(COURTESY INDY
RACING LEAGUE)
CHRIS FESTA, THE 19-YEAR-OLD
DRIVER FOR SAM SCHMIDT MOTORSPORTS IN THE MENARDS INFINITI PRO
SERIES, WAS GUEST ON THE IRL MEDIA TELECONFERENCE TUESDAY.
FESTA, WHO COUNTS TRAVIS GREGG AND JAIME CAMARA AMONG HIS
TEAMMATES, DRIVES THE #19 SPACEPAK, CARECENTRIC, SAM SCHMIDT
MOTORSPORTS ENTRY.
FESTA LIVES IN
ATLANTA, GA., AND IS A FRESHMAN AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY.
THE MODERATOR: Thank
you very much and welcome, everyone to today's Indy Racing
League teleconference. Joining us today from the Menards
Infiniti Pro Series is Chris Festa, who last Saturday in
Phoenix captured a career-best second place finish in the
Phoenix 100, The Indy Racing League enters the road and street
course phase for the first time next week, and Chris joins us
to talk about his experiences. He ran a Fran-Am car in 2003 at
St. Petersburg and joins Jeff Simmons as the only two Pro
Series drivers to have competed on the streets of St. Pete.
Chris, St. Pete
right around the corner is certainly coming up and we'll be
turning right soon enough with the Menards Infiniti Pro Series
cars, but you guys actually get a chance to do that before St.
Pete when later they week on Thursday you'll practice at the
famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday. Give us your
thoughts about racing the street course over here at Indy.
CHRIS FESTA: "The
road course in Indy is definitely a cool one, and the Formula
1 cars go there, so that just makes it a cool track in
general. But it will be cool to see what these cars can do on
that track since we'll be racing there later this year and get
a handle on the gearing and the handling for this car so when
we roll it off the trailer when we get there for the race, we
have a good baseline set up to start with."
Q. And we mentioned
a little bit earlier in the call that you joined Jeff Simmons
on as the only two guys in the Pro Series who have raced in
St. Pete. Actually there's three Indy Car series guys, two
guys and a lady, Darren Manning Patrick Carpentier, Danica
Patrick. Give us your thoughts about the first time the IRL
turns right.
CHRIS FESTA: "That
street course is a little bit better than most in my opinion
because it's a little bit wider, and you've got some longer
straights than most street courses, so you can be a little bit
more aggressive and race a little bit more. But it's also a
lot smoother than most street courses, so it's much more road
course like than it is actual street course. So that will be
good from a fan perspective because they'll be able to see a
lot more racing going on and a lot more aggressive driving, I
guess could you say. But it will be a good one also, because
it's a fun track for the drivers to drive, as well."
Q. Let's talk about
Phoenix last week. I know you're one of our better-rounded
road course racers, so you've gotten used to ovals here a
little bit and obviously picked it up fairly quickly and
finished a career-best second. Give us your thoughts about
that run last week.
CHRIS FESTA: "That
run was a little interesting. There was a lot of carnage going
on, especially at the beginning, just cars dropping out like
flies. Once we got going, the car that we had was pretty good,
and we could just keep pace with (race winner) Jon Herb and
could just not get up quite close enough to make a move on
him. We definitely worked the car a little bit, see what we
can do when maybe we get to Milwaukee or Pikes Peak or
something like that. So it was definitely a learning
experience for us, and it will pay off dividends when we get
to the other short ovals."
Q. Clearly the short
ovals, you picked up on those fairly quickly. I know you're
looking forward to going to St. Pete, but do you like racing
the ovals?
CHRIS FESTA: "Yeah,
I do especially the superspeedways because they are so close
for long, it's really hard for people to check out, and you
just run by yourself on those. You know, running with four
cars around you for 75 laps is a lot different than anything
you ever get on a road course, and it was a new experience for
me, and I had a lot of fun with that at Homestead."
Q. Being a three-car team, three drivers, is it a hindrance or
a help?
CHRIS FESTA: "Oh,
it's definitely a help. The three of us work really well
together, and we're all very different. We all three have very
different skills, so we can learn from each other's talents
and mistakes and work together as a team to really progress up
the line the way Jaime (Camara) and Travis (Gregg) did at
Homestead."
Unfortunately, I had
a mishap earlier in the weekend which kept me from being up
there with them. We do things like that all the time. We plan
on working together most of the time in the race and then
racing against each other toward the end of the race.
Q. What will it mean to you personally to race twice, as it
is, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
CHRIS FESTA: "Oh,
that will be a cool thing for us. We'll be the first series to
race there twice ever in history, so that will be a cool thing
for us and also do be able one on the road course, which the
Formula One cars run, and one on the regular 500 track. It's
just really cool, they are both completely different, and yet
with the same prestige Indianapolis has. That will be a great
thing for all of us."
Q. Coming from a road racing background the way you do, why
did you decide it come into the Menards Infiniti Pro Series
and what your goals down the road?
CHRIS FESTA: "I
decided to come to the Menards Infiniti Pro Series because
there seems to be -- the IRL seems to be much stronger right
now than Champ Car and there's a lot more opportunities there.
The IRL is making the transition to doing more road course
racing which is, like you said, my background, and I wanted to
get more oval experience just because it's good experience to
have.
"So to
come to the Infiniti Pro Series, it gives me the opportunity
to maybe still look at Champ Car if I have to, but more
importantly, look at the IRL (IndyCar Series), which is where
I'm planning to go in the future, hopefully next year provided
I do well enough this year and get ready."
Q. Then the objective of working with the primarily oval
series is something that you're into now, that you've done,
the superspeedways and you've done PIR?
CHRIS FESTA: "Yes."
Q. Real quick, are
you in school or not at Florida State?
CHRIS FESTA: "I am
in school at Florida State."
Q. And your major
is?
CHRIS FESTA:
"Marketing."
Q. And what year are
you?
CHRIS FESTA: "I'm a
freshman."
Q. What are your
goals for this season coming into the Pro Series? The last
couple years, the Futaba Freedom 100 is clearly a race that
the Pro Series guys circle on their calendar, but there are
some big races this year, including that road course at
Indianapolis. So some of your goals heading into this year?
CHRIS FESTA: "My
goals are to learn as much as I can so that I can apply
everything I learned in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series in the
(IndyCar Series) when the time comes for me to move up there.
And also, just to win some races along the way and have some
fun. This is what I'm supposed to be doing is having fun, so
I'll do that and I'll take it seriously and do the best I
can."
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