short, you can lose ten, twenty spots very quickly.”

    In addition to having a good run at Loudon this weekend, Ambrose has an agenda for the remainder of the 2011 race season, especially since he is not a Chase participant.

    “It’s pretty simple,” Ambrose said. “We’re just going to go and try and win races.”

    “We’re building momentum for next year,” Ambrose continued. “We want to be the best.”

    “We’ve run well this year but we want to be better,” Ambrose said. “It’s going to take some serious effort to win a race.”

    “If you can do that in one of those big ten races, you know you’re ready for next year.”

    While Ambrose may be planning for the next season, he still has some fond, as well as not so fond, memories for the 2011 season. One of his best memories is his win, as well as how he started off this year.

    “It was just such a sense of relief,” Ambrose said. “There are not many moments in your life when you can pick a moment in time where you say, ‘You know what, it all worked out.’

    “The sacrifices to come here and the quest to win at the Cup level was a massive challenge,” Ambrose continued. “On that day, at that time, we were the champion for the day and won the race. It means a lot.”

    “Winning the race was awesome,” Ambrose said. “We came out of the gate really showing on the one and a half mile race tracks.”

    “Charlotte and Texas stood out,” Ambrose continued. “At that point, there was a lot of concern about what kind of team we were going to be together.”

    “The first good race for us was Las Vegas where we finished fourth,” Ambrose said. “And that was a good moment for us.”

    In spite of the win and his good early start, Ambrose pronounced that he would still give his overall season to date a ‘B’ grade.

    “Learning new people and a new team is tough,” Ambrose said. “I’d give it a B. We want to be A+ so we’ve got a ways to go.”

    Ambrose is absolutely convinced, however, that the familiarity and lessons learned throughout this race season will serve him and his team well going forward.

    “If I knew what I know now and I knew the people the way I do now and the systems and the stuff we got, we would have had a different year,” Ambrose said. “I think it’s continuity, experience and just familiarity.”

    “You start to know your people,” Ambrose continued. “We’ve got a much deeper notebook than we did at the start of the year. We’ve got better set ups at all these tracks we’re starting to hit a second time. It makes a difference.”

    According to Ambrose, the people with whom he surrounds himself are the most important factor in his racing career.

    “Racing is all about the people,” Ambrose said. “At this level, we’ve all got good equipment. It’s about how you work with each other.”

    “It’s the team,” Ambrose continued. “It makes all the difference in the world.”

    “If you have a team that you can rely on that pays you back and you’ve got their back and if you’ve got the trust and respect of each other, it’s important.”

    In addition to his racing family, the other most important people in Ambrose’s life are his family, including his wife and two children. And balancing his professional gig with his family time is one of Ambrose’s most important priorities.

    “It’s a constant struggle,” Ambrose said. “I’ve got a great wife and two beautiful kids.”

    “Racing is going to end one day but family should last forever,” Ambrose continued. “You’ve got to keep your priorities in life. And definitely my family is my number one priority.”

    “But racing’s been good too,” Ambrose said. “The racing community and the racing family have been good to me too.”

    With all that good will, from his own family as well as his racing family, hopefully Ambrose will not be using his Australian word of the week, spewing.

    “You really don’t spew at somebody, you’re really spewing at some thing,” Ambrose explained. “If you’re annoyed by something and you want to throw up at it, it’s spewing.”

    “I’m not spewing today, but I may be after qualifying.”

  • Todd Szegedy Lucky in Lime Rock and Hopefully in Loudon

    Todd Szegedy Lucky in Lime Rock and Hopefully in Loudon

    Todd Szegedy, driver of the No. 2 Wisk Detergent/A&J Romano Construction Ford in the Whelen Modified Series, was given a penny that brought such good luck at this past weekend’s race at Lime Rock Park that he not only started on the pole but also ended up in Victory Lane.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: hometracks.nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”262″][/media-credit]Without a doubt, Szegedy is hoping that his precious penny will continue to bring good luck at this weekend’s race at the ‘Magic Mile’ in Loudon, New Hampshire.

    Szegedy got lucky at Lime Rock when he met Mrs. Griffin, a fan participating in a hospitality event prior to the running of the Whelen Modified 66/99 Presented by Town Fair Tire at Lime Rock Park.

    “We went to a meet and greet and they asked me and my crew chief questions,” Szegedy said. “At the end of the meet and greet, she came up to me and gave me a penny.”

    “She said this was a lucky penny and she had given it to another driver and he won the race and won many more after that.”

    “I’m a superstitious guy so it’s tough for me to accept those kinds of things,” Szegedy continued. “But I took it and put it in my pocket and left it there for the race.”

    “Maybe it brought me good luck, I don’t know,” Szegedy said. “But I still have that lucky penny and I’m going to hold onto it.”

    It actually took more than just luck to pull off this race win, from an uneventful start to a crazy late race restart.

    “The first half was somewhat uneventful and I just got into the early lead and that set a nice pace,” Szegedy said. “Basically we knew that we were going to have a fuel stop at Lap 20. So, I just hit my marks and tried not to make any mistakes until we had that first caution.”

    “When we had a late caution, that’s when a lot of the action began,” Szegedy continued. “We had a great pit stop and came out in fourth.”

    “Some guys took two tires but we took four,” Szegedy said. “So, on the restart, a lot of the mayhem happened.”

    “There were a lot of cars going through the dirt and I went through the dirt a few times,” Szegedy continued. “It was pretty exciting and I’m sure it was fun for the fans to watch.”

    “Eventually we went on to win, but it was a tough effort,” Szegedy said. “We definitely overcame a lot in that race.”

    Szegedy said of all of his races this season, this was his toughest, especially since it was on a road course where discipline is king. Yet in spite of worrying about his fuel pressure, which was dropping at the end, his luck held out to that checkered flag.

    “In road racing, it’s very easy to make mistakes,” Szegedy said. “I went off the track twice.”

    “When I put new tires on the car, it was really tight and when I tried to take a turn, I just went straight like I had a flat tire,” Szegedy continued. “I had to keep my cool and pass these guys when I could.”

