Dave: Now John first of all I need to tell you that Sister Rita (one of John’s former teachers) sends her best.
John: I need her best (laughing)
Dave: And she sent along a flier to remind everybody of the 20th Annual Italian Street Festival, coming up this Friday and Saturday. Hey John can you be there?
John: No, but bring a gun.
Dave: OK (laughing), and it is 520 Stevens Street, 6 blocks from down town. And there is free parking in the Eli Lilly lot east of New Jersey Street. There will be all kinds of Italian food, beer, wine. It is going to be an amazing deal, so check that out. Sister Rita brought us co-jacks and we saved a couple for you John, but I noticed Matthew that John’s co-jacks are gone.
Matt: I do not know what could have possibly happened to them Dave. I have no idea….
John: Yea, and how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Matt: I could tell you!
John: Yea, three (laughing). We use to fight for those co-jacks and she use to have candy for sale too. Three and two buddy boy, three and two. That is where your seats were, three tiles over and two tiles back.
Dave: There you go, keep your kids separated.
John: Oh yea, and I guess we had something in common Dave over the weekend, didn’t we? We were both throwing up all weekend.
Dave: Man, you had a hard weekend man.
John: I mean, I tell you….. I thought I had a flat in the race, it wasn’t bad enough…. I mean we had a pretty fast car in practice and then we put on a set of stickers and almost spun out twice going into three, so we changed the car a little bit. And when we went out to qualify and whatever…… it was just not good. Then we got into the race and I thought I had a flat, so I pitted. Which, I guess a lot of other people, I don’t know if it was the tire or what, but a lot of people had a feel like that. It started raining on pit road, just as I got my tires. Then a caution came out, so I was two laps down. We go to the restart, I pull up to the front of the restart, and the pan arm bar, which holds the rear end square to the car. It broke going into fourth gear on the front straight away. Which never happens, you never pull a hind joint. Which is the technical term for the do-hickey that holds the thing together. (laughing) It came apart and that never happens. I thought I was going to wipe the whole field out. I really did. I was all over the place trying to hold on to that thing. Then we managed to go fast enough to catch an accident. (laughing) It was just…. The King will not stand next to me any more. He is afraid the ceiling is going to fall in and I do not blame him. If I could get away from myself I would. (laughing)
Dave: Tell him King, if you want to go into the trailer, I am the one who has to really be out here right now.
John: He told me, he said, don’t be looking to me to find any good luck. I used all of mine up in the last 30 years, before you ever got here. So….(laughing)
Dave: And Kyle was right there with you.
John: Richmond we had a good car, I think a top 15 car. And that is a story inside of it’s self. Then Charlotte, I had Terry Labonte come up to me this weekend and he said I apologized to the King and I apologized to Kyle, I guess I need to talk to you. And I said, aw don’t worry about it. Because Terry Labonte is such a good and clean racer… He is one of the few guys…. The guys that will come up and tell you are the guys you have a lot of respect for. I knew he would and I was not worried about it. It was unfortunate it happened. It ruined our night at Charlotte. Then at Dover we just struggled. And Dover is a place that Kyle loves, which really surprised me. For me that is one thing, because I am not the most fond guy of Dover, but Kyle loves it. The last race that Kyle won was at Dover. So we are looking at a couple different things. Kyle is taking a new kind of body style, it is still going to be a Dodge, but the body is hung a little different. It is the best we have according to the wind tunnel at Petty Enterprises, so he is taking it up to Pocono this weekend and hopefully things go well there. We are building a few more of them now, so hopefully we will have one soon.
Dave: What are your thoughts with Dodge and them pulling all their support from Bill Davis? They are concerned about them talking to Toyota, I think that just shows the concern the manufactures have about them coming into the series.
