Dale Jr Hollywood Hotel

DaleJr: National Guard Event 2/26/13

 









Jr on stage thanking everyone in attendance. This was his 6th year in a row at the event.

Daytona 2013 pics

From our Twitter friend Sue at the track - Thank you..........

Media Day 2013

Dale Jr NASCAR Preview Appearance today In Charlotte

 
























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Steve Letarte called into the Morning Drive with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone today. Mike and Pete said that Dale has the best shot this year to win the championship and asked Steve what he thinks. Steve likes the confidence and he agrees. It is a long year. You have to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run. You have to cross off your goals as you go through the year. You have to make sure you are in the post season. Their first goal is to come out of the box solid. Last year did a great job of that and it allowed them to make the Chase with some confidence. Need to win some races, make the Chase and then they can talk championship. 

Mike asked about his association with the 88 team and painting with the broad brush for the season. Steve said they very solid. The core group of their team, lead engineer, car chief, shock guy have been with Dale for a while now. They have learned to speak the same language. The pit crew is back and kept them in a lot of races. Short but long off season. Lot of cars in paint. Ready to get to Daytona. 

Pete said he keeps hearing the word confidence and asked what is different in year 3. Steve said it was something they built on. In 2011, their goal was to be relevant and they did that. Into 2012, their goal was to win a race and be a Chase contending team and they did that. You can make excuses but they didn’t perform in final 10 like they needed to. Goal this year is to win more than one race, make the Chase and be a championship contender. First, they want to win the 500. 

Mike asked once you get into the season, how do you long before you make the conclusion that it is a Chase team. Steve said he doesn’t know if that is always the case. Tony Steward limped into the Chase a couple years ago and won. You have to understand the strengths in your race team. They learned a lesson in 2005 with Jeff Gordon not to take the Chase for granted. Look at Edwards last year. Jeff and Kasey both had bad starts last year and made the Chase. They dug their heals in and made the Chase. 

Mike said in some races, things can just get out of control and asked how you minimize them. Are these the what ifs? Steve said it is what you consider the line to be. Everyone has the same opportunity. You can’t control if you run over a piece of debris and cut a tire. You can’t control if a guy you are racing crashes his car and you hit him. That is about where it ends. Everything else they can control. This is why crew chiefs have heartburn and don’t sleep on Saturday nights. The 48 controls everything that comes to them and that is how they have won championship. 

Pete asked how they would categorize last year and the way it ended. Steve said the end of last year was deflating. They worked so hard all year long and all summer long. They won a race over the summer. They did everything they wanted to do. When Dale hit the fence at the tire test, it took some wind out of their sails. They never got their feet under them for the first few races after that. Then they had the crash in Dega. They weren’t fast at Loudon and Dover. If they were faster, things might have fallen their way. It was a good note to end the year having Dale back. Other than Brad K., everyone left Homestead disappointed but it was a good feeling to have. It means you want to go again this year. 

Mike asked if this Sat night is a freebee test for them. Steve said will not practice much on Friday and only make 5 or 6 laps by themselves or maybe with a teammate. They can’t afford to crash a car. Limit risk their risk in practice. This is a shot to be in a real race. Going down to win it and put a show on for the fans. They want to get Dale his first trophy for 2013. The knowledge gained on Sat night will be huge. The ones not in the Sat race, will be a race behind. Their last few speedweeks have been great. In 2011, they had a flat tire before running 3rd right before the last restart. In 2012 , finished 2nd and now hope for 1st . 

Pete asked how they will handle the changes the fans have thrown at them for the Sprint Unlimited. He said it was like the Nascar version of a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial. Steve said the real truth is that is what a 500 mile race is like. He applauds Sprint and allowing fans to vote for the segments. He thinks it will be a cool show. His playbook will be a little bigger as he will have to have 2 or 3 different plans to run this one. 

Mike asked the status of the cars since they don’t want to wreck the Sprint Unlimited car. Steve said at HMS they built 3 cars for each team for speedweeks. As a company they have to have 28 cars to start the season including Vegas and Phoenix. The 88 will run one car in the Sprint Unlimited and baring any damage, they will keep the car as the 500 backup. They will bring it back home to make it race ready and bring back to Daytona. Plus they have a 3rd car. Then they will decide which car to make the backup to the 500 car. They made a mistake practicing in a Friday night practice and wrecked once. It was an uphill battle the rest of speedweeks. 