    “At the end, we started losing fuel pressure so I was thinking ‘Oh my God, we’re going to run out of fuel,’ Szegedy said. “I didn’t know if I was going to win until I took that checkered flag.”

    “It was a very nerve-wracking race for sure,” Szegedy continued. “Without a doubt it was quite a release when I crossed that finish line. It was a well-earned win for sure.”

    With Lime Rock behind him, Szegedy now turns his attention to racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. And he has his work cut out for him and his team, changing out his road race car to one that can tackle an oval so he can take on the ‘Magic Mile’  mayhem.

    “First of all, it’s a lot of work to turn the car around, from a road course to an oval track,” Szegedy said. “So, we’ll be working pretty hard until Wednesday.”

    “Loudon is another nail-biting race because you never know who is going to win until that last lap,” Szegedy continued. “In every race, I’ve ever been in at Loudon, there are always late race passes and last lap crashes and exciting finishes.”

    Szegedy actually won at the last Loudon race, however, it came at the expense of Ryan Newman, who was disqualified after a ‘flagrant foul’ was called by NASCAR for illegal engine issues in the car.

    “The first Loudon I ran this year, I finished second but I ended up winning because Newman was disqualified,” Szegedy said. “We got the trophy and we got the cash.”

    “Everybody runs in the grey area but if it’s blatant, it should have been definite disqualification,” Szegedy continued. “NASCAR made the right call on that.”

    “I felt bad for Ryan though as he didn’t know,” Szegedy said. “But, hey if it’s blatant, then disqualification fits the crime. I think it should be that way with anybody.”

    Will Newman be Szegedy’s biggest competition this week at the New Hampshire 100 at Loudon this weekend? Szegedy actually thinks that there many who can give him a run for his money, including Newman, as well as some of the other Whelen Modified Series regulars.

    “There are quite a few guys that are my competition,” Szegedy said. “I cannot even name them all.”

    “I couldn’t even tell you who will be the top dog because it’s always different,” Szegedy continued. “You just never know at Loudon.”

    “I’m excited to go there.”

    With his luck at Lime Rock and hopefully more of the same at Loudon, Szegedy acknowledged that he has had one of his luckiest seasons ever.

    “Without a doubt, we’ve accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and more,” Szegedy said. “We’ve won races. We’re now in the points lead.”

    “It’s been an absolutely amazing season,” Szegedy continued. “Whatever happens from here on out, happens. We’re happy with what we’ve got right now and we’re going to continue to do what we’re doing.”

    In spite of that confidence, will Szegedy have his lucky Lime Rock penny with him at Loudon?

    “I definitely will have it in my pocket,” Szegedy said. “Without a doubt.”

  • Stephen Leicht Makes the Most of Richmond Opportunity

    Stephen Leicht Makes the Most of Richmond Opportunity

    After being out of a race car for two years, Stephen Leicht got the opportunity of a lifetime to slide behind the wheel of the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing at Richmond this past weekend.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: prweb.com ” align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]And the young driver took full advantage of it, staying out of trouble, finishing the race right behind Chase contender Matt Kenseth, and taking the checkered flag in the 24th position.

    “That was a great night for us,” Leicht said. “I was very proud of the entire Golden Corral TBR team.”

    “We weren’t very good when we unloaded and in practice on Friday,” Leicht continued. “We completely aborted the first set up we had in and completely changed the race car.”

    Leicht admitted that not only did his team work hard on the car, but he also had to work hard on himself particularly as he had not been in a race car for over two years.

    “We got it driving good and then jumped up a little bit on the speed charts in the second practice,” Leicht said. “Part of it was me not being in a car for two years and part of it was the race car. But all in all, the team did a great job all weekend and I thought we ran pretty well in the race.”

    After being away from the sport, Leicht experienced many emotions when the command to start engines was given under the lights at Richmond, ranging from relief to anxiety to intense focus and just trying to have fun.

    “It was relieving to be back in the car,” Leicht said. “I’ve spent a lot of time preparing myself and you’re always anxious the first time back in a race car.”

    “You want to be smooth and fast and do well but at the same time, you’ve got to be cautious because you haven’t been in a car in a while,” Leicht continued. “But the guys gave me such a great race car, that it really was easy to focus on what I was doing. And racing with some of the best in the world was a lot of fun.”

    “I thought I’d be really nervous but to be quite honest, I was so focused,” Leicht said. “The car was locked in the points so that gave me the opportunity to just race.”

    “Knowing that going in, I tried not to get nervous and just focus,” Leicht continued. “I was very surprised that I was able to do that.”

    Leicht said that the opportunity to drive the Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 36 came about three months ago, after a conversation with the team owner.

    “I’ve known Tommy (Baldwin) since back in our Yates days in 2006 and 2007,” Leicht said. “Basically, I had some sponsorship opportunities coming up and he was working on some stuff as well.”

    “He said, ‘Let’s go do some testing and we’ll see how that goes,’ Leicht continued. “Things just clicked and we got to go to Richmond.”

    Leicht admitted that he faced many challenges in the 54th Annual Wonderful Pistachios 400. One major challenge was getting the car to handle on short runs in addition to the long runs, as well as handling his own physical reaction to being behind the wheel.

    “For us, we had two biggest challenges, one was that our race cars just would not go on re-starts,” Leicht said. “We definitely have to work on our shorter run package.”

    “Personally, my biggest struggle was that my body was not used to all the heat in the race cars for that long of a race,” Leicht continued. “It’s a different world out there and you definitely have to be in shape. I got pretty dehydrated in the race. But all in all I thought everything went great.”

    Leicht said that another major challenge for him was balancing racing hard for himself while also respecting the drivers in the Chase, as well as those trying to make the Chase. And he was definitely cognizant of the beating and banging that went along with that.

    “I believe I came on the radio about 50 laps into the race and asked if they always wrecked that much,” Leicht said with a chuckle. “There was a lot going on and I was dodging a lot of stuff out there.”

    “You want to do great as a team and as a driver and for your sponsors, but at the same time with me not running for points and the team not being in the Chase, we had to be respectful of the ones trying to make the Chase and the ones locked into the Chase,” Leicht continued. “It definitely changes the game plan a little bit.”

