So, one of the things is we lighten the car up a little bit—I mean we’re still within the rules, but we’re running a little bit heavy for the 24. You put sprint brakes on it, you put more aggressive [brake] pads on it so it stops better. The engine is tuned up a bit more because you’re not looking at going 24 hours, you’re looking at going two hours and 45 minutes.
And from the drop of the green flag, you are at it and on it. I mean, knowing this race is going to be over in two hours and 45 minutes, cutting your way through traffic, laying out your two pit stops and how to work it out from a strategy standpoint—when you want to stop, when you want to change drivers…
The whole makeup of that race is 180-degrees from how you approach the 24 Hours.
AA: So you’d maybe liken it to the difference between running a 5k and running a marathon?
SP: Yeah, or an ultra-marathon, and then maybe even more like doing the 100. You know, where it’s all over in a very short period of time and it’s just this big sprint to the checkers.
In the way you approach it and the way the team approaches it, you know Ganassi and everybody at Ganassi do a great job and the way you look at that race it’s just different.
You know the 24 Hours, it’s the 24 Hours—don’t take any chances, don’t look at trying to make a move where you might tear up the car or bang the car or anything. In comparison to the short race, which is get it done…Get it done now! Because that window of opportunity is closing really fast.
AA: Now tell us about that move you made on Alex [Gurney] at the end of the 250 there (Pruett laughs). You were asked this and I don’t recall...it seems like you—not sidestepped the question but went a different way with the answer.
How much did your drafting experience and racing in stock cars lead you to know, maybe that Alex didn’t, that you could pull up alongside him and use a side-draft to help get by him coming off of NASCAR four.
SP: Well there is...Because I’ve done so much racing over the years with Indy cars and NASCARs and sports cars, and you learn. I mean, you learn things. There were a couple of things I learned from.
One: Defensive—I knew that we run the majority of the oval and in the middle of the back straight we make a left-right-right-left and we call it the, “Bus Stop”. And I knew getting through there that I had to be within just a couple lengths behind him if I was even going to get that opportunity.
He and their team had set the car up where they ran more downforce—which means they were quicker through the infield and slower on the straight. We had just the opposite where we had less downforce and less drag, where we were faster on the straight and slower on the infield. So it’s just 180 degrees.
So I knew going through the Bus Stop that I needed to be on top of him. So I just pulled a “Hail Mary” through the Bus Stop and I thought, “You know it’s never over ‘till it’s over so let’s see if we can make something happen.” And then we came out of there and we were going through NASCAR three into NASCAR four, and I was coming up behind him at a pretty high rate.
I just showed him my left headlight and he kinda moved down a little bit and as soon as he did that I went the opposite direction and went to the high side. And then I was right off his quarter [panel] and that was it. I mean I just leaned—I mean not leaned on it as far as ran into him but just was there on his quarter and used the side draft to help slingshot me by. As soon as I got full momentum forward I was able to make the move and come home with the win.
End of Part One
Keep an eye out for Part Two of my conversation with Grand-Am and NASCAR driver Scott Pruett here on Bleacher Report.
5 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete