Continued from part 1
Q:
Speaking of what makes a Penske driver a Penske driver. Will seems
to fit into the classic mold of someone that is right for your organization.
What is it that you see Will brings to your team that maybe fits some of
that classic Roger Penske mold of a driver he knows that can deliver for
him?
TIM CINDRIC:
Well, one thing is Will's an opportunist, for sure. When
we sat down and talked to him he's doing what he does for the right reasons.
That is the thing that stuck out to us when we sat down and talked to these
different candidates last year and we were in that situation.
He's a guy that wants to come here and do a good job. All the rest of
it will come. He's certainly a team player. He's shown that. When you look
at the guys that have had long careers with Roger, that's probably the thing
that fits those kind of guys the best. When you look at the Rick Mears and
Helio and the guys that have driven for him for multiple years, that's
usually an attribute that they have. It's a way to understand that the team
concept, and have a respect for the accomplishments that have been here. I
think Will fits that. He's humble enough some days to offset the Helios of
the world, which is a good thing.
Q:
This question is for Will. Beyond getting yourself fully healthy
again, do you see any areas of improvement that you can work on to kind of
bring yourself up to the level of a title contender? And by areas I mean
getting better on specific tracks, car setups, things of that nature? What
is your perspective on that?
WILL POWER:
I believe you have to learn every year. Every year you
have to come away with a plan for the next year at places where you're going
to be better. I've always done that throughout my career. I already have in
my head where I'm going to improve on the tracks that I raced at this year.
So that's just a constant process with me. I'm always searching. I think to
be successful in this business you have to be because it's always a
development going on. It's always moving forward. So that's my normal plan
of attack.
Q:
If Will hadn't been available for you, for example, if he signed
with another team in the off-season, would you have bothered running a third
car? And was it the fact that you could get Will in it that is what pushed
you into doing this?
TIM CINDRIC:
Well, we knew that we had certain -- to be honest, I
hadn't really thought about that. And probably not real prepared to
speculate on how that would have all turned out. But, had we not been able
to, we've had obviously people approach us, wanting to know if this doesn't
work out, could they bring funding to run a third car with us. And the
answer to that would be the same answer we've had for years that we don't
really have any interest in taking our focus away from the two guys we
already have.
It's a known quantity in a lot of ways. Obviously, there are a lot of
tracks that Will didn't go to this past year or he's been to but hasn't had
success at. But he's shown us that given a good car, he can be successful at
tracks that he wasn't successful previously. So we knew that we were in step
with Will. We knew that, yeah, he wasn't in a position to sign with anybody
here for a little while. So our focus was completely on getting this deal
done. If it didn't get done, it probably wasn't going to happen in terms of
a three-car team next year anyway.
Q:
Will you be looking to improve your performance on ovals? Do you
expect that racing is where you most need to learn the smarts of racing for
a team like Penske?
WILL POWER:
Yeah, it is, actually. It's something that I haven't had
as much experience as I have on road courses. Of course the sport's all
about experience and are beyond the two (ovals) that I did do this year, I
cracked up on it. And you know it made a big difference having a good team
and a good car under you. It gives you a lot of confidence. I know I'll
continually have to work on it. And I couldn't be in a better place to
learn. So I expect to be running up in the front from the very beginning.
There is definitely a place that I'll focus hard on.
Q:
Do you think therefore that you'll have your own goal to challenge
for the championship this year?
WILL POWER:
Yeah, that's what I'm aiming for. I want to be running up
front all year. I really want to be a title contender. So I'll be doing my
absolute best.
Q:
What was -- how did you react when Tim called you either on the
phone or into the office and said we've got a deal done for you for the
entire season? What was your initial reaction?
TIM CINDRIC:
Stop taking so long.
WILL POWER:
That's exactly right. Tim answered the question. No, it
was a long process. I knew that it was in the works. There was a good chance
it was going to come off, but I was very happy when I heard the news. Very
relieved and it was just a great opportunity.
It was something that I wouldn't have dreamed would ever have happened
to end up at Penske Racing and driving the Verizon car. Yeah, it's
unbelievable. I really need to focus on it, and do a great job.