    “But all in all, I think we were able to balance the two well,” Leicht said. “I was very pleased with the outcome.”

    With the Richmond race in his rear view mirror, Leicht is now focused on the upcoming race at Chicago in which he plans to start and park for Tommy Baldwin Racing. After that, there are no further formal plans in the work.

    “I’m not sure about anything else at this point,” Leicht said. “We’re just focused on trying to make the race at Chicago this weekend and you never know, there could be an opportunity for getting some more laps in this year.”

    “I just know that we’re focused on what we’ve got going on sponsorship-wise for next year,” Leicht continued. “Our goal for next year is full-time racing, myself and (Dave) Blaney.”

    “That would be awesome because Blaney is a great guy and a great driver and it would be awesome to be teammates with him.”

    Although Leicht’s focus is now on continuing his Cup career, he has a long history in racing, starting at the young age of six in go karts. And for Leicht, racing was his savior as far as keeping him out of trouble.

    “It was my parents’ way of keeping me out of trouble,” Leicht said. “I was kind of a bad little kid but I loved to race so much that my parents told me if I stayed out of trouble, they would allow me to race.”

    “It didn’t take long and I was winning a bunch of races, Leicht continued. “Then it became more than a hobby and became a passion of mine. And I’ve been doing it ever since. I can’t get enough of it.”

    When asked what one word would best describe him as a racer at this stage in his career, Leicht said simply, “Determined.”

    He then shared a caveat to the determination, that of being very grateful and very proud.

    “I’m very proud of the TBR organization,” Leicht said. “And I can’t thank Tommy Baldwin enough for this opportunity.”

     

  • Regan Smith Closes Chase Door but Opens Door to The Glen

    Regan Smith Closes Chase Door but Opens Door to The Glen

    Regan Smith, driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet, is no doubt a proponent of the saying ‘When one door closes, another opens.’  In this driver’s case, it is the Chase door that has closed and the door to The Glen that has opened.

    [media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Although he finished third at the Brickyard, Smith’s Chase chances indeed closed after a 21st place finish at Pocono. Smith admitted that he struggled at the ‘Tricky Triangle,’ a place that not only has three distinct turns but one that is also constantly changing.

    “This place has had a summer to soak and it feels like every time we come back here, it’s a different place,” Smith said. “It’s a tough track to begin with and it’s even tougher when there’s no grip.”

    Smith’s struggle at Long Pond left him languishing in the 26th position in the point standings. And with that, the driver pronounced the door closed on his Chase chances.

    “I would say the door for us is pretty much closed,” Smith said. “It’s not necessarily locked yet, but it’s definitely shut.”

    “Our Chase hopes are pretty much over with and that’s why we’re going to focus on getting top fives and trying to get wins and take the chances the rest of the year to see us do that.”

    Given that, Smith shared his thoughts on how his race strategy, as well as the other drivers outside the Chase, might change.

    “With the strategy playing out the way it has this year, it’s going to be really interesting when you do get into the Chase,” Smith said. “It’s going to have a different dynamic than in the past.”

    “These guys in the Chase who were clicking off top fives easily, now that others are throwing in the strategy game, it’s going to make that even more entertaining.”

    With the closure of the Chase door, Smith is most definitely looking forward to the door opening at his home track, Watkins Glen International. And his homecoming is definitely a date circled in red on his calendar.

    “That’s one of the races that I highlight on my schedule,” Smith said. “We talk about the ‘big four’ or whatever, but that’s the fifth one for me just because it’s my home track.”

    “I told my guys from the start of the year, if we can’t win one of the ‘big four’, then Watkins Glen is the next one for me,” Smith continued. “It’s the one I’m putting the most emphasis on.”

    Smith is also excited about the door that has continued to open for him as a road racer, especially at The Glen.

    “Certainly road racing has not necessarily been my strong suit but we did run pretty good last year until we broke a track bar of all things, which is a rare thing to have happen,” Smith said. “But in Sonoma, which is an even worse road course for me, we ran really well this year, led some laps and had a shot at a top ten.”

    “That gets me really motivated to go to The Glen,” Smith continued. “I feel like we’re going to be really strong there.”

    “We’ve been strong for quite some time and I think it’s going to continue there.”

    While Smith may look forward to improving his road racing results, it also will no doubt feel good to stand in front of friends and families as he is introduced in pre-race ceremonies. Smith grew up in Cato, New York, 75 miles north of Watkins Glen, where he won regional and State championships in quarter midgets.

    “It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the hometown fans on your side,” Smith said. “It’s the one place we go each year where I get one of the louder ovations and that’s a good feeling.”

    The Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen will be Smith’s third race at Watkins Glen International. This will be his sixth career road course race at the Sprint Cup level.

    Noting that The Glen is a one of the big races for him, Smith has also had an open door when it has come to other ‘big’ races this season. He took his first ever career checkered flag at Darlington in the Southern 500 and has also had top-10 runs in the Daytona 500, the Coke 600 and his most recent at the Brickyard.

    “I’m glad to be a ‘big race’ driver, but I’d like to be the every race driver because they all pay 47 points to win,” Smith said. “But if you only have to pick big ones to do good at, that’s not bad either.”

    “We want to get a little more consistency and be good in all the races not just the big ones,” Smith continued. “If we can do it in the big ones, we can figure out a way to do it in the rest of them.”

    In addition to his open door at The Glen, Smith may just have an open door invitation in another sport. He recently threw out the opening pitch at Coors Field.

    “The pitch got to the plate so that was good,” Smith said. “It was a straight throw.”

    “It was a little bit high,” Smith continued. “I think it might have been a strike for Yao Ming or somebody tall. But for a normal size baseball player, it probably would have been more like a head shot.”

    “I was way nervous because my guys were going to bust my butt for the rest of the year if I didn’t get it across home plate at least,” Smith said. “I figured I would err to the side of caution and go too far with it rather than not far enough.”

    Smith is also opening the door to his new home in Colorado. He has sold his home in North Carolina and taken the plunge to head to Denver to be close to his race shop and team.

    “I don’t know if we’re settled yet but we’re there,” Smith said. “I threw my house in North Carolina on the market just to test the waters and it sold almost immediately.”

    “So, we’re committed,” Smith continued. “My fiancé Meghan is actually out in Colorado this week, which is good because that helps us get settled in more.”

    “I love it out there,” Smith said. “I love the weather. I love the scenery.”

    “Just waking up in the morning and it’s not humid like where I grew up,” Smith continued. “It’s just really nice.”

    So, with the Chase door closed but The Glen door opening this weekend, Smith also feels that the door to consistency is starting to open wider. And that just makes him want to get back to the track even more.

    “We’re starting to get the consistency that we want,” Smith said. “I’m really pumped up to get to the second part of the year.”

  • Juan Pablo Montoya: One Driver, Many Facets

    Juan Pablo Montoya: One Driver, Many Facets

    [media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Given his history with Formula One, his status as an Indy 500 winner, and now his five year tenure with NASCAR, Juan Pablo Montoya is most certainly one of racing’s most recognized figures.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”138″][/media-credit]But this one driver, now securely behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for this season as well as next year, most certainly has many facets.

    One of Montoya’s most visible facets is his passion for racing, of all sorts and types, as well as winning in whatever series. But for this talented driver, NASCAR is one of the most challenging forms of racing in which he has ever participated.

    “For me it’s not just stock car racing, it’s racing in general,” Montoya said. “I have been in all kinds of racing and it’s just a passion for winning.”

    “This sport is the hardest,” Montoya said. “There’s so many, many more drivers than any other series I’ve been in that winning is that much harder. You have that many more competitive cars, so it’s always tough.”

    How does Juan Pablo maintain his passion even when he is not winning and in spite of sitting 20th in the point standings for the NASCAR championship Chase?

    “It’s just one of those deals,” Montoya said. “You look at people that win races and sometimes you outrun them all year and they get a lucky break. Probably at first it’s nice to get a lucky break.”

    “But for me, I want to try to win a race without the lucky break,” Montoya continued. “You know, I’ll take a lucky break any day, but you really want to win the races spinning everybody out there.”

    With this passion and extreme desire to win, another facet of Juan Pablo Montoya, at least one that is highly perceived, is that he is not only assertive but a bit aggressive. And with that, has come some hard racing in return.

    “It depends on the moment,” Montoya said of his aggressiveness. “If you’ve got to run smart, you run smart. If you’ve got to be aggressive, you’ve got to be aggressive, you know. It’s whatever comes.”

    “I think everybody races everybody differently,” Montoya continued. “For me, it’s always different.”

    “Some guys are good to you and you’re good to them,” Montoya said. “And when people are bad to you, you’re bad to them.”

    One facet that Montoya thinks most fans do not know about him is that his racing is not only calculating but very precise.

    “I think you’re the first person to say that and I think that’s pretty accurate,” Montoya said. “That’s something that I do.”

    “I always try to be consistent,” Montoya said. “Just the way you run in open wheels, you try to adhere as well.”

    Montoya plans to continue his calculating facet of racing even with his new crew chief, Jim Pohlman. Prior to the Brickyard 400 last weekend, Pohlman was named to replace Brian Pattie, Montoya’s crew chief since 2008.

    “We’re just starting a relationship,” Montoya said. “It’s very early.”

    “I think the start of the relationship is really good so far,” JPM continued. “Of course, we’re going to have good moments and bad moments but Jim is doing a really good job and he’s very open to anything, which is pretty cool.”

    One of the most important facets to Juan Pablo Montoya is one that he is quite proud of, bringing more of an international flavor to the traditionally all-American sport of stock car racing.

    “I think it’s pretty cool,” Montoya said. “A lot of people international pay attention now, I think more than people in America understand and believe.”

    “I think NASCAR knows how many people watch international but they don’t make a big deal of it,” JPM continued. “They try to keep it an all-America sport but it’s cool that people international are paying attention.”

    Another facet of Montoya that many fans are well aware of is his penchant for utilizing social media, especially Twitter.

    “I think it’s cool for the fans,” Montoya said. “Somebody that follows me wants to know what I do in a regular day.”

    “I don’t think I’m that exciting,” Montoya said. At that moment, his teammate Jamie McMurray walked by, muttering that he definitely did not think Montoya was exciting either, to which Montoya shouted after him, “I agree!”

    “I don’t do it to promote this or promote that,” JPM continued re his Twitter usage. “I just do it for fun, you know what I mean?”

    “I fly my remote control planes and wind surf, although I haven’t done a lot of wind surf this year, and I play a little golf,” Montoya continued. “It’s fun for people to see what I do. I don’t do it for anything else.”

    “There’s days when I don’t feel like tweeting, so I don’t tweet.”

    A critical facet of the racing personality of Juan Pablo Montoya is his dedication to trying to maintain balance with his career and his family. Yet, he openly acknowledges that he is challenged in that area by his own ‘child-like’ behavior, which often creates just a wee bit of strain between he and his lovely wife Connie.

    “It’s really hard because I’m a kid,” JPM said with a chuckle. “So, you’ve got to balance the family, the toys and the work. So, that’s always really hard.”

    “I want to be with the kids and the wife and kids want to do things and I want to do things,” JPM said. “So, it’s always really hard. So, you don’t balance, you fight, like a regular marriage.”

    The last facet of Juan Pablo Montoya is his dedication not only to his own family, but to other families in need.  He and his family have been supporting the charity Formula Smiles for quite some time, raising funds and helping Columbian children who are burdened by poverty and violence.

    “We keep doing a lot of different things for the Foundation,” Montoya said. “We try to keep growing it.”

    “It’s never easy to get the support from the people,” Montoya said. “But it’s fun to be there.”

  • Kasey Kahne Takes His Juggling Act on the Pocono Road

    Kasey Kahne Takes His Juggling Act on the Pocono Road

    [media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”189″][/media-credit]Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, has been juggling to keep many balls in the air as he motors into Pocono race weekend.

    One of the balls that he has been most worried about juggling is qualifying well at the ‘Tricky Triangle’. But Kahne need not have worried as he scored the outside pole, his 10th top-10 start in 16 races at Pocono.

