Front Row Motorsports/Andretti Carry Momentum Into California
John Andretti, Driver of the No. 34 Window World Impala, Auto Club
Speedway Fast Facts:
* Andretti has 11 Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club Speedway
* Andretti's best finish at Auto Club Speedway is eighth-place
(2003, No. 43 Petty Motorsports Dodge)
* Andretti has an average starting position of 24.6 and an average finish
of 26.1 at Auto Club Speedway
* Over the course of his 11 Sprint Cup starts, Andretti has led 9 laps at
Auto Club Speedway
* Andretti has completed 2654 of 2750 laps (96.5%) in Sprint Cup
competition at Auto Club Speedway
John Andretti Comments on Auto Club Speedway:
"I'm really pleased with how the Windows World team
performed in Daytona. Finishing 19th was a great start to this year.
All of the guys did a great job and showed what we're capable of.
Of course you look back and think that you could have done better, but
you can also look back at all of the cars that were torn up and think
that it could have been a lot worse for us. We're happy with what
we achieved.
"Our goal is to be consistent. We want to be a top-20 car this
season and hopefully raise that goal to a top-15 car as we progress.
That's going to be tough considering the size of us versus the
size of the other teams out there. It's nice to know we're
on track for what we want to accomplish. I think we have a lot to be
proud of and we came out with the car in one piece, which was also a
plus.
"The next step is Auto Club Speedway. A great track, it allows
you to race all over the place. You can race on the bottom or right up
against the fence. These new cars seem to want to race everywhere on the
track. They don't really have a happy place. You've just
got to find the happiest place you can and that's where you settle
in. Usually everyone's place on the race track is different, so
you see lots of side-by-side action. The big deal with racing there is
that there aren't many cautions. The field gets so spread out.
You've got to take that into account for your strategy. If
you're not the fastest race car, you can still be one of the most
effective race cars by working that strategy.
"This race starts in the day and finishes at night. That presents
some unique challenges. Racing at Auto Club Speedway is almost like
racing at Rockingham (Speedway). You can't see anything going into
Turn 3 as the sun is setting. It would be great if they had more
sponsors and bigger billboards down there to block the sun from your
eyes. You've also got to prepare your car to race well in the
daytime and at night. Your car has to be very adjustable, so that you
adapt to the track as the night goes on. I don't have as much
experience as the rest of the field in the new car, so I'm not
exactly sure how it will change throughout the night, but we'll
figure it out."
-credit: frm
