Ryan Briscoe, Matt Jonsson, Tim Cindric
Friday, May 27, 2011
MODERATOR: Welcome to the Economaki Press Conference Center for a very big part of the full festivities of the running of the Indianapolis 500, the pit stop competition. Some money, of course, and a lot of prestige and pride involved in this, as well.
Tim, I'll turn to you. Normally we have the driver as the star of the show, and rightfully so; they're the ones out there putting it all on the line. But this is an event that really showcases the people that can get you into Victory Lane and this is their moment to shine, your team behind you.
TIM CINDRIC: Yeah, thank you. The stars of this program obviously are these guys behind us, Matt and his guys. Rick Rinaman also had a big part in getting these guys prepared in the offseason. Obviously, he's been on the other side of the wall before in his own right. But you're right, this isn't a day about anything more than the pride that comes to winning this particular contest. Our organization spends a lot of time preparing for this because it's just a testament to the dedication and the execution it takes on Race Day.
MODERATOR: One of the things I've always really admired about Mr. Penske when it comes to this event, he makes if very clear, "I want to win every contest that is held, period," that's what he says, Matt. You've won this yourself in 2005, and this is a moment of pride for you as well. Congratulations.
MATT JONSSON: Thank you very much. Yeah, it's not just for me; it's obviously for the guys, the whole crew here. I want to mention the 12 car and the 3 car. The pit practice, they put up such a great challenge that it raises our bar as a team, as well. And certainly thanks to Rick (Rinaman) that does our coaching anymore. Same thing, Ryan as you said, you know, it's about the driver, as well. He's very consistent coming in right on his marks, cool, calm and collected all around. The whole crew, Ryan and everything. That's why the stops are so consistent, I think.
MODERATOR: Rick is the ultimate warrior. How much does it kill him not to be flying over there with you?
JONSSON: Hopefully he is flying over there with us.
RYAN BRISCOE: Actually, he was hanging over the wall cheering me on before all this started.
CINDRIC: I think Rick is more nervous not doing it.
JONSSON: Yeah, you know, it's the never-die spirit, and that carries over to the whole team. Roger has the same spirit, and it rubs off on the whole team, that's for sure.
MODERATOR: Ryan, I suspect as a driver we always look at you when you're standing in Victory Lane and getting your picture and there's the glory, et cetera. We don't get the behind-the-scenes look when you have to go by and look at Tim Cindric and Roger Penske in the eye when things didn't go well. In this competition, this is where you can really screw up and the glory gets taken away from these individuals behind you. Do you feel pressure in this event?
BRISCOE: Yeah, sure. This event is really all about these guys behind me and all the work they put in in these couple of weeks we're here practicing every day. But year round back in Mooresville, they're practicing every single week and putting in the hours so that we can come here and try to win this and win races with good pit stops. Certainly for me today with all the fans, it's a day for them to showcase themselves in front of everybody, and really all I can do is screw it up for them. I just try to be consistent, hit my marks, and try to treat it as though I'm in the race. That's exactly what I have to do in a race situation and be consistent, hit my marks, and it makes it good for these guys, too.
Q: Ryan and Tim and Matt even, you're sponsored by IZOD for this race, and they sponsored the pit stop thing, so you've already kind of given them a return on their investment, so to speak. How important was it to do that for them being a new sponsor?
CINDRIC: With IZOD coming on board, you know, we've been trying to get them in Victory Lane here the first few races; we've been really close. There would be nothing better or nothing sweeter than to win this race, but to win the pit stop contest with their name on it is awesome. Now we've just got to get Jeff to get these guys a trophy. That's the next step in this program.
BRISCOE: No, I agree, a trophy would be great. They certainly deserve one. But I think on Sunday, you know, these pit stops are definitely going to help us get to the front. It's so important every single race, and this race more than any other because we'll be having six, seven, eight, maybe nine pit stops on Sunday, and it can really make a big difference. We have a good pit stall in the race, that's going to help us, too, and I believe we'll have a great race car. All things put together, pit stops included, hopefully we can get to the front and go racing for the win here.