    “It’s always good to start up front at this place,” Kahne said. “You can definitely pass here but it’s good to start up front too.”

    Kahne will turn his attention next to another critical ball to juggle, staying good throughout the 200 lap, 500 mile Good Sam RV Insurance race.

    “I’ll just try to get through the corners,” Kahne said. “It’s such a rough track.”

    “We looked at notes from earlier in the year and what we struggled with or were good at and what we’ve learned since then,” Kahne said. “We will take all that knowledge and hopefully make ourselves better.

    “This has been a great track for myself and for our team and I think we can do good.”

    Some of the other balls that Kahne is juggling are his intense attempts to make the Chase, finishing out with Red Bull and transitioning to Hendrick Motor Sports, managing his own sprint car team, as well as trying to raise money for the Kasey Kahne Foundation.

    As far as the Chase, Kahne firmly believes that he and his team are still in the hunt. But he also acknowledges that he will not make it in on points.

    “For us, we just need to win a race,” Kahne said. “If you can win two, you’d be a lock at this point.”

    “But things can change so we just have to figure out how to win to get in the Chase,” Kahne continued. “We just got a little too far behind in the points to race our way in points wise.”

    If he does not qualify for the Chase with his Red Bull team, Kahne will be disappointed, but not bereft.

    “If we don’t make the Chase, it won’t be a horrible season,” Kahne said. “But it definitely won’t be what we shot for.”

    “And we’ll just still have to finish the season as strong as we can and try to win.”

    Another ball that Kahne is juggling is his transition from Red Bull Racing, his place holder team this season, to his more permanent gig at Hendrick Motor Sports in 2012.

    “We’re always preparing for next year,” Kahne said. “Kenny Francis (crew chief) is going with me next year and we’re going to work together.”

    “It can all benefit us for next year.”

    Kahne admits that he will really miss Red Bull Racing, from the excitement of their brand to the special friends that he has met.

    “Red Bull is a really cool partner and a lot of fun to work with,” Kahne said. “They’re exciting and they enjoy life and racing and all that.”

    “I think I’ll miss some of that and some of the new people that I’ve met and been able to work with,” Kahne continued. “There are some really good people that are there. I’ll miss that kind of stuff.”

    “As far as Hendrick, I’m looking forward to the best opportunity I’ve ever been given in Cup racing,” Kahne continued. “When you get an opportunity like that, it’s up to you to take advantage of it.”

    Another ball that Kahne has been juggling is ownership of his own sprint car team. This has been especially difficult as his driver, Joey Saldana, recently wrecked and is out for the season and Kahne took his own wild ride in his car, flipping out of the Williams Grove track.

    “It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Kahne said. “Joey’s out of the hospital but he’s really banged up.”

    “He got crushed pretty much by another car,” Kahne continued. “So, he’s out for the season.

    As for his own condition after his wreck at the Grove, Kahne admitted that he had “about a three day soreness.” Kahne also realized that he created a firestorm of discussion as to whether or not Cup drivers should be taking those chances racing in lower divisions.

    “Yeah, I got a call from Rick Hendrick,” Kahne admitted. “And I got calls from just about everybody.

    While Kahne continues to juggle those calls, his final ball that he is keeping in the air is one that he is intensely passionate about, the Kasey Kahne Foundation.

    “We’re still really after it and doing as much as we can for underprivileged, chronically ill children through the Kasey Kahne Foundation,” Kahne said. “One thing that’s really neat is what Sprint’s doing, giving us the opportunity to win a lot of money, a million dollars, for our Foundation here in the next five races.”

    “We got a chance to do that since these are really good tracks for us,” Kahne continued. “Sprint’s really put up a neat program for everybody to shoot for. It’s pretty awesome.”

    “So, that definitely motivates me,” Kahne said. “To win a million for yourself is great, to win it for a fan is awesome but to win it for chronically ill, underprivileged children would be the best.”

  • A J Allmendinger: ‘We’ve Just Got To Be Better’

    A J Allmendinger: ‘We’ve Just Got To Be Better’

    A J Allmendinger, driver of the No. 43 Best Buy Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, sits in 17th in the point standings without a win. Yet what really bothers him is his inconsistency and the need to ‘just bet better.”

    “I think we’re not as good as we want to be for sure,” Allmendinger said. “The biggest thing is that we are just a little bit too inconsistent.”

    [media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]“There are certain races when we’re on and we’re fast and then it seems like something happens, like a late race yellow catching us out,” Allmendinger continued. “But when we’re bad, we’ve been really bad.”

    “It seems like last year when we were bad, we were 18th or 19th and now this year, we’re 29th,” Allmendinger continued. “Those are the things we’ve got to get better.”

    “We’re just too inconsistent and that’s something we need to work on and build from,” Allmendinger continued. “I think we haven’t done a lot of things to shoot ourselves in the foot and taken ourselves out of races, but we just need to be better overall as a race team.”

    Allmendinger is most certainly putting a great deal of faith in his new crew chief, Greg Erwin, who joined RPM shortly after being released by Roush Fenway Racing as Greg Biffle’s crew chief. In fact, Allmendinger was most pleased with their performance at the Brickyard, even though the team finished in the 22nd spot.

    “Hopefully with the addition of Greg, we will improve,” Allmendinger said. “I thought Indy last week was actually a fantastic weekend.”

    “The finish wasn’t what we wanted,” Allmendinger continued. “It came down to fuel and then that wreck that happened and we got some grass in the grille.”

    “Assessing the weekend, I thought it was a really good weekend, especially the first weekend working together,” Allmendinger said. “Hopefully, that’s something to build off of and these last whatever races.”

    “It’s a new start,” Allmendinger continued. “Greg’s got a lot of experience and it’s stuff that I can pull from and learn from.”

    “There’s a lot of these race tracks that are our weaker tracks that Greg’s been really good at so I say, that’s stuff that I can learn from,” Allmendinger said. “Hopefully we can go to these races and have better luck and be better as a race team.”

    With his new crew chief, Allmendinger certainly hopes that the stretch of first time winners may just extend to him. But he also jokes that the only way that will happen is by attrition.

    “People point to me because there’s not a whole lot of first time winners left,” Allmendinger said. “So, it’s about attrition.”

