With Bobby Rahal, Vitor Meira, Buddy Rice, Roger Yasukawa
TOM BLATTLER: We thank everybody for coming in the rain. This is the first time Team Rahal has run three cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and obviously from some of our speeds you have seen, we look pretty competitive right now. We'll start off with Bobby making an announcement, and then we'll get into questions and talk with all the guys how qualifying and the race looks for them.
BOBBY RAHAL: Thanks, Tom. And I echo Tom's appreciation for all of you being here. It's good to see you. It's my first day here this week, and I'm glad I got up at 5 to come to the rain. (Laughter) And I didn't bring it, I came from the East. But in any event, I am very pleased to really sort of confirm, I suppose, that Team Rahal's name for entry purposes for the remainder of this year and beyond has been changed to Rahal Letterman Racing, which I think far more aptly describes our relationship with – my relationship with David. While Team Rahal probably was appropriate at a certain point in time, I think David's involvement, while being the same as it has been from day one, nevertheless, I think it far more – the new name far more reflects accurately the role he plays on the team and what he does for us. So I'm very pleased to have everything known as Rahal Letterman Racing. Team Rahal still exists as a corporation, certainly, but Rahal Letterman Racing is an Ohio LLC that operates under the Team Rahal corporate banner. So form now on I would appreciate it if you would convey that to the public under the Rahal Letterman Racing name and really that's about it. Any questions about that, I'm happy to answer, or if David is coming, which I believe he is for race weekend. Anyway, then of course you want to talk to the real stars, not the old washed-up one.
Q: Bobby what took so long? I mean he's been involved with this for a number of years and never quite visible.
RAHAL: Well, we were Rahal Letterman last year here at Indianapolis. Of course, that was more of a one-shot deal being at Indy for us, although we did run obviously one car in the IRL series last year. But the Indy effort was much more of a Rahal Letterman program. And that probably paid homage or homage or credit to David's roots here in Indiana and how important this race was to him, is -- was and is to him. But making the kind of commitment that we've made to the Indy Racing League that, not just three here, but two for the remainder of the year, I just felt that it was time to really formalize it and, as I say, give -- not that we didn't give credit where credit was due, but just make it more of a formal change and one that would go on for as long as the team is in existence. So I think making that step that we made this year to the IRL by not being would involved in Champ Car I think that was probably the motivator to a large degree.
Q: Does this mean he has more of an interest in the team now?
RAHAL: No, his interest is the same, as I said. I look at it as we've kind of transitioned in the last sixth months and the time was appropriate to do so. And, frankly, I think it sounds pretty good, too.
Q: Are we going to see more of your partner at the races?
RAHAL: Well, Chris, I wish he came to every one. His schedule, it's so demanding that I think when he gets a chance to rest, he takes it, takes advantage of that. And traveling to races all over the country, while it might be fun, it's probably not very restful for him. As I say, he'll be here. Last year he came to one or two more races. Usually he's never been to more than two or three anyway. But obviously he watches them. We hope, but I don't see -- I see nothing that would make me think that he'll be at more than that, as I say, the two or three.
Q: What was his reaction when you told him this? What was his reaction to you? I know he has a quote here?
RAHAL: Well, last year he was pleased, you know. As I say, I think it has always been a very good partnership, and I felt that -- and this was very motivated by my sense of, I think my sense of what I felt this relationship was all about, and it was time to bring him in, in a more public way so that he was given the credit. He's pretty quiet about it, although I don't think anybody promotes racing on television more than he does. But I just thought it was the right time.
Q: So which driver will get to go on his show? (Laughter)
RAHAL: Well, whichever one wins. They can win other races, too, and still be on the show.
Q: Bobby, and this is for the drivers as well. The Honda powerplant has been amazing this month of May so far and we haven't really seen any engines really let go. We talked a little yesterday with some of the guys about reliability factors. Are there any signs of these things letting go at any point? And have you run anything over 500 miles yet?
RAHAL: Well, first off, I think the Honda engine has been -- and these guys can tell you, for sure, because they've been driving them -- but from the outside looking in, I think the Honda engine has been certainly the best engine to date, even though this is a new specification. But from the start of the year, the pole with Buddy in Homestead and of course Wheldon's win in Japan. If you looking at qualifying, it was pretty clear. It takes a great car too, but certainly the powerplant is extremely critical. So I think they have done a tremendous job to this point. Obviously, yeah, I'm sure -- I know they've been working extremely hard, and I think I'm sure there are engines that have been run 500 miles, whether it's been on a dyno or in a car. That's no guarantee, but certainly I personally, and the drivers can tell you their own feelings, but personally I feel very confident about the performance of the engine and the reliability, as confident as one can ever feel for this race.