Mike said they will have a brand new car for Sprint Unlimited. Steve said yes, a new one for Sprint Unlimited, new one for the Daytona 500 plus an extra one. Once the Unlimited is done and even if it needs a fender or side, they will repair and get it back. The company has worked very, very hard in Jan to get ahead with the parts and they have he said 

Mike and Pete said they wished him the best. Steve said he can’t wait to get there!! 

Gearing Up For Racing

Yesterday's photo shoot

Thank you to MagicJrFan

2/4/13  -- Steve Letarte called into the Morning Drive on Sirius XM with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone. They asked how his Super Bowl viewing was. Steve said he stayed at home and had some friends and family come over. They are in Nashville this morning testing and it is 27 degrees. He said he got back into the rental car and turned the heat on so he could call them. 

Pete asked how the 27 degree temp will impact their testing. Steve said Nashville is a concrete track and it is a lot different. They have come to shake the car down. Temps expected to be in the 50’s later. 
Mike asked if the things they are testing are temperature sensitive. Steve said no, nothing temp sensitive. Just an opportunity to get on track to learn some things. 

Mike and Pete have been discussing the Super Bowl which is held at the end of the season. He asked Steve if he would like the Daytona 500 moved to November. Steve said he is a fan of history and he likes it to kick off the season. No need to move it. 

Pete doesn’t think ending the year with a speedway race is a good idea. Steve agreed. With the Super Bowl, it is only 2 teams participate. In Nascar, we don’t narrow it down. 

Pete asked since Nashville is a concrete surface, any benefits. Steve said their first choice would be a pavement track but now that they run at Kentucky, they can’t go there to test any more. He said it is not a big enough deterrent not to come. They fly early in the morning with the time change. Testing is not practice. They will not do a single thing they do in practice for the next 2 days of testing. 

Mike asked Steve what other misnomers there are about testing. Steve said you work on your components as well as your setups. They will be there with multiple cars today. One car will just run miles. At the Charlotte test, they saw JGR with Michael McDowell who ran 500 miles in the 11 car. That tells him they are doing some durability testing. Not many answers will come on the stop watch. Not looking for lap times. 

Mike asked when will answers come from the stop watch. Steve said when they drop the green flag. Testing some pretty major ideas and they will change when they race. No true answers will show up until 4 or 5 races into the season.

Pete asked about the tire situation at the test and how they pick them. Steve said you can test on any tire you currently run on. They get Goodyear’s vote on what they should bring. They also look at history. It is better if all teams come on the same tire and it rubbers the track the same. They will be able to compare with teammates who are also there. 

Pete asked about the Goodyear tire test at Darlington tomorrow. Steve said at Phoenix they have a new tire and at Vegas it will be the same as last year. There will be some new and old tires this year. Goodyear has some unanswered questions too. Until they get the data, no major tire shift. 
Mike said time is precious and one week from Thursday is media day. What is left to be done? Steve said basically the truck has to be ready next Tuesday. They can bleed over into Wednesday morning if necessary. Wednesday, the trucks head to Daytona. He said they are in pretty good shape. All speedway cars are in paint. He is flying home early tomorrow from Nashville to go to the wind tunnel. Time now to fine tune stuff. It is more than just Daytona. West coast trips are coming. Fab shop working on intermediate cars and short track cars. Building up the fleet. 

Pete asked if it takes time for the team to get into a rhythm. Steve said it definitely takes time to get in the rhythm. Until you unload and go thru it all, it is very new. Daytona is nothing like anywhere else you go. At test sessions, they go thru changes in the garage and everyone’s role on the team. They have a couple new guys. 

Mike said as a crew chief there is a lot of data to pour over and asked what point does Steve isolate himself. Steve it is really 2 times for him. On Thursday night, and then again Sat night which is the most in depth one. The Sat. night before the 500, you have worked for months and you have to make sure you have done your job. Not short on info but have to make time to go thru it all. 

Mike asked if he delegates to other staff members. Steve said he delegates a lot. In the end, decisions fall on him. Just too much info to do individually verses as a team. You hire people who believe in the team and this way you can delegate effectively. 

Mike told him to have fun in Nashville. Steve said thanks. 

Steve's Call In To Sirius XM

Thanks MagicJrFan for the recap!!


Steve Letarte called into the Morning Drive with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone. Pete asked if the NHL lockout has affected him. He said yes, they lost him as a casual fan. Mike said same happened for him with baseball after the last lockout. He said it is sad and he is glad we don’t have to worry about it in Nascar. Only 2 ½ weeks away from the start of the season and it is all steam ahead in the 88 shop today.

Pete asked how they will be spending the next 2 weeks. Steve said for each car number they need to take 3 speedway cars (Shootout, qualifying races and the 500) and as a company that is 12 cars. Plus Phoenix and Vegas cars, HMS has to start the season with 28 cars. The 48 & 88 have one speedway car in paint right now and then 4 more to go. They tried to get as far ahead as they could but they had to do some redo with some rules changes.

Mike asked about the Rolex 24 and asked if Mr. Hendrick would do it, would he want to be a part of it. Steve said he would love it . He would love to be a part of them. In 2007, he went with Jeff Gordon and it gave him the bug to want to be in it.

Pete said after 23 hours, fuel mileage played into the winning strategy in the Rolex 24. Steve said no different than in Nascar. If you burn fuel, you have to have fuel strategy. Said it was fun to watch. Technology is changing and pit strategy is so good. Captivating race to watch. Hopes to see more Nascar drivers take part.

Pete asked if more testing over the next 2 weeks. Steve said one more trip to Nashville for a couple days. He loves to race and wants to be on track. Charlotte generated more questions than answers. Will go to Nashville to cross more off the list. Daytona just seems a week later than normal. Learning as they go and will go the racetrack one more time beforeSpeedweeks.

Mike asked with all the testing and data, has he been thrown any curve balls. Steve said it is always the little things. It is the stuff that you don’t think about that doesn’t make your top 10 or 20 list. They are processing through little changes that seem simple but are nagging. They may be the reason they can’t paint a car or finish a car. Eventually they have to cut bait and said this is it and hope it is right.

Pete asked about the rear spoiler change. Steve said regarding the size and mount, the spoilers are now with the deck lids. Now that we have the deck lids, the spoilers have to be ordered. The size of the down force spoiler is pretty large and impressive. Still some questions if the support will be enough for it. As a race team, they are not allowed to mess with it. They will have to see how it holds up on the track. Will address with manufactures and Nascar as they go.

Mike asked if box gotten smaller with the new rules. Steve said yes the box is smaller. Body has been locked for a while now. There has been the elimination of some tools like the rear sway bar. There are other parameters on the chassis measurements. Opened up other rules like rear camber and moved the front body heights off the hood and down onto the splitter. Feels like the box is smaller in the winter and then when you get to the track, you see how someone else has interpreted a rule. You will build your second wave of cars for Texas on.

Mike asked about the rear sway bar and why can use it. Steve said the concept of a sway bar is anti -roll. Learned to use the sway bar to control the vertical height of the car and the steer of the rear housing. Because of that, Nascar had to determine what was inside and outside of the intent. To level the playing field, Nascar eliminated them. Huge part of their setups were with the sway bar.

Mike said being that you can’t use it, how can you achieve desired outcome. Steve said that is why he has great job security. They all laughed. That is why they are going to Nashville. They went to Charlotte with 3 pages of items to test. The box on the components they are used to running has gotten smaller but they got a whole new box but don’t know what is in it. Thus the evolution of racing.

Pete said the feel of the car is different and Jr likes it. Steve laughs as he said the cars look great. He thinks the cars are all driving very good. The only reference a driver really has is the car in front of them. Right now, there has not been a lot of cars in front of them. It is a contest of speed. Until they get to Phoenix and Vegas and the down force tracks and see who has the speed, they will all driver pretty good until you have to get the last 5%.

Mike said they appreciated his time. One more trip to Nashville and then the big trip to Daytona. Steve congratulated ScottPruett on his Rolex 24 win. Scott was their stand in driver for Jeff when he was having his second child. Steve said he had to go as his guys have some questions on things in the shop.