Q: Obvious question: Pit stops will be a major part Sunday for a victory, and any three of you, what makes this pit crew better or different than the other crews out there today?
CINDRIC: You can answer that, Matt.
JONSSON: Like I said before, I think the 3 and the 12 is very, very good, as well. It's really, like I said, I mean Ryan did his part today, which it's huge for us that he comes in at the same speed, is very consistent. Yeah, any three of Penske's pit crews could have won this today, I'm going to say.
CINDRIC: I think the competition has really gone up. When I look at how many teams tried out for the contest this year and the competition and the fact that Helio's team barely made the contest this year, which is a testament to the amount of competition that's out there. I think the biggest thing this contest does is it gives these guys just a little bit more confidence than maybe what they would have had going into Race Day.
MODERATOR: Let's talk about that for a second. Tim, I hate to tell you this, but we normally see a whole lot more of you during the month of May, on Pole Day and fastest days and that's something that you've prided yourself on. And this has been for you a struggle of a month. How much does this help?
CINDRIC: Well, Saturday didn't turn out how we like. We were the fastest on Thursday, we were the fastest on Friday, but we weren't fastest on the day that really paid the most. We feel like that day got away from us. I think we understand it for the most part, and this is a place where you have to put that behind us. You know, you can have that, and come Monday there won't be a lot of talk about where everybody started, it's going to have a lot to do with how you executed on Race Day. So fortunately the big race hasn't occurred yet, and I think we're well positioned there and pit stops are going to be a huge part of it.
MODERATOR: Your team always prides itself on strategy and at times have proven that. Helio has won races here where things did not go well here, Ryan. You've got some ground to make up. I would assume, given your years of strategy, more than ever these people are important to you.
BRISCOE: Yeah, definitely. But people have had -- lots of drivers that have won this race have had things happen, including Hornish in '06, and that was right at the end of the race and got a penalty. We're sitting pretty good here with 200 laps to go. We've got a good race car. Certainly, qualifying didn't go the way we wanted. It would be nice to be starting further in front. We'll certainly have to be careful on the start where we are, middle of the ninth row. A lot can happen that's out of our hands. So I'm certainly going to have to have eyes open and be on my toes. But we've got a long way to go. Roger is going to be working my strategy, and he's a master of it. I'm going to be doing my part, and my guys here will be doing their part. Hopefully it's all good enough that we can get to the front and race for the win.
Q: This is for Matt. Speaking of penalties, we saw with the D&R guys on Justin's pit stop, the dangers of what happens when somebody runs over the air hose. Those are pretty serious things that happen when the car runs over the air hose and catches one of the crew members.
JONSSON: Yeah, there's certainly a risk to this and, therefore, you need discipline. You know, like I said, cool, calm and collected is what needs to go on in pit lane really, and that goes between fuel, tires, driver and the whole kit. Something goes wrong, it's normally someone that's -- mistakes obviously happen but, also, if you panic, it just fuels the fire, so to speak. So you've just got to do your thing, and everybody does their job. It's a team, it's a team effort. If every piece of that team goes together, it's a great pit stop basically. So then it's safe, as well.
MODERATOR: Other questions from our group?
Can you relax in these next few days, Ryan?
BRISCOE: Well, you know, it's pretty busy, to tell you the truth. I've got a few appearances the rest of the day today. And tomorrow we've got the parade, which is always a lot of fun. But we've got a bit of work. We haven't had much time to sit down after final warm-up and still got a bit of work to do, but we'll do whatever it takes to be ready for the race on Sunday.
MODERATOR: I'm sure you will. And there's your group and you've got to feel proud about it.
BRISCOE: Yep, yep. I want to thank everybody, especially these guys.
MODERATOR: Thank you again for coming in.
CINDRIC: Thanks, guys.