PAUL KELLY: If we could ask everyone if you do have a question, just to raise your hand because they're trying to get a transcript of this, and it's a lot easier for the transcriptionist to hear your questions on the mike. Thanks.
Q: Bobby, a little history lesson for some of us. Could you tell us how your relationship with David Letterman began?
RAHAL: My relationship with Dave started in '86 after I won here, I was on the show, I think it was in the fall of that year. And we used to race at the Meadowlands. So every time we went in there -- he says I'm the only guy that ever took him to dinner. But every time I'd go in there, I would go see him, I'd ask him to dinner or go see the show or what have you. Just over time it just, the relationship grew. And then when we raced at the Meadowlands, he would come to that race. At first he said, ‘Geez, if you ever start a team, I'd be interested.’ That was probably six or seven years before we actually did. And so the day that I decided to start Team Rahal I called him up and I said, ‘Well, do you still feel the way you did seven years ago or so?’ He said, ‘Absolutely. Where do I sign up?’ And that's how it started, in terms of creating Team Rahal. But our relationship, as I say, I was on the show several times. When I'd go to New York, I'd see him, we'd talk cars, stuff like that, and it just kind of built over time.
Q: Am I allowed to digress? I'd like to find out from your drivers, Bobby, if this year's specification car is easier or harder to drive than the older specification, are the drivers asked more today than they were a year ago today? Buddy?
RICE: I think with the way the rule package is and the aero package on the car, definitely. Because with the dome skid being put on the cars and they're raising the cars 10 millimeters, now the undertray is not nearly as efficient in producing the same downforce numbers as last year. Also I think as you gain in speed down the straightaway there's more downforce put on by the body. With us being slowed down not only by running the 3-liter engine and taking some horsepower away and also raising the car, it's definitely put more of a demand both the engineer and the driver to make sure to hit the setup or the sweet spot has been narrowed up. I think definitely there's been more of a demand been put on from those aspects. But I think it looks obviously with the way the competition and stuff, there's more people that are switched down this year so you see that the times are a lot closer than they have been in the past few years. But just going from last year's spec to this year's spec, I think definitely there's more of a demand put on the engineers and the drivers to get the setup right, especially when it comes to full tanks.
Q: Your view, Roger?
YASUKAWA: Yeah, I think I agree with Buddy, just generally speaking. I think the car is more affected to the weather condition, especially the wind, probably because we're running the height much higher than last year. To hit the sweet spot is very difficult, you know. Overall I think we're going a little bit slower, I think because of the 3-liter engine we're going a little bit slower through Turn 2 and 4. I feel that those two corners seems a little bit easier than last year, but definitely Turn 1 and 3 is more demanding than last year. So overall I think it's a harder car to drive.
Q: Your view, Vitor.
MEIRA: I agree with everybody in the one thing that makes even harder at Indianapolis from the transition from 3.5 to 3-liter is that the power bend is a little more, so you really have to carry the momentum all over the track. If you just lift a little bit once you really lose a lot of time. And that's another thing that even is making more difficult because you really have to keep the momentum and the car has to be right to make this happen, even by yourself or traffic or whatever. That's another thing that it's making even more demanding.
Q: The blueprint of this track shows four identical turns. Why are two turns more difficult than the other two turns?
RICE: Well, I think that obviously the straight aways are so long that when you carry speed into 1 and 3 the mile an hour is up higher than it's going to be when you go into 2. Because no matter what, as the car goes through the turn, it's going to scrub speed. Also I think with what happens with the weather out here, different from the weather maybe out on the West Coast and stuff, but from all the heat, then the ground freezes here and then it comes back every year it keeps changing, so what that's doing is changing the surface also. So every year the bumps get worse. It's been a long time since Tony (George) has obviously repaved the track, and that's going to be coming soon a new paving job. But definitely just the way the weather is out here changes all the turns differently just from the expansion and the shrinking from the weather.
Q: Pick the easiest turn and the hardest turn?
RICE: Four is the easiest, and then I would say 1 is probably the toughest one because of the stands and the way the wind comes across and also because it has the most amount of bumps in there.
