Colin Braun addressed the question of his bright future in NASCAR. “It’s a challenge, really, to map out the plan with any amount of certainty. You know it really depends on what happens with sponsors, what happens with NASCAR and the related teams, and what Jack (Roush) decides to do with all his teams he has and all the drivers he has.”
Braun is in the stable of a great owner with time to hone his skills in the Truck and Nationwide Series, but is looking up at a situation where five Cup teams will have to be pared down to four at the end of 2009. Time is on his side, and for now he’s focused on the Camping World Truck Series Championship.
“Rocketman” Ryan Newman took to the stage next and I asked the question about his transition to the new team, with new people, and a new manufacturer.
“The biggest thing, in respect to both the Dodge versus Chevrolet, and the Penske versus Stewart-Haas, is people. And that’s one of the things I talked to Tony (Stewart) about, way before we ever got to the point of signing any kind of paperwork was, ‘Tell me about the people. What’s your plan for the people?’ And then you have to actually follow through with it. And I feel that Tony has done a great job with all the people at Stewart-Haas to get the right people in the right places and the right capacities.”
His owner Tony Stewart, joined Newman and Gossage for the final segment of the group questioning session. Stewart seems more than pleased with the results of the first two races, and finding himself in fourth in the point standings. I asked him if he feels more confident that he’s got the support of Hendrick Motorsports engines and chassis and that’s one less thing he has to worry about.
“It’s not that we expect anything out of the box, it’s not that we expect to do well, but we feel like we have a great opportunity to run well right out of the box and that’s because of exactly what you mentioned. We know that the Hendrick engines are proven, we know the Hendrick chassis are proven–having somebody like Darien Grubb that’s very familiar with their system because he was in the middle of it last year, on our side helps.”
“We feel like that all those pieces are in place. It’s like Ryan mentioned, just getting the right people and getting the right core group of people together was the biggest part of the equation to try to make it all work.”
So Media Day 2009 is done and the countdown clock is running short for the staff at Texas Motor Speedway to prepare for NASCAR weekend in just over a month. They are a hard-working bunch and do an outstanding job of not only taking care of the media, but the competitors and fans as well.
A special thanks to Eddie Gossage for his hospitality, and the media staff of Mike Zizzo, Dawn Gardin, and Louis Mora, plus all the others, who made Media Day a great time, and bring truth to the moniker “The Great American Speedway!"
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