FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sam Schmidt Motorsports: Phoenix
Advance
Looking to backup Homestead
domination;
Schmidt Motorsports 1-2 in
opener, wants it again
March 14, 2005
Coming off a spectacular, blow-the-field-away, one-two
finish in the season opener, Sam Schmidt Motorsports heads
to the one-mile Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway this
week for Sunday's 100-mile Menards Infiniti Pro Series race.
Travis Gregg, 26, of Camden, Ohio, won the opener with
second-place Jaime Camara, 24, a native Brazilian now residing
in Miami, Fla., right on his tail. The pair won by nearly seven
seconds of third place and at one point enjoyed an 11-second
lead before a caution bunched the field.
Chris Festa, 19, of Atlanta,
Ga., and a freshman at Florida State University, was well on his
way to a probable finish of at least third-place before another
car started a crash that put him out of the event. Prior to
that, Festa had started ninth and was running fourth.
The three were also among the fastest in testing at Phoenix a
few weeks ago. Gregg is the only series-experienced driver but
has won two poles, including Homestead, and has two outside
poles in his four career starts in the series. Camara, who
started on the outside pole in his series debut at Homestead,
and Festa are two of the hottest young drivers in the sport.
Festa is one of the few natives of the southeastern U.S. who
have cast their eyes on open-wheel stardom.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports is also a means of promoting and
publicizing the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. The Foundation
was created by Schmidt to help individuals overcome spinal cord
injuries and other neurological disorders. Schmidt is currently
recovering from serious upper spinal cord injuries suffered in a
testing accident on January 6, 2000 while practicing for the
season-opening Indy Racing League event at Walt Disney World
Speedway in Orlando, Fla. Further information is available at
www.samschmidt.org or (317) 236-9999
Here is what the drivers, owner Schmidt and general manager
Michael Crawford had to say going into Phoenix:
SAM SCHMIDT, Owner, Sam Schmidt Motorsports:
"Things change at Phoenix, which is pretty
much the way motorsports is. It is how you adjust to those
changes that determines how successful you are going to be,
whether you are talking about an Infiniti Pro Series car, an IRL
car or a stock car.
"Phoenix is much more of a technical track than
Homestead. Homestead was flat out with the car trimmed and
smoothness was critical. At Phoenix, even if everything is
exactly the way you want it, you will be extremely lucky to get
through one lap flat out in qualifying.
"This is a real driver's track, if you ask me. The
car is obviously pretty important but the driver is the one who
is getting to play the larger role in getting it through the
turns. I still expect all three of our drivers to run up front.
We tested really well there. But I think you are going to see
more competition than you saw at Homestead."
TRAVIS GREGG, #7 Lucas Oil
Special, Sam Schmidt Motorsports Entry:
"When you've had a really
good weekend like we had at Homestead, you can't wait to get
back on the racetrack again. That's pretty much where I've been
since Victory Lane at Homestead.
"I think all three of us
have a pretty good feeling about Phoenix. We tested really well
there and we feel we can run pretty well again, just like we did
at Homestead. There are obviously differences between the two
tracks but we were able to make the cars run really well.
"Phoenix is a lot more of
a driver's track than Homestead. That makes it even more fun to
run. The car has to be working just right to make it fast, so
practice is going to be pretty crucial. But the driver comes
into play a whole lot more at Phoenix in making the car go fast.
"The track does have kind
of a strange shape to it but it doesn't change a whole lot of
things. From the surface, you might think the dogleg (in the
backstretch) is a major factor but it's not a problem at all.
You use that dogleg to set yourself up to get through (turns)
three and four fast. That's big.
"It is going to be a
tough track to pass on. Because of that, qualifying is going to
be really important. Then again, qualifying is always important,
no matter where you are racing, and is going to be even more
important in a race without pit stops. No matter how wide a
track is, it is always a lot easier if you are already in front
of someone than if you are trying to get around someone.
"We know we're going to
have a pretty good qualifying package and a pretty good race
package. How good a job we do at taking advantage of that is
going to determine how things turn out for us over the weekend."
CHRIS FESTA, #19 SpacePak,
CareCentric, Sam Schmidt Motorsports Entry:
"Phoenix is more of a driver's track than Homestead.
It has a much different layout and it's a good bit flatter. The
whole package is obviously important but the driver is going to
play a larger factor at Phoenix than at Homestead. You can
simply do more with the car at Phoenix.
"Jaime and I do have more of a road racing
background than Travis but racing is still racing, pretty much.
We went flat out around Homestead but that wasn't any big deal.
It was still a matter of getting the car to where you wanted it
to be, hitting your marks and doing the things any driver in any
series has to do to be successful.
"I feel pretty good about Phoenix and what we can do
there. We tested pretty well and I think all three of us are
going in feeling pretty confident about our potential there. The
cars showed a lot at Homestead and there is no reason to think
they are going to be any less strong at Phoenix this week.
"We're pretty excited about the possibilities with
Sam Schmidt Motorsports."
JAIME CAMARA, #1 CELG, Goias, Sam Schmidt Motorsports Entry:
"Qualifying is going to play a big, big part in how
the race turns out. The better you qualify, the more it is going
to help you at Phoenix.
"Phoenix is a pretty narrow track, so passing is
going to be a little harder than it was at Homestead. Passing
isn't impossible, just a little more difficult. I was able to
make up some spots in the Homestead race. We moved from ninth to
fourth. I don't doubt someone could do the same thing at
Phoenix, it's just going to take longer to do it. Then again,
the race was 67 laps at Homestead and will be 100 laps at
Phoenix, so technically you have a little longer to get it done.
"To me, Turn One and the exit to Turn Two are really
tricky, and probably the toughest part of the track. Then again,
there really isn't a true line around Phoenix like there is at
Homestead. There are several ways to get through the turns and
to set yourself up for getting through the turns. The driver
comes into play a lot more at Phoenix."
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