CART MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 26, 1998

Scott Pruett

SCOTT PRUETT: How are you doing?

SCOTT PRUETT: No problem.

SCOTT PRUETT: Yes, sir.

SCOTT PRUETT: Actually, about two months ago I traveled to Detroit and went out to the race track, saw all the changes and everything looks to be very, very good. One of the biggest issues that had been with that circuit out on Belle Isle is that it is so difficult to pass. The race is just follow the leader up to this point. So as we go by start finish, we make the sweeper to the right and the sweeper to the left and now we have a good straight away where it looks like there is a good opportunity to do some passing. It also changes what used to be turns three, four, five, six as we go across the bridge out towards the straight away as it comes along the river there. That's from a driver's standpoint one of the biggest complaint we had about that race track, was the fact it was so difficult to pass. We made some changes and it looks like it is going to make for a lot better racing.

SCOTT PRUETT: Yeah, but what happens is it looks to be long enough where at least it will give the opportunity get up underneath some guy. Because of the track layout, it is almost impossible to pass anybody there. Even if you are quicker. And those opportunities where you do try to make a pass, it looks like half the time you wind up having contact with the guy and one of the cars go out. It definitely looks like an improvement. And I'm looking forward to going back there and competing in a couple of weeks.

SCOTT PRUETT: Exactly. Fortunately the weather was good for Saturday, we got the race in.

SCOTT PRUETT: We finally got that monkey off our back. We were one for five, that's not very good. Starting 17th, working our way up to 5th. The car was good, the team did a great job. We were real pleased with the finish overall.

SCOTT PRUETT: Yes.

SCOTT PRUETT: We still do a lot of testing for them. They have been looking at using a lot of the teams to do the testing over the past year. I think what they are beginning to see is if you get too much information from too many drivers it is hard to pick your direction. And I think what they are going to do is go back to testing primarily with three -- two, three drivers where they have a real good relationship with from the standpoint of producing good tires, which would be myself, Zanardi, Greg Moore. This is -- well has been talked about. They can take that data, like they have done in the past and then be able to move forward more quickly on the development of the tire instead of -- over the past year what they are looking at is using probably ten different drivers to do a little bit of testing. But what was happening was they were getting a lot of different data back and it has been very difficult to make a clear decision on what tire they wanted. In answering your question, not to draw this out too far, yes, we do still do a lot of testing for them and it looks like we will continue to probably increase that amount.

SCOTT PRUETT: From a safety standpoint, it definitely slowed the cars down. From a passing standpoint, from a racing standpoint, it made it a little bit more difficult. This was the first time that we ran speedway wings on what I would consider a short oval. Even though Homestead is a short oval, it's still different from going to St. Louis. I think overall it was a good decision. I think as we learn more about it, we will continue to make it better and better.

SCOTT PRUETT: The opportunity to go test the Milwaukee more than anything else. We tried to test in St. Louis, unfortunately we sat and watched it rain for three days. And so leading up to that race the only track time we had there was driving in and out of the place. As the weekend went on, we only had one, really one and a half sessions, if you count the Friday session and warm up. We did have the opportunity to test the Milwaukee both Adrian and I. It looks like we made some improvements to our set up. We are real pleased with the times we ran down there. So as we look forward to this weekend, it looks like we should come out of the box pretty good.

SCOTT PRUETT: Getting the set up right. We found over the last -- probably the last three or four years, our set up has tended to go loose. Which is the problem with most of the teams there. It looks like Newman/Haas and Penske, Greg Moore, they've always seemed to -- at least over the last two or three years -- run very, very strong there. With our testing we feel we are getting a pretty good handle on it and should be contenders this weekend.

SCOTT PRUETT: Thank you.

SCOTT PRUETT: Exactly. The difference is I was about a half a second off the pole time at St. Louis and I started 17th. If you are off a little bit, you are off a lot. Fortunately we've been with our relationship with Visteon, they being the new sponsor to us this year and the new technology they bring, we actually just started looking at some technical advances they are bringing to the team, some of the stuff we tested at Milwaukee last weekend. Bringing not just tenths of a second, but hundredths of a second, as we see, the competition is so very close. A tenth of a second is like an eternity. A hundredth is a difference between four, five positions. As we move forward and as all teams move forward, I know we are focused on any time, we can pick up any speed and we are very focused on that. And we are working very hard on it. It comes in small amounts, very, very small amounts these days, and you have to be focused. It is amazing because all teams and the drivers have to get the very last bit of performance out of those cars. And to do that everything becomes critical, the shocks, the springs, the set up, the toes, the cambers. And it's been amazing to me seeing that development over the past four or five years as the level of the competition just continues to get tougher.