Q:
Without trivializing how seriously you were injured, was there ever
a point in time in the first few minutes or hours after the injury at
Infineon where you thought, well, that's it. Fate has screwed me over here
and I'm going to lose this opportunity.
WILL POWER:
I think the only time was just after I hit Nelson
(Philippe), and I exploded into a stop. And just after they got me out of
there, I was thinking, 'Well, if there's nothing broken, there is a chance
that I can get back in the car for Sunday.' So I had had no doubt in my head
I was going to get back in.
But the sort of team that Penske Racing is, they stick behind you no
matter what. They made that very apparent when I was lying there in the
hospital. So that gave me plenty of confidence in them and made me feel a
lot better.
Q:
You were literally thinking about it before the car came to a stop?
WILL POWER:
I just felt it. It was such a bad pain, you know I thought
oh, no. This is it. I only had limited opportunities this year. But when
you're badly injured you sometimes aren't so positive.
Q:
Does this essentially become the same team that worked the car, the
yellow car for Will, the Edmonton crew? Is this the Grand Am team just
shifting to the IndyCar Series side?
TIM CINDRIC:
No, not at all. The approach next year Will be very
different from that approach. Because that approach was in a lot of ways
what was possible last year. And, you know, we've taken the approach in the
off-season here looking at everything from I guess a clean sheet of paper
with the fortunate thing -- you know, fortunate and unfortunate, the Grand
Am situation probably we're not planning on it being a team next year.
So we're not planning on participating on that front. So we can't have
a built in workforce, if you will, or resource. And with that we're
combining that for the different areas, different positions and trying to
optimize the three best programs for next year.
We've hired a new racing engineer for Will, going forward for next
year. Dave Faustino who was with KV Racing Technology last year, and had
worked with Will at Walker Racing. He's on board. He started this week. He
and Will are very familiar with each other. I think we're going to hit the
ground run running from the association that they've had in the past.
Again, there will be some of the guys that were on Will's team last
year will be on the 3 or the 6. And some of the guys that were on the 3 and
the 6 will be on Will's car. So we're looking at it from a three-car
perspective rather than a two and one, and a third car once in a while.
Q:
You'll keep calling Helio's races, Roger will call Ryan's, and Dave
will call Will's?
TIM CINDRIC:
No, Dave Faustino will be his race engineer.
Q:
So who is going to call Will's races?
TIM CINDRIC:
Clive Howell will be the third man.
Q:
I know that Ryan did some work with Rick Mears, and Rick is always
there to offer advice. Will you be seeking him out particularly for advice
on ovals before the season starts?
WILL POWER:
Yeah, I did that this year. I'll be doing the same. I'll
get as much as I can out of Rick. He's there every weekend. He's got
unbelievable amount of experience. He always answers your questions very
well because he's been there and done that. So I'll be doing everything I
can to learn as much as I can.
Q:
Might he perhaps spot for Will at any races or is that out of the
question?
TIM CINDRIC:
Right now, to be honest with you, Clive Howell has been
Helio's spotter. I think Helio had some experience with Rick as a spotter
before, so I think we'll leave that unchanged and have a different spotter
for Will next year. It's not something we've really gone through, but just
throwing it out here on the call that I anticipate Rick being on Helio's car
next year.
Q:
You guys have run three cars before. Kind of talk about some of the
advantages of having a three-car team and also some of the disadvantages?
TIM CINDRIC:
I haven't been here to be honest. I haven't worked in a
three-car team that's run full season that way. So I can only tell you from
my limited experience on a part-time three-car basis or what I see in the
past. The challenge there is obviously I would say it's very different from
when Penske ran a three-car operation before.
Because a three-car operation in the '90s when the rules were more
open and you could actually create a lot of different pieces and parts. From
my vantage point it was very difficult to ever put three cars out there that
had identical opportunities. Because in the R & D sectors, you were
constantly evolving the car. So to provide one that was ready to run, let
alone three of them that are ready to run, it's a very difficult game.
