 |
||
|
Fast FactsWhat: Featherlite Coaches 200 Where: Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa When: 3 p.m. (CDT) Sunday, May 20. Track layout: .875-mile paved oval. Distance: 200 Laps, 175 miles. Posted Awards: $196,872 TV: HDNet 2006 winner: Inaugural event. 2006 polesitter: Inaugural event. Records: To be established. Pre-race schedule: Sunday – Practice, 9:00-10:30 a.m. Qualifying, |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 17, 2007) – Although the team is backed by a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series operation, the Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil Chevrolet team really isn’t that different than their NASCAR Busch East Series brethren. The number of crew members is small and, like so many thousands of others at short tracks across America, relies on volunteer help to pit the car.
Led by crew chief Scott Kilbury, 36, the rest of the crew – Jay Czarapata (24-years-old), Adam Lewis (18) and William Johnson (22) – aren’t much older than their driver: 16-year-old Marc Davis.
Series observers are confident that Davis and Co. will win a NASCAR Busch East Series race or two this year.
And there’s a reasonable chance they’ll be winning races together 10 or 20 years from now, too.
“It’s a different feeling to know we could be with our driver for quite a long time,” said Kilbury. “As far as this team goes, we could move up as a team to the NASCAR Busch Series and maybe the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.”
How large is the crew?
“We added a full-time position and a part-time position, so we have three full-timers including me,” Kilbury said. “At the track our shop crew serves as tire changers and jack-man. It’s a very small team and we basically rely on volunteers to come and help us on weekends.”
Some of those volunteers could be from other parts of Joe Gibbs Racing, or they could be young mechanics looking to learn or share what they know and help out.
So how does a team prepare for a race at a track they’ve never seen?
“That’s the hard part,” Kilbury said. “Joey (Logano, teammate in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet) tested at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. We didn’t have the opportunity to test there because we were at the Kyle, Texas NASCAR West Series race that weekend.
“So we took a look the 20 team’s notes and set our car up like we’re going to Richmond. That’s what we’re taking to Iowa Speedway. The tracks are somewhat similar.
“As far as Elko (Minn.) goes, it’s a short track. Our short track set-ups have been close. We just tested at South Boston (Va.) Speedway last Thursday. We’re hoping that gives us a baseline for Elko, and then for our race at South Boston on June 2.”
Kilbury and his driver Marc Davis have a good sense for communication, which is another key to getting results. Although they have competed in only one NASCAR Busch East Series event so far this year, Kilbury was with Davis last year when they competed in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Models at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
“We built a relationship where we understand one another and can translate that into the car,” KiIbury said. “This year the communication part hasn’t changed a whole lot for us. What’s changed is the kind of cars we race. Marc’s a rookie in the car, but as a team, we’re all in our rookie season with these cars. We’re just figuring out what these cars want and what they like and make adjustments according to how it feels to Marc. We’ll keep putting that together and we’ll find the right combinations.”
While JGR calls it a driver development program, both driver and crew learn together, with the goal being they move up the racing ladder together. Like a major league baseball team made successful by its farm team developing young talent, JGR is doing the same thing with its race teams competing in the NASCAR Busch East Series. But instead of achieving success on a baseball diamond, they’re doing it on asphalt ovals up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest.
“Successful race teams don’t just invest in parts and pieces, they invest in people,” said Steve deSouza, vice president of JGR’s Busch Series operations and driver development program. “We’re making an investment in drivers and crew members. Their success becomes our success, and the company as a whole is better for it.”