John: I think the manufacturer looks and says the support we give is technical and financial. When it comes to financial, it does not mean they write you a check. They discount or give you engine parts and pieces, things you have to have from the manufacturer….noses, tails, roofs, deck lids, and what ever have you. Then they also give you wind tunnel time. So, what this does mostly is effects Bill Davis technically from the information they would learn in the wind tunnel as a Dodge group. But, more on the financial side of it, Bill is going to have to pay for things he would have gotten, but obviously he will be over there pushing for Toyota to… if that is the avenue that has been taken… to step it up to get ready and come it. I tell you when they come in there is another manufacturer and they are all serious about what they do, so they are going to make it more competitive.
Dave: I don’t know if you know, but it has gone past rumor that Chevrolet is working with Cogsworth, which is Ford about putting an engine together to compete in the IRL next year.
John: I think that Chevrolet, I mean Chevrolet and forget who ever the manufacturer is. They are in racing to win and obviously to win, you have to pull out all the stops, because the guy next to you is going to do it. It is no different from the manufacturer, to the race teams, to the drivers, to everything else. Everything has to be on full kill and if you are running 90%, someone is going to beat your socks off. Obviously Chevrolet is a tough competitor and they are going to work hard at it over in the IRL. And obviously they work at it hard in Winston Cup, they are having a lot of success at it already. Of course the is also a lot of competition from Dodge and others.
Dave: Have you talked to Michael yet about the 500?
John: No, I haven’t spoke to him since the 500, I spoke to him just before the 500. Obviously, we talked about it last week and the week before. I am going to take the time to call him, but I hate to bother him, but I guess shoot now he is retired. He has time.
Dave: Yea, he has plenty of time on his hands.
John: He has always had time for me, but now he has more.
Dave: Get him down there to help you guys in Randleman.
John: I don’t know if he has phone service on the beach he is probably laying on (laughing).
Dave: Yea, I imagine it is just sand, sun, and surf at that beach.
John: I tell you if I was him and in his place…. Ummm… Well I know he is not doing that, but I would seriously consider it. (laughing)
Dave: The Indy Car Series goes to Texas this week and those are some unbelievable races when those cars hit that race track.
John: He is probably as busy now or busier than he has ever been. Running around making sure all the pieces of the puzzle are put together. Before as a driver all he had to worry about was the go fast department and as a owner you have to worry about everything. So, he has his hands full, but he has Kim Green and those guys are great people. I am excited to see how things will go for him, but I don’t think he will get withdrawals, even though my uncle still has them. (laughing)
Dave: I know, he still talks about it. And he sure did good until that one accident in testing this spring.
John: I tell you if Michael walked up and offered him a deal, he would take it.
Dave: I am sure he would. Where are you guys off to this weekend?
John: We are off to Pocono.
Dave: You like that track.
John: Yes we do, and I am going back to see the family. We are heading out tomorrow and visit a little bit. It is always fun to go up there. And they have different kinds of foods and drinks up there, so we go up there…. and no we don’t get drunk and go terrorize the village or whatever.
Dave: Act like Matt?
John: Yea, but we have a good time. We go up there and visit with everyone and it is a lot of fun.
Dave: Have a relaxing week, good luck, it has to turn around for you some time. Get it dialed in at Pocono and get a win there. You have won before in a go-kart.
John: We won there in a go-kart, but I had a huge wreck there in an Indy car. Dr. Tramel, that is how I got invited to his party.
Dave: Oh yea?
John: The one where he invites everyone he has worked on. (laughing) I got my invitation.
Dave: Well take care up there. If you get a chance Saturday night check out the Indy Series guys. I know most of you Winston Cup guys watch those races when you are not on the track yourself.
John: Everybody watches them. We get up and watch Formula One, we watch it all and talk about it. You go up in somebody’s hauler and Formula One is on, we have to wait until it is over before we have our conference.
Dave: (laughing) There you go, we will put on a great show for you Saturday night.
John: The IRL is going to be great. It is going to be a great time.
Dave: Take care and we will talk to you next week.
John: Thanks.
THE END