SCOTT PRUETT: Great. I was a little bit down after the past four or five races. It seemed like we couldn't get it right. Homestead, we came out of the box, ran strong, finished fifth. Long Beach, ran well there. We were in fourth until the last lap, ran out of fuel. Motegi, we ended up breaking two engines down there. Brazil, ran strong there, broke the shift linkage. Nazareth, caught on fire. It has been a tough season to get it going. But what's interesting is I've lead the championship the last three years up to this point, then things kind of trailed off. Now maybe we can turn things around and get a strong summer.

SCOTT PRUETT: He was. Fortunately I got him off a little bit after St. Louis, so...

SCOTT PRUETT: Yes and no. No, from the standpoint that everything that's happened has been out of my control. It is not like I've been crashing race cars and making stupid mistakes, and putting the thing in the fence. You can't blame it on the crew either. Catching on fire was an issue where we had problem with the buckeye (phonetic), when it went in and cut an O-ring. We broke the shift linkage, which was a manufacturing fault from Reynard. We broke engines in Motegi, which was a Cosworth problem. The only one we can blame on the crew is running out of gas at Long Beach. But everybody is determined and focused and really pushing hard to turn things around. St. Louis was a good shot in the arm for us. We had a real strong run. The crew did a good job. The car was pretty good in the race, and we continued to make it better as we ran faster and faster. In fact, the closing stage was we were as far fast as anybody on the race track. Virtually the only time we had on the track was Friday, first session and then the warm ups. We were still working on our set up as the race was going on, trying to make improvements in the car. As we look forward to Milwaukee this weekend, I think we should have a good strong run. We had a good test down there. The car looks to be good and solid. Go down there and have a good race and get a good result.

SCOTT PRUETT: Well, if -- and that's a big -- those two little letters have a pretty big meaning. If things had turned around we would be three or four in the championship right now. They aren't. We could say the same thing about last year. We could say if we didn't get run into at Vancouver and if things wouldn't have happened -- got ran into at Laguna, da, da, da, da. But the reality of it is that we are tenth in the championship. The good side of it is we have the potential to finish top three and four every race. We have to just turn that into results. The first step forward was St. Louis. For us as a team that was a real good shot in the arm for us as far as enthusiasm and excitement goes and we'll just carry that on to Milwaukee.

SCOTT PRUETT: Actually it has been going great. Adrian and I get along very well. The nice thing is that our set ups are very similar. Last year Raul's set up and my set up were significantly different. So all the testing he did and I did, it was very difficult to draw conclusions to make improvements for both of us. Where this year, we're able to move forward. All testing I do helps myself and Adrian. All testing Adrian does helps me as well as him. As we ran at St. Louis and most of the races, we start out with different set ups on the car, and look to see how we can make improvements and then we get together and look at those after each session to make improvements as a team as well. Our philosophy is if we can get both of the cars running at the front of the field, let the drivers work it out up there. So Adrian has been running very well. He's third in the championship right now and our relationship is great.

SCOTT PRUETT: Yes, sir. No question about it. Getting the right set up and getting things hooked up at Milwaukee has always been one of those things that can make your day go good or go bad. Everybody is continuing to work hard at that set up and get a good race car. When you think of having 30 cars out there on that one-mile oval it turns into a bull ring real fast. The competition is close. It's hard to say who is going to be at the front of the field on any given weekend. But we are pleased with our test up there and we are looking to have a good run.

SCOTT PRUETT: Not as much as I would like to be able to. Time is pretty much of the essence right now. In fact, I am sitting in my office looking overlooking my garden as we speak, my garden being all the stuff I planted around hear and it's doing good. Not as much as I would like. Racing which is first and foremost and the new baby we have here, that's occupying most of my time.

SCOTT PRUETT: It all depends on the age of the person getting started. The best road is go carts. In fact, I did my first race when I was eight years old and worked my way up over the years. It is a great starting ground. If you look at most of the drivers, whether it is Michael or Al Jr., J.J. Lehto, Gugelmin, those guys started racing go carts, Schumacher, Senna, they started racing go carts, that's the best place to start. From there, for me I just took whatever route I could, which led me to sedan cars back to open-wheeled cars. Fortunately these days having go carts and Formula Atlantic and Indy Lights Series, there is the opportunity for young aspiring drivers to at least get out there and race at the same tracks that we do. Get seen by the major league teams. Now we have more of a minor league and Double A, Single A, Triple A system to move up the ranks into the big leagues.

SCOTT PRUETT: We are looking for first and foremost good results. It looks like the potential is there. Having a new primary engineer and second engineer, we are all coming to grips with our relationship, not from a personal level, from a performance standpoint. We have had great race cars, now we have to look at getting a better qualifying car. As we get into the season, I think that we will continue to get stronger and stronger. We are looking for great results. We are looking forward to our relationship with Visteon, which is a new sponsor for us. It looks like we will be continuing with those guys for three years and beyond. Now that we are getting off the old on the road courses, I think our performance will continue to get better as well.

SCOTT PRUETT: Maybe, thank you.

SCOTT PRUETT: Thank you.