    “Honestly in the end, winning is the ultimate goal when you show up,” Allmendinger continued. “But we’ve got a long way to go to worry about that.”

    “Maybe this weekend, we are good enough to win,” Allmendinger said. “Who knows? But that’s the way I look at it.”

    Allmendinger also has his own unique way of looking at Pocono Raceway. And he definitely thinks the track lives up to its ‘Tricky Triangle’ reputation.

    “It is definitely tricky,” Allmendinger said. “The shifting definitely added a different element back into it. And Turn One was way rougher than it had been in the previous years.”

    “You’ve got to be able to get through those bumps and be solid through that corner,” Allmendinger continued. “But you can’t focus on it so much that it hurts Turns Two and Three.”

    “I think that’s what happened last race,” Allmendinger said. “We were so bad in One and we kept trying to fix it that we made Two and Three even worse.”

    “I think that watching some videos and talking to Greg about some things, we’re going to go in with a different game plan and keep working on it,” Allmendinger continued. “We weren’t terrible last race but we weren’t great. Greg’s brought some stuff over that he learned when he was with Biffle, so we’ll see.”

    In addition to worrying about Pocono weekend, Allmendinger also has contention for the Chase on his mind.

    “The door is definitely not closed,” Allmendinger said of his Chase chances. “We have six races left and we’re not that far from being that highest guy in points that if you do get the win, you move into the Chase spot.”

    “But ultimately if you win a race on luck and you’re not good enough to be in the Chase, then there’s no point to being in the Chase anyways.”

    Whether or not he is in the Chase or outside looking in, Allmendinger just wants to be better in the latter half of the season than when they took the green flag at Daytona.

    “Chase or not, my ultimate goal is to say we’re a lot better than we were in the last races of the season than we were in the first part,” Allmendinger said. “Then, that’s a good year to me. The ultimate goal is to be better at the end of the season than when you started.”

    “We’ve just got to be better,” Allmendinger continued. “That’s all that matters. And whether that puts us in the Chase or not, then whatever.”

    “But in the end, we’ve just got to be better.”

  • Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Dave Blaney’s Son Ryan Plans on Being NASCAR’s Next Generation Ambassador

    Ryan Blaney is not just NASCAR Cup driver Dave Blaney’s son. The seventeen year old up and coming driver hopes to be NASCAR’s ambassador to the next generation of stock car racing fans.

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Ryan Blaney Racing” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]The young Blaney has gotten his career off to a pretty good start, scoring a second place finish in just his second ARCA start at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis this past weekend.

    Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 15 Seal Wrap Chevrolet for Venturini Motorsports, was good as soon as he arrived at the track. He was also able to hold his own with some of the ARCA Series regulars, including Richard Childress talent and grandson Ty Dillon, who he battled for the win.

    “We were decent off the trailer,” Blaney said. “We qualified second into the race and in the early part of the race, I thought we had the best car.”

    “We would have had some rubbing going on for me to get by Ty,” Blaney said of his battle with eventual race winner, Ty Dillon. “So, I was happy to finish second and see that I can really run with those guys in the series.”

    “Overall it was a pretty good weekend for us.”

    Although still quite young, in fact so young that he cannot yet run many of the tracks on the ARCA Series schedule, Blaney has progressed steadily up the racing ranks. He started racing quarter midgets at the age of eight and then moved up to Bandeleros, Legends and Late Models.

    But this year, with his father’s advice and counsel, young Ryan decided to do something different and move to a heavier car in preparation for the next step in his career.

    “Me and my dad were talking and saying that we think it’s time to move up and try to get into heavier cars,” Blaney said. “He really wanted to prepare me.”

    “The worst thing that can happen is to jump in a car when you’re not ready and look bad,” Blaney continued. “We made sure that I had enough experience to really go out there and look good. I think we timed it just right.”

    “Next year I’m hoping to run a Truck and being full-time in a Truck would be awesome,” Blaney said. “If not, we will try some Truck and ARCA races to get as much experience as I can.

    “This is really what I want to do and what I have a passion for,” Blaney continued. “My dad has put so much time and money into me that I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t make it worth it.”

    “And I’m trying my very hardest to make it and pay him off some day.”

    Does the young driver feel pressure, especially in light of his father’s Cup career? Not on your life according to Ryan Blaney.

    “I don’t really feel pressure at all,” Blaney said. “If anything, it motivates me even more to be like him and actually try to be better than him.”

    “He’s never pushed me and he’s always making sure that I’m sure about it,” Blaney said. “I accept the challenge of trying to be like him and get where’s he’s at and what he’s accomplished.”

    Not only does Ryan Blaney strive to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he readily admits that his dad is indeed his racing hero.

    “He is my main racing hero,” Blaney said of his dad. “He grew up on dirt and that’s what he lived for over 30 years and made a career out of that.”

    “Then he jumped into NASCAR and had a career in that,” Blaney continued. “That’s what’s really special to me and impressive to me.”

    As proud as Ryan is of his dad, the feeling is more than reciprocated by his proud papa. But dad Dave said, with a chuckle, that his son probably said those things “because he’s scared of me.”

    “He’s been doing really well,” Dave Blaney said of son. “This year we’ve gotten him in a couple of K&N Series races and he ran well. And he’s run real well in his two ARCA starts.”

    “Ryan’s coming along real well,” Blaney continued. “He’s only seventeen years old so he’s got lots of time.”

    “He might actually be better than me now.”

    As much as he wants to follow in his dad’s tire tracks, Ryan Blaney has another real ambition of his own. He wants to also attract the next generation to the sport of NASCAR that he loves so much.

    “A lot of kids at school follow me and it’s cool how they’ve turned into race fans,” Blaney, who is going into his senior year in high school, said. “Last year, they didn’t know anything about racing and now they’re asking me how I did at the track.”

    “They even know more about my stats than I do,” Blaney continued. “It’s cool how I have friends that can relate to me and not talk just about football.”

    “I’m a seventeen year old that is trying to come up through the ranks,” Blaney said. “And I hope I am an ambassador for the next generation of NASCAR fans.”

  • For Nick Igdalsky, Mattioli Grandson and New Track COO, Pocono is Personal

    Nick Igdalsky wears many hats at Pocono Raceway, from Mattioli grandson to ARCA driver to philanthropist and finally to his appointment as the newly named COO and Executive Vice President of the race track. Regardless of the title or the hat, however, for Igdalsky, Pocono is indeed personal.

    [media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”193″][/media-credit]“It’s always exciting,” Igdalsky said of his various roles. “You live in the moment and get as much as you can out of it.”

    “Where it gets tough is jumping from appointment to appointment and wearing different hats,” Igdalsky continued. “After the race, I have meetings with both sponsors for my car and sponsors for the track, as well as meeting dignitaries and VIPs.”

    “You can never stay in one place too long.”

    Igdalsky manages all of his personal and professional Pocono responsibilities through technology, literally setting alarms on his Iphone.

    “An alarm went off and told me that I to do go to the driver’s meeting and then an alarm went off that told me I had to come to the media center,” Igdalsky said. “You try to remember as much as you can but if you get caught up in the moment, things pass you by.”

    “My little electronic friend helps me out.”

    One of Igdalsky’s greatest personal joys is being behind the wheel of a race car, whether an ARCA ride or his Grand Am race car.

    “I’ll do five to six ARCA races,” Igdalsky said. “We’ll probably do Toledo at the end of the year.”

    “It’s been tough,” Igdalsky continued. “We haven’t really done as good as we thought we would. I’m with a team that’s sort of under-funded.”

    “Everybody wants to run well, but we just don’t have the resources to do that yet,” Igdalsky said. “We’re just trying to keep the car clean and keep it up in owner’s points and we may have a shot at it next year if we get a full season.”

    Racing is so personal in fact to Igdalsky that he hopes the day never comes when he has to make any kind of a choice between racing and managing his track responsibilities.

    “I’m going to live in both worlds until somebody tells me I absolutely cannot,” Igdalsky said with a smile. “I’ll wait until I get the ultimatum from either the wife or the office.”

    While not ultimatum has come yet, Nick Igdalsky had a most personal day at the track this weekend as his grandfather, affectionately known as ‘Doc’ Mattioli, retired and formally turned over the responsibilities of operations of the track to Nick, his brother Brandon, who was named President and CEO, and his sister Ashley, who is the new Secretary/Treasurer.

    “We’re fortunate we have great grandchildren,” Doc Mattioli said. “Fifty years went by damn fast and now it’s about time to take it a little easy and get the hell out of here.”

    “I’m quite sure that Brandon, Nick and Ashley are well trained to do what they have to do,” Mattioli continued. “They’re really good kids and smart kids.”

    From Igdalsky’s perspective, he’s had the best teacher ever in his grandparents, Doc and Doc Rose Mattioli. Because of that, Igdalsky has already pronounced that his new slogan will be, “When in doubt, ask what Doc would do.”

    Now that he has even more of a personal stake in Pocono, Igdalsky is continuing another very personal connection, connecting with a charity called Michael’s Way. And this personal connection hits very close to home.

    “Pocono Raceway has been working with Michael’s Way for the past couple years now,” Igdalsky said. “My nephew was diagnosed two years ago at the age of fifteen months with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a very rare type of cancer.”

    “He’s doing good now and he just had some scans done, with all of them coming back clear,” Igdalsky continued. “Through our relationship with Michael’s Way, they support the families of children, like my nephew, with cancer.”

    “They don’t pay for the treatments but they do pay for all the other costs,” Igdalsky said. “For instance, there are lots of families that one of the families might have to stop working because of all the treatments they have to get to, which is a problem.”

    “So, Michael’s Way helps with bills and travel, especially for those children whose immune systems are compromised,” Igdalsky continued. “It’s pretty unique because 100% of all the proceeds go directly to the cause and the families.”

    Michael’s Way is even more personal as Igdalsky’s nephew was selected last year as the ‘poster boy’, making many personal appearances on behalf of the charity. For this weekend’s ARCA race, Michael’s Way will also be featured prominently on Igdalsky’s race car.

    “Since we don’t have a sponsor for this race, we’re keeping them on our car,” Igdalsky said. “You can donate on their site which is michaelsway.org and they’re also doing a raffle at the track where you have a chance to win either a 2011 Harley Davidson or $10,000 cash.”

    “Nick’s involvement with Michael’s Way has been invaluable,” Trish Fulvio, development consultant with the charity, said. “He and Brandy, his wife, do everything straight from the heart.”

    “Nick has allowed us to bring Michael’s Way to the attention of a whole new group of people,” Fulvio continued. “His partnership translates into more funds to give to the families of children with cancer.”

    While family has always been most personal to Igdalsky, from his family track to his philanthropic family, Igdalsky now has a whole new perspective on family as a proud papa of a five month old daughter.

    “When you have a bad day and you come home and you see her little face smiling at you, it definitely makes the bad days better,” Igdalsky said. “And it gives you something to look forward to at the end of the day.”

    “It’s overwhelming,” Igdalsky continued. “I’m living two dreams.”

    “I’m helping out in the family business that I was involved in ever since I was a little boy,” Igdalsky said. “And with the racing, it’s been my dream since a young boy to race cars too.”

    “I not only get to do both but I get to do it at my home track.”

  • WGI’s President Michael Printup Says There’s Lots Going on in 2011

    WGI’s President Michael Printup Says There’s Lots Going on in 2011

    Earlier this spring Watkins Glen International Speedway President Michael Printup fed the rumor mill about things that might happen at the track in 2011. Two of those things were very unique events, a car swap between a Formula One and a NASCAR driver and a concert / festival by a “jam” band with a fanatical following. Printup, a user of social media took to Twitter to announce on March 18th, “I think I am going Phishing this weekend!”, then said shortly afterwards, again via Twitter, “hopefully we will have some big racing news soon coming from The Glen!!! and there is one more surprise out there as well!!! Stayed tuned!!!”