The game that exists now to where the majority of the pieces that are
readily available to run multi-car teams at the same level is much more
obtainable and much more realistic than what it was in the '90s and the
'80s. So it was a much bigger challenge to have three cars running up front
in my opinion than what it is now.
Now it's obviously logistics. You still have to have the right people.
You have to have the right drivers, and you still have to execute. But
having the pieces and parts available and put together in a way that they're
equally competitive, that opportunity is a lot better than it was in the
past.
So I certainly think it can be an advantage, because the limited
testing that you have, it allows you if you have people that can work
together, which is the key. If I felt like we had one of these guys couldn't
work with the other guy, then it wouldn't make any sense in my opinion to
try to make it happen, because you'd end up doing the opposite.
So that's my vantage point of where it is. I can't tell you that I've
managed or worked in an operation that's run a three-car full season. But I
saw enough of it last year where I think the good is certainly going to
outweigh the rest.
Q:
What is your biggest disadvantage to the three-car thing?
TIM CINDRIC:
The biggest disadvantage is some days you're taking
points away from each other. Some days it's difficult to hold one guy. You
just let it happen as it exists. There's a lot of days where you wonder,
hey, is that the right thing to do or not, in terms of letting them race.
And we've always been in a position where you let it happen as it happens
and see where it all ends up.
So for me that's one of the more difficult things. The guys have been
around enough to see where, like I explained earlier in the call for Helio
and Ryan. They've been in different positions whether it's a supporting role
or the guy that's running for the championship. You don't give everybody a
spot, but you certainly cut them a break when you understand that they're
running for a championship. Whether they're your teammate or not.
Q:
How does your three-driver arrangement play off against Jay
Penske's program? Or does Jay have a program?
TIM CINDRIC:
As far as I know Jay has a program. But Jay's obviously
Roger's son in name, but he runs a completely independent program from what
we operate. So there's really no cross or interaction there aside from we do
whatever Jay needs. He's obviously a friend of ours. Very close to our
organization. But from a technical exchange standpoint, there is none.
Q:
Under a pressing situation in a race, say you have a sudden yellow,
you wouldn't want to bring all three of your guys in at the same time, would
you? How do you normally do that with two cars? You want them one at a time
or two at a time? How does that work?
TIM CINDRIC:
You pit when you need to pit, and whatever happens
happens.
Q:
I guess a lot of talk in IndyCar racing is trying to beat the red
cars of Ganassi, or trying to beat the red and the white cars of Penske. I
guess you've kind of put a new twist on this by throwing a black car out
there?
TIM CINDRIC:
It's a twist that existed at Indy. It's not completely
different.
Q:
But on a full-time basis? Basically you're adding another quality
car to the lineup here. Just kind of what that helps do for the series?
TIM CINDRIC:
Without a doubt. Verizon Wireless is, number one, they're
one of the most recognizable names in the world, and to have their support
in the IndyCar Series and you do that on the tails of the IZOD announcement,
I think that's all positive momentum for the series.
They certainly are one of the best activators there is in terms of
once they decide to on support a program. They supported it as well as
anyone in the world does.
You know, those guys all understand our business, and that combined
with the programs that we've already had in place, you know, makes it even
that much stronger.
Q:
Will's an aggressive guy, but, you know, he seems to kind of know
when to turn it on and when not to. How difficult of a quality is that?
Because I know that you've got a young aggressive guy like Brad Keselowski
over there in cup, and a lot of times in the Nationwide Series from a time
or two, a lot of people think he's aggressive. How difficult is that for a
driver like in Will's situation that kind of has that balance?
TIM CINDRIC:
The good ones from the average ones. The ones that find
that balance are the ones that are typically winning the championships and
are successful. And the ones that can admit that they made a mistake are
usually the ones that don't make that mistake again.
Q:
Will, what is your next phone? I assume you're first in line to get
it?
WILL POWER:
Yes, it is the Droid, of course. You've seen the
commercials and it looks like a fantastic phone, so I'm waiting for mine.
-credit: irl