Q: Do you share that view, Roger?
YASUKAWA: Yeah, I think so. Again, that's the beauty of this track and the challenging part. I think 4 is the easiest turn, and 1 and 3 is the most difficult one. Certainly 1 probably because it feels like it's more blind because of the grandstand and the wall, bigger grandstand on Turn 1 coming up to you. So 1 is the most difficult corner.
Q: You got a favorite Vitor?
MEIRA: Well, for sure they look from outside and also looking at the numbers and degrees and the banking and everything, they look like the same. But from inside, they are completely different turns. It's not one oval circuit; it's four different turns. What I prefer the most for sure is Turn 1 because it's the one you really have to work on it. If your car is good in Turn 1, you have a good car. It might not be the best on the other turns, but you have a good car, for sure, because of the momentum you have to carry also.
Q: To follow-up on Chris's first question, do you guys like the fact that it's a more difficult car to drive. If you could each address that. (Laughter)
RICE: All right. Yeah, because I think it puts more of a role back on the driver, which with some of the other tracks and the way the rule packages have been at some of the other places -- I mean, for instance, even at Homestead when we were still running the 3.5-liter, you could leave the pits basically, put the throttle on the floor and just drive it around. It was definitely much more of an engineering exercise all the way up until it came time for us to go into the race and stuff and then it changes a little bit. But definitely coming here it's taking a lot more of putting us in the mix of things, and we can do a lot more to help out the engineers. It let's us put more of an impact on exactly what's going to happen because it's not just necessarily a running dyno all the time for us. It's nice to go to the smaller ovals because I think that's why a lot of the guys like those is because we play more of a role in both coming up through the testing and qualifying even before we get to the race.
Q: Roger.
YASUKAWA: Yeah, I think I agree with Buddy on that, too. I think the car is definitely more challenging. Throughout the long runs I think the car needs to be balanced well. Again with the 3-liter engine the momentum is everything and if your car falls off and you start lifting, I think the speed will slow down a lot more than what we saw last year. So, a difference between a good car and bad car is going to be much bigger than last year. And in order to be fast here, I think you need to set up the car to be good throughout the stint. So that's basically going to be based on our feedback to the engineer, and we certainly need to have a good car to do so. So I think for that reason I like the change and think we're looking good.
MEIRA: It's definitely demanding, and also I've been trying to run on full tanks all the time here since the beginning, and even with full tanks it is slowing down the car and making it heavier, it's really still really demanding. We carry 30 gallons of fuel, and that's a lot of weight, and the car changes a lot toward the -- from the full tanks to the empty tanks. And it's definitely making more demanding all through, I mean the whole way through the run, even on qualifying runs and also quite a lot on full-fuel tanks run.
Q: I would distill these comments. In addition to having to have driving skills, judgment is more important this year than in the past?
MEIRA: Right.
Q: Thank you.
Q: Bobby, just looking at the drivers' suits and what you found for Roger and Vitor as far as sponsorships go, put the cart in front of the horse here and look to the day when Kenny (Brack) decides to return and run in the series again, any chance of having a four-car team?
RAHAL: Well, I think anything is possible. I think it has definitely been an advantage for us to have three cars here. It was certainly a disadvantage for us last year to have one car, car, particularly with the restriction in testing and what have you. I think that's been the strength of some of these multi-car teams, particularly if they're properly organized. It's just a huge plus, much more so now than I think it was say five or 10 years ago. If everything worked out where we could keep these three guys plus Kenny, that would be a win-win, as far as I'm concerned. I've been very pleased with the job these young men have done for us this year. I'm excited about this coming weekend and the race. I think we've never had a better chance to win this race in all my years of coming here I suppose and, as I say, much of that is due to their working well together and the changing of information and the commitment. Vitor has been doing all the grunt work, so to speak, with the race configuration, which isn't much fun for a young driver when he sees his teammates going a lot faster, getting the headlines, and there he is plodding around in the back. But I'm confident that, because they've communicated and worked well together, each and every one of them is going to have a really good chance at pole position come Saturday. So, yeah, if we could bring Kenny in and have all these sponsors stay with us for the remainder of the year, we absolutely would run four.
Q: Kind of a similar question from a sponsorship statement. This is for Roger and/or Bobby. What or who is Sammy?
RAHAL: Roger.
YASUKAWA: I actually have to answer that question almost every day. Sammy is basically a company that manufactures Pachinko machine and slot machines in Japan, which is a pretty big market. They're still in process, and I think they have just bought Sega, a computer game company. So they're looking into becoming more of an entertainment company just rather than Pachinko or a slot machine manufacturer. So right now they do slot machine, Pachinko. They're getting into cartoons, a little bit of movies. So entertainment, in general.
RAHAL: My daughter Samantha thinks it's because of her. (Laughter)
Q: I'm wondering, Bobby, is Dave going to send you a box of Cubans for this thing?
RAHAL: Well, if we win, I'll bet, at least that. Yeah, I don't know. I don't smoke cigars, but if we win I think I'll light one up.
Q: There you go. Give us a perspective. When these guys talk about handling and cars that are harder to deal with, compare that to when you drove.
RAHAL: Well, I think it sounds very similar to the days, particularly in the '80s and even the early '90s, but in the '80s when the speeds really started to climb and horsepower started to climb back up. I remember it was difficult to -- we ran I think in '87, we ran 217 or so around here, and that took a lot of doing. I remember in '82 coming here to break 200 took a lot of doing with the configuration that was present at the time. And I don't ever remember being able to just put your foot down and drive it around flat foot for -- to do it for four laps took a lot of effort. So I like the idea that somehow the cars are a little less -- that they're less, I don't want to say stable, but that the driver has to contribute more than just his pure bravery. He has to use judgment and he has to use his intelligence and he has to work well with the engineers. And also to take the car, you know -- the thing about this place is for you to find out what the car really wants to do, you have to extend yourself, you have to commit to a certain level just to see what it's going to do. Obviously, you want to commit to a point that allows you to get out of a situation if it starts to go bad. But unless you really push the car, you're never going to be able to take it to the next step or the next level. So I like the idea that that's back much more so than it has been in the past several years. And I think it does -- you will see it on Race Day, you will see big differences. While that may not mean the closest racing out there, I think you're going to see the cream -- like anything, you will see the cream rise to the top, and it will make for a great race. And I anticipate the buzz and the excitement for this coming weekend and this race to be no less so than it ever was. I think it's going to be a great year.
Q: Bobby, with you being the '86 champion here and David's ties to Indiana, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the likelihood of not having a 33-car field.
RAHAL: Well, I know tradition is a tough thing at times. It causes people to do things that they probably wouldn't do otherwise. I guess I'm not -- I've always been one that thought quality was better than quantity. And certainly, you know, I remember in '82 and '3 you had very few really super competitive cars and there were a lot of cars that weren't very well prepared and weren't around after 10 or 20 laps. Certainly, just from being a traditionalist, I'd love to see 33 cars, but to me it would not make the race less so if there wasn't. I think certainly the economy is having an effect. It's even having an effect on NASCAR. If they're affected by it, for sure we're going to be affected by it. I don't agree with what we saw earlier, was it Daytona where one guy showed up without even crew and when he ran out of fuel that was it. I don't think NASCAR liked that either, by reading all the reports afterwards. So I'd much rather have 28 or 9 really strong cars than 28 or 9 really strong cars and four field fillers. Because those field fillers are going to affect the race. Those guys are going to be getting lapped in 10 laps, 15 laps, and you don't want to see anybody out there that doesn't deserve to be out there.
Q: Bobby, how important is the restart technique on the part of a driver? I know that you were the master of that. Do you have classes for these guys on restarts?
RAHAL: I yell at them. (Laughter) I tell them there's no easier time to pass somebody than on a restart. I think it was Roger or Vitor were saying with the lack of torque and with the even greater peakiness of these engines, restarts, judging traffic, when to pass, when to start their getting the run at the guy, that's going to be the telling tale of this race, is who is going to be able to understand, you know, the closing rates and where you want to pass a guy and where you don't want to and how much are you willing to give a little bit to get the guy at the right place. Because what we saw last, Castroneves got balked a little bit in traffic and that's all de Ferran needed. That's going to be even more so this year. And that's where the driver intelligence and everything else is really going to come into play. So it's going to make for a very interesting race. I think restarts are going to be super critical, especially if there's one with five to 10 laps to go where traffic won't be an issue, lap traffic, because you'll have five or 10 laps of free, clear track ahead of you. And who can do what I did in '86 is going to be pretty hard to beat with five laps to go. So, yeah, I think it's going to be -- the smartest driver is going to win this race, no question.
Q: If we lose a lot of time to rain today and tomorrow, which we may, the forecast is pretty iffy for both days, how is this going to affect qualifying and adjust in general your preparations? How much is this going to set you guys back?
RICE: Well, I think with the way the team scheduled our testing and stuff with Roger and I doing more of the outright speed stuff, right now I think we're pretty well set. We do have some fine-tuning and some massaging we want to do, and I think there's still some left in our cars. So with that, I don't think that if we don't get on track today it will be that big of a setback for us. Also with Vitor running on full tanks all week long, I mean we have a very good start starting next week to start setting up for our race pace. So everyone has been doing their job, like we've bought into do. I think right now Team Rahal is looking really good, we're very pleased with our cars right now, and we're definitely prepared if we had to go into qualifying right now I think we could be a contender for the front row, if not the pole, and I think that's what we're looking at.
Q: Bobby, as a car owner with no real battle to get in the race, does three days of qualifications become a bit excessive? Does the schedule become a bit excessive? Is there a waste of money and perhaps even an unnecessary risk of danger?
RAHAL: I don't think so. Let's face it, it could rain all weekend, and all of a sudden that third day is going to be pretty important. You don't want to -- it would have to be to me a last, last, last resort to set the grid by championship standings. I guess that's not such an issue for me at any other race in the series but for this one it would be an issue. Because winning the pole has always been a huge deal here. Being on the front row has been a huge deal here. And you would hate to see those go just by the basis of where you might be up to this point in the championship. So I don't think it is onerous in terms of time and effort. I don't think we've ever been here where the weather has been great every day of the month, so invariably you get days like today. I don't think it's bad. I don't think it's any more dangerous than otherwise. As Buddy said, I feel we're ready. If we had to qualify, if it rained today and tomorrow and we show up there on Saturday morning, we're ready to go I think.
Q: Gentlemen, this Indy Racing League competition has been noted for the ability to pass, be passed, and the rules have kind of made it a little bit more difficult to get up close to a guy. Do you think we're going to see the same kind of stuff that we've had in the past occurring here and through the season because of the changes in rules?
RICE: I mean so far with the way the rules have been with the 3.5-liter through the first part of the season I think there's been pretty good racing. I think maybe for the short oval stuff we're going to need more downforce to make the racing more exciting and to make it more competitive for everyone. But definitely on big speedway stuff -- at Homestead there's obviously a big pack of us all running together, people are changing. It just depends on how the rules are going to be. This is the first time everyone has run the dome skid and the first time that we've run the 3-liter engine, so I think there's definitely a little bit of a learning curve for all the teams to have that and to keep playing with it and to learn exactly what they need for their cars. But obviously with the work that we've done with G Force and what our engineering staff has done, we're very pleased with where we're at. And obviously Honda has been doing an unbelievable job all season, both with the 3.5-liter and now coming with the 3-liter. And obviously Bob made the right decisions over the offseason to bring in the G Force chassis and the Honda combination, and that's obviously the right way to go and we're going to carry that all the way through the year and we've been very pleased with everything.
Q: Buddy, you said Team Rahal is looking pretty good. Bobby, shall we say Team Rahal-Letterman or should we stick to Rahal-Letterman Racing and not ever say Team Rahal again?
RAHAL: Old habits die hard.
Q: I just want to make sure, because Team Rahal seems to roll off the -- all right.
Q: Danny Sullivan was saying that qualifying here, the four laps was the most terrifying thing he's ever done in his life on a racetrack. I was wondering if you guys could put me in the mindset of when you're going for the pole what's going through your mind and is it terrifying?
RICE: Bob would be a good one to answer because he's got more miles than all three of us stuck together right now.
RAHAL: I don't think it's terrifying, but I don't know of any more four more pressure-packed laps in racing than these. I always felt there was a lot more pressure for qualifying than there was for the race. I thought the race was not anti-climatic, but a lot can happen in 500 miles. Particularly as the field started to get closer and closer, you had to make sure that a little bobble -- you could go from being on the first row to being on the fourth row, and nobody wants to do that. So, yeah, I wouldn't say terrifying, I would certainly say pressure packed.
Q: Just to follow, the terms of how much bravery it is versus smart and stuff, has that changed much over the years with the way the cars –
RAHAL: I don't know, I haven't driven these since '98. I don't think brave, dumb drivers ever do as well as brave, smart drivers, and usually the smarter you are the less brave you have to be. (Laughter) So at some point you have to stand up in your seat and grab hold of the thing and drive it, you know. But, as I say, it seems to me that the guys who -- there are a lot of guys in racing who have a lot of accidents, and there are a lot of guys in racing that don't have very many accidents, and I think that probably has something to do with IQ.
RICE: Also with the qualifying thing, though, like all year we have two laps to qualify. The biggest track, other than Michigan and Fontana, we're going to qualify is a mile and a half. Here is two-and-a-half miles of four laps. So to set the car up for qualifying is completely different than anywhere else we'll go. This is the most trimmed-out we'll run all year long. So to set this thing up to go that many miles, that many laps on the same set of tires is completely different than what we'll plan for all year. So that's what I think makes it very difficult for the engineers and everything is to make the car that consistent for four laps instead of just going out and blistering one off, because the whole setup of the car is completely different.
Q: Bobby, you came here back in the good old days, but you were here last year. Pole Day was exciting as it's ever been in some respects, and there was a crowd of like 30, 40,000. What do you think is missing and do you see it coming back at all? What do you think is missing about Pole Day? It used to be the second biggest crowd in sports in the world, only second to race day and now it seems the interest isn't really there. What do you think is missing there?
RAHAL: I have to say that even before the split, you know, Pole Day -- the attendance was declining anyway, so that's been ongoing for quite sometime. Why that is, I don't know precisely, other than perhaps there's more things to do for people. They don't want to be here for two weekends of one month. Memorial Day is a big commitment. Most people want to be at home with family. So just to be here on Race Day is a big commitment. I definitely think that it seems to me that just about everybody who is anybody -- the right people are here this year. Last year the buzz was certainly evident, and I think it's even greater this year. We won't see record speeds, obviously, that used to attract a lot of people. But obviously you're going to see a lot more, a lot closer and better race I think come Memorial Day. I also think maybe it was easier to come here on qualifying weekend in the past when they had general admission, what was it, five bucks to get in. Now you have to buy a seat and everything else. Although that's perhaps not much more -- I don't know. I don't know the real reason but it's been ongoing for many, many years, far more than since 1995 or '6. I don't know if it will ever get back to where it was, but certainly as the racing gets better and better and the drivers become more and more well known and all the things that need to happen, period, I think that will probably start to draw a lot more people for any event, for any day of any event. But I'm sure a lot of people have asked themselves why the crowds have declined over the last 20 some years, and I don't know if anybody has the answer.
Q: Vitor, you have talked about it, everybody has talked about the fact that you've been kind of the pack mule here, you've been working on the race setup while these guys are trying to go fast. Does this put you at any kind of a disadvantage going into qualifying or do you feel like you can get into the faster setup and still challenge these guys for the front row?
MEIRA: Not at all. That's the purpose of a three-car team. We have two guys working on qualifying setup, and one working on the racing setup. And yesterday we kind of tried the qualifying setup, and it was just great, fine. That's the beauty of a three-car team. On the same amount of time, which is seven hours of testing, we can gather the three-fold information that a one-car team would have. And it really helps in cases like today, and maybe tomorrow, the rain days and everything, for sure we would have a really good setup. The cars are the same. The only thing that changes is a little bit of weight on the drivers that we can figure out, and that's about it. I'm pretty sure if Buddy or Roger has a good qualifying setup, I'm going to have it too.
Q: Bobby, on a lighter note, I've always considered you to have pretty good fashion sense. Have you ever had to sit down with the three drivers and instruct them how to form the bill of a hat since there are three pretty extreme styles there?
RAHAL: No comment on Buddy's. The other guys look pretty good. (Laughter)
Q: Why does Buddy have his hat on backward?
RAHAL: As long as Buddy goes fast -- at least his hat is on the right way this year. As long as they're fast, they can -- not do everything, but they pretty much can do everything.
Q: Mine is a two-part question. The first one is, why does Buddy have his hat on backward this morning?
RAHAL: I didn't know that.
RICE: He did?
RAHAL: That's in contravention of his contract.
Q: And second, picking up on your comment that there dumb drivers on the track as well as smart drivers, how important is it for a driver to know the nuances, tastes and style of the driver in the car along side during the race?
RAHAL: I think it's -- especially when you're running as close as these guys run together now. No different than a pitcher in baseball, when a batter comes up he's got his notebook about what kind of pitch this guy likes to hit and what kind of pitch he doesn't like to hit. No different in racing, who can you trust, who can you run wheel-to-wheel with. I had it with when you were racing against guys like Rick Mears and Al (Unser) Jr., you could trust them implicitly that if you were side by side that they wouldn't do anything that would put either of you at risk, and I think they felt the same way. So you definitely have to have your notebook of what's this driver like, can I trust him, can I not trust him? Is he super-aggressive? Are his intentions known? Does he signal his intentions in a certain way? Not pointing, but just the way he drives you can tell. As I said, especially now that these guys are running wheel-to-wheel at a lot of these tracks, that's even more critical than it ever was.
Q: Do you have such a notebook?
RAHAL: I don't have it, but I hope these guys do.
RICE: You have a mental notebook. Most of us, I would say, have come up through the lower ranks and raced against each other at some point. Roger and I go back from racing go-karts in California in 1992 to where he and Roger have raced over in Europe together. There are other drivers I've raced against as well. So as you're coming up -- and you also watch -- even for some of the foreign guys that are coming over here to drive now, you've watched them drive over there, you have a mental notebook and you do know who you can and can't race against. You just have to know it.
Q: What do you do with a total stranger?
RICE: You have to be cautious. You don't know what they're going to do. Like I said, you have watched them come up. If they're going to be fast under a big team, you've obviously seen them come up from another series or from somewhere else and you know already their driving characteristics. But still if you're going to go race against them for the first time wheel-to-wheel, you have to throw a little bit of caution to the wind around them.
Q: Yesterday Tony Kanaan raised the issue about passing and said it was going to be very difficult during the race to pass from what he'd seen. I'd like the drivers to talk about that. What do you think about passing? What do you expect from what you've seen on the track?
RICE: I guess I'll answer this. I think -- I mean, we're just going to have to wait and see. I think with now the way the 3liter engine is with a little the less torque, the less horsepower, I think like these guys have been saying, it's going to put a lot of emphasis on momentum and chassis setup. But I think you will still see the same amount of passing that you have seen in previous years and also you've seen in the other speedways. Everything has just been dropped back a notch to come here to Indy. But I don't think it's going to change. Obviously, right now with the way everybody is gearing for qualifying, yeah, it's very difficult right now to make the car last very long in qualifying trim, we are so trimmed out to try to make the big speeds. But I think when it comes down to what we have seen in full-ank runs and I think how it's going to work in traffic, I think we'll be OK, I don't think it will be that big of an issue. But definitely momentum and definitely placing your passes at the right time to keep that up is going to be very important.
Q: Going back to what I was asking before about one guy working on the race setup while the other two are working on the qualifying setup. When you switch around, when you give information to each other, your engineers talk back and forth and so forth, how similar or dissimilar are your driving styles? How much of what Vitor does translates to what Roger or Buddy does and vice versa?
RICE: I think with the little bit of time that we've had with all three of us running together, I think it's worked out quite well. I think the first wave or that first portion of that working was actually at Motegi when the first time all three of us were on track. We all went out with the exact base setup to the T. I think all of our times were right together. I'm not exactly sure who was up front and who was in the back, but basically we all ran the same number. As the testing progressed as we got closer to the race we made minor adjustments and started going down our own paths a little bit, but basically all three cars were the same. And we've done that once again when we came here and started testing. At the start of the month, I think we all had a little bit different objectives that we needed to hit for the team to make sure that we helped all three of us out and it was all kind of separated, but I think you'll see obviously today Vitor now is finally going to be able to run on full-blown qualifying trim like we're at, and we'll all start working together to go down that route. When we start next week, we're going to all start on Vitor's full-tank setup. So it's all been translating quite well, and I think that's just a combination of what Bob said. It's what the engineers have been doing in the way of talking; it's what the three of us have been doing. When any one of us is running, if one of the others isn't, we're all down trying to listen, see where we're all at and we're all keeping up to speed on where everybody is at. Even though Vitor is on full tanks and we're on qualifying trim, we're still watching what the other one is doing so we're always kept up to speed so that when it comes time for us to flip-flop or do whatever it is we need to do that we already have a good idea, and it's paying off big right now, and hopefully come Saturday we'll see how well it pays off.
Q: Following up on the marketability aspect of this. Now that you're in this full time, what are some of your suggestions in terms of making these guys more visible, not just your team but IRL drivers in particular, given the quality of the racing that you have?
RAHAL: I don't know if I have any suggestions. I think they've already done a fair amount. You see it with the trucks and some of these things are doing and they have these fan evenings, you know, a night or two nights before the race, that one last year in Kentucky -- actually, it was in Cincinnati. It's just going to take some time, unfortunately. When you think about -- when I came to the series you had Andretti, Foyt, Unser -- well, Bobby had just retired. You had Al (Unser) Sr., you had Rutherford, Johncock, these guys had been around for 20 some years at that point. So it's a new breed here, and unfortunately it just takes time. But I think the racing -- I mean you have seen it -- we had a really good crowd in Miami this year, at Homestead, the best that I've seen since we've been there, and that's been since 1996 I think was the first year there. Last year in Kansas City and in Texas they get great crowds and Richmond and other places, so the racing is selling itself. These guys are, you know, starting to -- their racing is drawing more people, creating more interest and their notoriety is going to grow as it continues. Without question, you want sponsors that are going to promote their drivers. I think one of NASCAR's biggest strengths is the fact that the sponsors down there are out pushing that driver like there's no tomorrow, and the drivers are benefiting hugely from that. So as more and more sponsorship comes in and as the sell-ability of this aspect of the sport gets better, it's all going to start to feed on itself and it will start to grow. We've talked about this ad nauseam, in a very short period of time just about the entire, you know, I left, Danny (Sullivan) left, Rick (Mears) left, Mario (Andretti) left, you know. I mean there's just a vacuum at the top, and it just takes some time for it to come back, but I think it's on the path to doing that.
Q: Is it safe to say that the IRL is still going through growing pains, even though you have all these established teams over here?
RAHAL: Everything but NASCAR is going through growing pains right now, it seems. But I think that the IRL is certainly in the best situation of any of them, and that had a lot to do with why we made the commitment we made several months ago. As I said at the time, and I've always believed this, but I felt that the stronger the Indianapolis 500 became, the stronger open-wheel racing would become, and I think that's happening. I think that will continue to happen. And I'm confident that the path that's being followed -- while there can always be minor corrections -- I'm confident that the path it's on is the right one.
Q: Bob, for so many years the object was to try and go faster here, and now that you've kind of got to the point where you need to rein it in a little bit, could you talk a little bit about what the difference is maybe when you're in the seat? How many miles an hour makes a difference that you notice that kind of thing? What is the impact of 221 versus 216, that kind of thing?
RAHAL: I've always felt probably the hairiest lap I've ever done around here was about 200 miles an hour, and the most comfortable lap I ever did around here was 235 miles an hour. To me, it's the balancing of the car. If the thing is stuck, yeah, you know you're going fast, but the perception of speed or the sensation of speed is less than if you're kind of balancing the thing, it's in a drift, it's a little insecure and you're really up on your -- all your nerve endings are out there trying to make sure you pick up every little twitch, just because you have to be so far ahead of the car so if it starts to get go away from you, you can catch it. So while it was exciting to go out there every day and see how fast you could go -- they're doing the same thing now. The number is different, but the degree of difficulty to achieve the ultimate and the configuration that exists is no less challenging now than it was when you were doing 233 miles an hour around here. Yeah, I think you can tell one mile an hour difference. I mean, you can just feel it, the car feels free or whatever and you can feel it. But the degree of difficulty in going fast is not based on how fast you're going necessarily, it's how is the car relative to the speed you're trying to go. I hope that explained that fairly well.
Q: It did. Thanks.
Q: On the prestige of the Indy 500, how good is it to have a Newman-Haas back in the field?
RAHAL: Well, I think it's great, I think it's important. I'm glad Carl (Haas) made the decision. Obviously, I'd like to see him full time. But I don't think anybody can say -- I think what I particularly think about this year is nobody can say that it's less than it was. There are some new teams in here that are very, very good teams that would have been competitive 10, 15 years ago, but all the regulars are back, and I think that's great for this race, and I think it's great for the fans. That's why I say I think this race is going to be a tremendous race.
KELLY: Any more questions at all for Bobby, Vitor, Roger or Buddy Rice?
BLATTLER: I just wanted to mention, all three of these guys were rookies last year, and ironically they finished 10th, 11th and 12th.
RAHAL: So we're going for 1,2, 3 this year.
BLATTLER: Thanks everybody for coming out.