    [media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”197″][/media-credit]Although many don’t remember the track had hosted Summer Jam in 1973 headlined by the Grateful Dead and it drew more people than Woodstock a few years earlier. Subsequent laws were passed restricting this type of event there but those were reversed in the fall of 2010. So the rumors about Phish going there started in the fall and continued into the spring of 2011. The rumors about the car swap also circulated for some time and Printup just fed fans and media little morsels of information about both events. He played it perfectly as both events came to fruition and were successful.

    The track and area has a storied past but there was a time back in the early 1980’s that saw the track fall into disrepair after Formula One stopped racing there. Eventually it was saved by a partnership between Corning Enterprises (a division of Corning Inc.) and International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the company that owns Daytona International Speedway and many other race tracks. A lot has changed at Watkins Glen International Speedway since then and it’s near demise, one change was the addition of the Glen Club, a facility that hosts V.I.P.’s. On March 6, 2007 the club burned down. Since then the track had used temporary facilities to replace the structure that hosted V.I.P. for track events and private parties. For this season that facility has been replaced with a permanent building. It’s just one of the many projects that the track’s president, Printup, has initiated and completed under his short tenure.

    Printup, a native of Hamburg N.Y., was named president of the track in June of 2009. According to his profile available from ISC, Printup has a long history of working in professional sports. From 2005 through mid 2007 Printup was vice president of 380 Development LLC where he was the project manager for the development and implementation of a racetrack in Staten Island, N.Y. The company later abandoned the project after reported difficulties with local government representatives being just one of the problems.

    From there Printup went to the Michigan International Speedway where he was the senior director of facility management. In that position he headed up all business and facility development. He also headed up new business initiatives at the track and managed almost $30 million in projects.

    Speedway Media caught up with Printup on one of the hottest days of 2011 and he spoke about both of those rumored events mentioned earlier. “It’s been a fantastic year,” Printup said. “I know it’s been the busiest our track management has ever been. Between the ‘car swap’, planning for the Phish show, something really outside of the box that we just did, it’s been busy. We have the track rented almost every single day from the middle of April until November 1 so there’s not much peace that can be had up at Watkins Glen. We all love it and we’re having a very busy and now hot summer.” Printup then explained that although it was very hot the elevation of the track still allowed for nice breezes.

    When asked about new things for 2011 at the track he said, “It’s been another busy year on our capital improvement program. I got here in 2009 and we took a totally different review of what we were doing from a capital improvement project list. We’re fortunate because the company has really been supportive of the changes that we made and of our strategic plan and our master plan.” For this year he said, “We have put in camping amenities, about $500,000 worth. We added a bunch of stuff over at Gate 1 (camping area), new lights, additional water, and better parking. We added showers. The Crown Royal Club is now a permanent structure. We put up 4 new grandstands in areas that we used to rent grandstands. So it’s providing a much, much, better experience. In the last 7 or 8 years we’ve put almost $28 million into the place. This year alone we’ve put in about $3.3 million. And I’m very proud to say all with New York State construction companies and vendors as well.”

    Printup’s position is that the fans need to be catered to and notice how hard the track works to get things right for them, “The whole goal is to take care of the fans. I wish I could fix everything in a year. I lobby and we end up with a strong strategic plan. The goal for me and my team is for the fans to recognize a change every single time they come back to the track.” One thing he mentioned was making it better all around the track. “We bought $100,000 worth of picnic tables alone just to spread throughout the grandstands instead of people camping on the grass and laying there,” he said. He also wants to finish adding more permanent grandstand seats a project that fans will see is half-way completed when they get there.

    Obviously the premier NASCAR series stop at the track is a highlight of the year but 2011 saw a really special event when NASCAR’s Tony Stewart and F-1’s Lewis Hamilton swapped their rides at the track. “My short term dream event was that car swap,” Printup said of the event in early June. “That was literally one of the first phone calls I made when I became track president. The vice president of Mobil is a very good friend of mine and I’ve known him for over a decade. I said, ‘you know where I’m at?’ He said, ‘Yes’ and I said ‘first I need Mobil 1 as the official oil’, he told me to ‘go to hell’. He said, ‘not a chance; I’m not spending money at race tracks.’ Number two I said, ‘let’s copy what Indianapolis did with Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya and let’s do a car swap.’ He said, ‘That we might be able to do.’ I did that in July of 2009. It took two years to get done. In the last year we worked really, really hard on it.”

    One thing that did come from that swap was the idea of racing the “boot” section of the track during the NASCAR race. Tony Stewart and according to Printup, Juan Pablo Montoya are on board with NASCAR racing on that section of the track.

    “I would like to see it and I will lobby, heck I already have lobbied, with NASCAR but we’re going to take it one step at a time,” he said about seeking permission to use the infamous boot section. “I met with a few of the NASCAR executives the week after the car swap. I sat down with them and said, ‘I know it’s premature to be barking up a storm about racing the boot but let me take a look at a few capital things first.’ Then he explained why he couldn’t do it right away. “You don’t want to just open up the boot and not have a plan. I would have to pave the sand trap in turn 8. I wouldn’t want to do it before then. I would want to consider, do we want to add any seats? Even if it’s limited bleachers. Camping. There are just so many things to go through. So I told NASCAR, ‘give me at least a year to think about this and maybe in 2012 I’ll come back and lobby you and maybe we run Nationwide on the boot.’ We could start there and just how it goes.”

    Printup has great plans for the infamous track in the finger lakes of central N.Y. and wants to makes fans want to come back. But one thing he did say was that the possibility of a Formula One race at Watkins Glen was remote. “You’re picking my dream event,” he said when asked about F-1 racing there. “To have a NASCAR and Formula One facility would be unbelievable. But Bernie Ecclestone (Formula One Management CEO and President) is a tough cracker. I’ve been involved in this for a long time. I am a Formula One and NASCAR freak and fan. I just know of anyone that is paying Bernie, $25 million a year in a sanctioning fee here. We couldn’t sustain that business. We would be selling tickets at 1,000 bucks apiece. Then you’d just out price all the fans that truly, truly love the Glen for its road course, technical abilities, it’s a drivers course. It just wouldn’t make sense.” He said, “They want to be in New York City, Chicago, L.A., now they’re going to be in Austin Tx. Which is fantastic. That would be my dream event. That’s a long way away.”