It is my pleasure now to welcome the 2004 Indy 500 winner. He is a truly a unique American original when it comes to motorsports. From Phoenix, Arizona, it is a great pleasure to introduce Buddy Rice. Buddy, good to see you.
BUDDY RICE: Thanks for having me back.
KING: Most certainly. Buddy, we just wrapped up in St. Petersburg over the weekend, that was historic event for the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series drivers, turning right and left for the first time. Before we talk about the 500, real quick about that, what did you think? The cars certainly looked great on that temporary street course.
RICE: Yeah, St. Pete was awesome. I think what Barry Green and his group did to get that track ready and all the promotions they did, to have all those people, it was awesome. It was great to be back on a road course. I've never driven an Indy car on a road course in race trim like that. It was exciting and being able to get back to your roots. For me, it was extremely exciting, and it was for everybody. I think the cars showed very well. There was a lot of passing for that track for it being a street course; and everything worked out well. We had to work our way from the back. If we didn't have one little error, I think we could have been third or fourth. I think it was an excellent, it was an excellent day for everybody at Rahal Letterman and with my teammate finishing right in front of me. It was extremely exciting to be back there running.
KING: Vitor was fifth, and you were sixth?
RICE: Seventh.
KING: And Danica Patrick also fared very well. She ran second behind Ryan Briscoe and Thomas Enge, I believe, for quite a while and it was a good day for Rahal Letterman Racing. It's almost hard to look back on the last year and think of what maybe you have done since winning the Indy 500. You've met with the president, you've driven tanks, you've thrown out pitches at Yankee Stadium. What has it been like, Buddy, the year following driving into Victory Lane here at the Speedway?
RICE: It's been just a dream come true. I mean, to be able to do, one, just to even come and race at this facility and be someone that can take part in is one thing and then to be one of the elites that wins it. I still don't think it's settled and it will be another few years probably before I completely understand the full effect of winning the 500. But it's been so busy and with what we had to focus on the rest of the year with Rahal Letterman chasing the championship and throughout the whole winter we had so much other stuff going on, there wasn't a whole lot of downtime and time to reflect. But I think in a couple years I'll have time to do that. Right now my main focus is to keep running up front and come back here and try to do the double-up. It's definitely possible. I'm with the right team and the right package to do that. So that would be great to come back here in 2005 and win again and go from there.
KING: Terry just wheeled the Borg-Warner Trophy into place there, and you were here a couple months ago to see your likeness unveiled. What was that like?
RICE: I don't know; it's weird to think you're permanently stuck on that trophy with so many awesome drivers and so many great people and what they're able to do. So I think one of the neatest things is when we accepted the Baby Borgs up in Detroit with both Bob (Rahal) and Dave (Letterman) and all three of us together to get ours, that was one of the most exciting moments after the 500 win to be able to go with both those guys and accept those awards. So it's just been an awesome year since I left here and I hope I can come back, like I said, and do it again because this is just a dream come true.
KING: You got your champion's ring from Herff Jones, and it was a little tight, I remember. Have they resized it for you yet?
RICE: No, no resizing, I'm not letting anybody have that right now. It sits in its case just right next to the Baby Borg.
KING: When are you going to wear it?
RICE: I don't know if I'm going to wear it right now. It will take a little bit for me to wear it. I don't know; I'm just not ready to wear it yet.
KING: What 2004 also did for you, Buddy, was I guess underline your place in this series as not just a competitor but as a driver that should be viewed as a contender each and every time out. You've signed a long-term extension with Rahal Letterman Racing; we'll see you in the No. 15 Argent Mortgage/Pioneer car for many years to come. In many ways, 2004 was a life-changing year for you.
RICE: In many ways. First off, I had to come in and fill in for a former points winner and 500 winner with Kenny (Brack), and those were big shoes to fill. That guy, he's done a lot in his lifetime and to step into that kind of position, I think, and have to work with that team that fast on all the new adjustments they made, but also they had to overcome that crash that he had. And to go from there, obviously you knew fairly on in the season I was in for the full season but still we had a lot of makeup to do and things to take care of. Finally by the 500, everything had come together for us and that got the ball rolling for us, and that helped us chase to third in the championship. Obviously, we had some unfortunate incidents throughout the year, but some were self-inflicted on our own, and some we couldn't control. But we had an excellent '04 season, and I come back for my second full year, not only with Rahal Letterman, but for my second full year in the IRL, and we're hopin!g for big things. Obviously, we haven't started off exactly how we wanted to, but I think there's plenty of time right now to make up the ground and do what we have to do this year.
KING: We mentioned the fact that Buddy is a great American motorsports success story, and I think he underlined that when he was asked by the CEOs of Argent and Pioneer. They wanted to give him a gift after the race. Tell the story.
RICE: Well, I'm still not sure Wayne Lee completely understands my decision. But basically what it came down to, after the 500 they gave me the option to pick any car in the world that I wanted, anything, and the exact words that came out of his mouth after he said that was "your dream car." So I knew right then and there what it was, but I didn't want to tell him at the time. We went and started looking around, and I kind of found a car and told him what I was looking at. At first he was all excited, but once he saw the picture he wasn't overly impressed after that. He basically gave me the phone number to the controller and said do whatever you want. He wasn't involved that much anymore. But I got the car I wanted, and right after that, thanks to Pioneer, I got the '49 Merc. I had it two days and went straight from there and went to LA, and Pioneer had it for seven months and completely did the interior as well and that's what showed up at Phoenix three days before the race.! It showed up, it's not completely done, but it's the car I wanted. It's everything I wanted, and it's me. So I don't want to drive a Ferrari, I don't want to drive a Porsche, I don't desire to own any of that stuff; that's just not me. So I got the car I wanted.
KING: A '49 Mercury, a big piece of American metal.
RICE: It's very heavy, and it doesn't stop very good, either.
KING: Does it go very fast or is it intended to?
RICE: It's intended to go faster than it does right now. Once I tune on it, it will be a lot better. But I better upgrade the brakes before I do that. It's still got the same brakes from 1949 on it. And it's got a slight pull to the right, too.
KING: You were checking out the new Corvette pace car, that's a pretty sweet ride.
RICE: I like it. It's got more color on it than mine. So I think I need to do an addition to the --
KING: That's right, because you got the Vette from last year, the pace car from last year, right?
RICE: It's kind of plain compared to this. Mine is mostly white. It's got the cool American flag down the side but this one has definitely more color.
KING: We're going to open it up for questions. I want to remind you that your conversation is being transcribed so I will need to repeat the question to Buddy. When do you go back out, when does testing resume?
RICE: We've got plenty of time.
KING: Questions for our defending Indy 500 winner.
Q: I'm curious what you think of the new qualifying procedure for this year's race?
KING: Question is, Buddy, what do you think of the new qualifying procedure for this year's 500?
RICE: Actually, I'm just getting over the qualifying procedure from St. Pete, so I'm not completely up on the new one for the Speedway. But I think with 11 cars each day of qualifying, I think it's going to make it more exciting. I think, also, from what I understand, the different aspect of not having just three runs on one car, you can keep making repeat runs I think is also good for what we're trying to do right now with where the IRL is going.
KING: Those of you that aren't aware, the new qualifying format calls for the first three days of qualifying, Saturday, Sunday and then the following Saturday, 11 positions to be locked in each day, once the 11th position is filled, for example on Pole Day, Saturday, bumping will begin. Only the fastest 11 drivers on that day will be qualified and locked into positions. The next day, next 11, the same the next. Each day a single car, for example, Buddy probably won't need it, but each day the No. 15 Pioneer/Argent Mortgage car will be allowed three qualifying runs. So as opposed to three total, theoretically you could have 12 runs on the same car if you go to the fourth and final day. So that's the way the qualifying rules have been amended for this year's 500. Questions for Buddy Rice.
Q: Buddy, talk about your experience meeting the president. Not everybody gets that opportunity.
RICE: Not everybody gets to do that. I was fortunate enough, I mean I think I was about 11 or 12 years old, I was with my parents on a vacation back when the White House actually had tours openly. This is the first time I was back there since then. We had our own private tour. But for the president to take that kind of time out of his busy day and world affairs to take the time to spend with us was extremely special for myself and everybody on that team. Like you said, it's not every time you get to do that. But not only that, we were able to have the trophy there and the car there on the South Lawn. So that will definitely be a photo and moment I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. It's also part of winning the 500, it all ties together. And we were only supposed to have about 15 minutes with him, and it turned into probably closer to about a half-hour. We were also able to take the whole team in the Oval Office when it was supposed to be about two or three of !us. It was quite an impressive day for all of us.
KING: Was it a little surreal when the president comes out and shakes your hand, you're thinking to yourself, ‘My God, I'm shaking hands with the president of the United States?’
RICE: You got a warning when he was coming because you saw guys in suits popping up out of the bushes and stuff; you knew what was happening. You could almost feel him coming up. It was pretty weird. But to shake that guy's hand and think that guy makes decisions that not only affects our country but affects the whole world, and then to step into that same office that all that goes down in, just to think if you're a speck on the wall to hear half of what goes down, it would be crazy.
KING: So you knew at that moment when the suits started moving not to make any quick moves?
RICE: There was a lot of guys already standing around with guns and stuff, but you could tell he was getting ready to show up, it actually doubled or tripled.
Q: Have you been out on the track today and how much do you think the change in the track has made --
KING: The question is, Buddy, have you been out on the track today? This is the first test for the IndyCar Series cars with the new pavement. What do you think and how's it going so far?
RICE: No, I have not been out today. The only one that's gone out and ran at speed was Hornish. It's hard to say what the track's exactly going to do. It definitely looks a lot different because of how dark it is in color compared to what it has been in the past. Obviously, there's some light grinding they've done down on the bottom groove of all four turns. That will be a little bit different than what we've had in the past. We'll have to wait and see. Obviously, we know the development of the Panoz G Force is obviously a lot better. We've honed in on it a lot last year and refined it. Obviously, the Honda 3-liter engine is going to be more powerful than what we've had when we've raced here. So the speeds are going to be up regardless just because of those two facts. But if the track is obviously smoother, we can run the cars lower and be able to trim out more, so the speeds will also come up as well from that. I definitely feel the speeds will be a lot quicker than what you !saw last year. The 222 is not going to be enough for pole. I think you're going to have to be around probably close to 226 range for pole.
KING: This, by the way, will be the first repeat track where the IndyCar Series rules have reflected the 3-liter engine change. It started here last year. And just to give you an idea of what Buddy's talking about, last year at Phoenix we ran the 3.5-liter engine, we went there for the first time with the 3-liter engine and what was it, Buddy, pole speed was like 2 miles an hour faster with the 3-liter than it was with the 3.5 a year ago, so it could be dramatically quicker this year.
RICE: Yeah, definitely. I think the Honda is going to be better. Both the two chassis manufacturers have made their cars better. If the track is as smooth as we think it will be, we'll be able to run the cars lower and allow us to trim out that much more because it will make the underwing that much more effective.
KING: Questions?
Q: You're a part of a race team that's having increasing success. I was wondering how that dynamic kind of works out. Do you guys share everything amongst each other before the race and then go out and compete? Or do you withhold a few things that you know to stay competitive inside the team?
KING: The question is: You're part of a team, Rahal Letterman Racing, that has seen increasing success. You guys have expanded to a three car full-time operation this year. The question is, do you guys share everything with each other? Just talk a little bit about the operation of the team and how the three of you interact.
RICE: I think basically from what Vitor and I did last year, sharing everything, if you hold anything back, it defeats having a multi-car team. If you're holding something back from your teammate, you're holding the whole team back, and that's not appropriate, not only for yourself, but for the team and the sponsors. Because the whole objective is to keep all the cars up front as much as possible. Vitor and I did it quite successfully last year, it took a little bit for us to sort out the different driving styles that we have because each of us like the cars a certain way. With brining Danica on board is another variable that we've had to throw in, but at the same time, bringing her in as a third driver is now more information. With the lack of testing that we have, the more cars you have out there, the more data you're receiving and the faster your technology and the more you can advance your program. That's why you're seeing all the big teams constantly advancing themselves !in the car count. I think that you have to give everything and completely share fullheartedly because otherwise you're hurting the whole program, and it's not being a team player. Once you're out on the track, there's times that you're obviously going to be quite competitive against each other and other times you're not. A perfect example was Kansas for me and Vitor, we had the exact same cars, we ran side by side I think for 15 laps and it stuck that way. That's just the way it is. There's different times and different positions you'll have to help your teammate out. If it gets late in the year and Vitor is chasing the championship and I'm not and he's running behind me, I'm going to need to help him out any way I can. That's just the way it's going to be; and that's part of running a multi-car team. If you have other people with you and you're chasing the championship, they can take very valuable point away from other guys that are chasing the points championship with you. S!o that's another benefit to having multiple-car teams.
KING: By the way, he's not kidding about that Kansas race. He wore us out up in the broadcast booth trying to keep up with those two guys. They wound up, Buddy wound up beating Vitor by 51 10,000ths of a second in that race. I believe it was the second closest finish in IndyCar Series history. What was it, about 13 inches? Something like that. So it was an amazing race. Questions for Buddy Rice?
Q: When you think about the month of May coming up, what are you going to do differently? When you think back about last year, what do you have to do differently to repeat coming into --
KING: With the month of May coming up, what do you do differently to come in and repeat the success you had last season?
RICE: I don't think as a group we plan on doing much of anything different. We were here with a three-car team last year. The biggest thing you need to make sure you do, is now because the month is shortened a little bit, is make sure you get quality laps. We focused on that very hard last year, and it seemed to pay off for us. Granted we weren't at the top of the time sheets every day in practice going for the big PR numbers, but when it came down to us putting the lap in or put the number up, we were able to do it. That's what's very crucial, making sure you get quality, not so much quantity. You have to be selective and pay close attention to the weather here. This track is so sensitive to the weather; and now with the surface change, we're going to have to stay on top of it just that much more so we can gather that much more data to make sure the car is as best we can get it for the race.
Q: Describe what a quality lap is.
KING: Describe, if you could, a quality lap here at the Speedway.
RICE: When you're making changes, you have to run the lap the same. Let's say whether you're making aero changes or mechanical changes, if you ran a lap one way, you've got to go back out there and the closer you can do it together at the same temperature and time will be very crucial to that. So you have to make sure you make your adjustments and changes at the right time and don't go out there and just waste time to be pounding around because you only have so many tires, as well.
KING: Buddy, if you could explain, too, we hear drivers talk a lot about aero grip and mechanical grip. If you could, just explain the differences. I know they're probably subtle, but when we hear a driver say that, what are you talking about specifically?
RICE: Well, they have to kind of work together, really. You lose a lot more mechanical grip in traffic but there's certain aero bits on the car that can kind of help in traffic even though it's in dirty air. So you need a lot of mechanical grip to run in traffic for race trim. That's where all that comes from. When we start trimming the air out and you start using mechanical grip, but you have to keep the aero balance exactly in the number or the sweet spot the car is looking for. Same thing can be said in race trim, but because we run so tight and there's so many cars and the way the track's formed is there's this big swirl effect on all the ovals we have, we have to make sure we keep on top of our proper aero number we're looking for. That's the balance of the front percentage to the rear percentage, and that's crucial on these cars. It's more so in the race trim than it would be in qualifying.
KING: So the mechanical would be the springs, the suspension --
RICE: Springs, shock, toe.
KING: As opposed to the aero, which would be the bits on the car that makes it sleeker.
Q: Buddy, can you update us on Kenny Brack?
KING: An update on Kenny Brack. Last time I saw him he was looking pretty good.
RICE: He's looking good, he's still a smart aleck because he keeps calling me and harassing me. He's doing good there. Outside of that, I'm not sure what his plans are, what his thoughts are. Obviously, with the new addition to the family, he's got his hands full with that. I know he's been driving over in Europe a little bit off and on, in Sweden driving some touring cars and things like that. I'm not sure, and it's not really my business, I guess, to know what his driving career, what he's looking at doing, really. From a standpoint of as a team member and things like that, we still talk, and he's still offering advice and helping out the team. So from that aspect, it's still very valuable to use somebody like that.
KING: Speaking of families, is it true you're engaged?
RICE: Yep.
KING: When are you getting married?
RICE: At the end of the year when I have time, which doesn't look like it's going to happen right now.
KING: It's hard to imagine Buddy Rice as a married guy.
RICE: It doesn't seem that weird.
KING: It does to me.
RICE: That's because you don't see her very much.
KING: That's probably true. Let's take a couple more, and we'll break up on one-on-ones.
KING: The question is: Aside from improvements to the car, technology-wise, how do you rate your driving? Are you a better driver in 2005 than you were in 2004?
RICE: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I've learned so much, and I think the biggest thing is, I guess, it kind of goes back to what we were talking about quality laps, making sure you make at the same time quality decisions. With the limited time we run, also the thought process is different. I have a better understanding what I want out of the car, what the car needs to have both in race and qualifying trim and how to decipher and differ between that and what aspect you need it for. So I think from that I've learned a lot. There's still more to learn because now the '04 rules have changed slightly for the '05 rules with the underwing changes and stuff and the updates, we have another new learning curve to make; and I think as a group we're learning more. Same as all the other teams, though. You have to make sure you're keeping up on the cutting edge with the rest of the groups. But I think definitely I've learned a lot, and there's still more to go. I don't think you ever stop lear!ning.
KING: By the way, your last Top Ten list on Dave's show was pretty funny. When are you going to do another one?
RICE: I don't know; we have to wait and see.
KING: I'm curious, do they give those to you in advance and you rehearse them? Or do they give them to you and you read them cold? Because with the stuff you're reading, I'm thinking if you look at it the first time, you're thinking ‘I'm not going to say that.’
RICE: They gave me the list, and I said I wasn't going to say that. Then Dave called, and it was pretty funny. We couldn't hardly get through -- we did one rehearsal, between us and the writers, we couldn't hardly get through the first rehearsal.
KING: What was the list, the Top Ten?
RICE: I'm not sure, Top Ten reasons I think why I love racing.
KING: There were some pretty funny ones. You adjusted with the script with the writers?
RICE: There was no adjusting. They told me what I was going to do, and I did it. (Laughter) It was comedy hour the whole time. We could hardly get through it.
KING: How did Dave like the ticket? I think this is the first time that the owners have been on the ticket, you, Bobby and Dave.
RICE: Yeah. Dave hasn't missed a workday in 10 or 15 years, and he took time to go get the Baby Borg with us. I think it's a huge honor for him to be on there with me. I think it was a great time, and it was a perfect time to put those two owners on there, Bob being a former winner and obviously Dave getting his first one being a local guy. I think it was great to have those guys on there.
KING: By the way, I want to mention in addition to Dave Letterman being an Indianapolis native, Scott is, as well. So you could tell when those two guys walked into the Trackside Conference Room after the race just how special it was to both of them to grow up in this town and to be able to know that that Borg-Warner Trophy was there. Let's take one more question, and we'll take one-on-ones and we'll get ready to head over.
KING: The question is with the road and street courses being added, how much of a problem is it for the team to go from one circuit to another, to go from an oval to a street course, back to an oval?
RICE: For the drivers, it's not too big of a deal because when we were – as we've been being groomed through the smaller formulas, we've been able to did that. We've ran street courses, permanent courses, shorts, ovals, so for us it's not too difficult to adapt. The big thing is especially after, with the way all the races are falling right now and including the testing we're doing here and we're off to Infineon next week to do testing, there's a lot of work for the teams to constantly keep up. We do have one car that we've more or less delegated to road race trim and we have two cars or so for oval trim. But still there's a lot of change and a lot of upkeep that has to happen between the two cars. So for that there's a lot going on. Like we've only brought half our group here for this day of testing and left the rest back at the shop to get ready for our Infineon test because right after that we leave for Japan. There's a lot of extra work and hours put in for the team to mak!e the transitions.
KING: Buddy, we appreciate it. Thanks, looking forward to watching you race in Japan and later at the Speedway. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2004 winner, Buddy Rice.
