An Interview with Max Papis, Scott Pruett, Wayne Taylor and Andy Wallace

Courtesy Grand American

ADAM SAAL: Thank you for participating in the Rolex Sports Car Series media teleconference. Today we're pleased to have the four drivers who will battle for the Daytona Prototype drivers championship at the season-ending Lexus Grand American Champions Weekend, California Speedway October 29th through 31st.

This race will also determine the season championship in both the Daytona Prototype engine manufacturer category as well as the Daytona Prototype constructor championship. All three titles in our main class are on the line as we head to California on Halloween weekend.

Joining us today are Rolex Daytona Prototype Championship co-leaders Scott Pruett and Max Papis, who drive the No. 01 CompUSA Lexus Riley; Wayne Taylor, who is vying for the championship in the No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley; and Andy Wallace who remains mathematically alive in the title chase having driven both the No. 2 and the No. 20 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawfords this season.

Welcome, gentlemen, and thanks for taking the time to join us today.

We’ve got a couple continents represented. Wayne, Max and Scott are here in the United States, but Andy is actually joining us from England. So Andy we appreciate you taking the time in your evening to join us for this teleconference.

ANDY WALLACE: Sure. Thank you very much.

ADAM SAAL: Only three points separate the top trio, 327 to 324. It's likely either the Ganassi teammates will get a share of the title or Taylor will leave the California finale as the 2004 Daytona Prototype Champion. Both the Ganassi duo and Taylor have three wins this season. Taylor and co-driver Max Angelelli most recently won the VIR 400 presented by SunTrust at Virginia International Raceway, while Pruett and Papis claimed their last victory in the EMCO Gears Mid-Ohio Road Racing Classic.

The No. 2 CITGO Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford has been driven to a pair of wins at Homestead-Miami Speedway by Andy, and he has 309 points and has a mathematical chance at the title.

Combined our four guests have won eight of the year's 11 races to date with only the California round remaining. For some guests, California Speedway is familiar territory. To others it will be a new experience.

We'll get started with the same question for both Scott and Max. You both have had some success there in open-wheel competition. Max, you've led and had some podium finishes. Scott, you've been on the pole there a couple times. Starting with you, Scott, then again, Max we'll move on to the same question with you.

Is there anything you can learn from your oval experience that you can apply to your road course there?

SCOTT PRUETT: Only where the track is. That's about it (laughter).

My last race there, I qualified on pole in '99. I'm looking forward to going back. It's a great track. It's a great facility. I've enjoyed—I tested the IndyCars there on the road course—so at least I have a pretty good idea where it goes.

I think it's going to be a great show. I mean, it’s always great for the series when you can go to the last race to determine the championship, whether it's a manufacturer (championship) or whether it's the drivers.

It’s a little stressful for the teams, but good for the series.

ADAM SAAL: Max, same question for you. I believe your team, not you, but certain members of your team have tested at the California Speedway on the road course once this year. Is that true?

MAX PAPIS: Actually, we went in the beginning of the season testing at California Speedway. That was one of the first tests we actually did. And, again, Fontana, I have great memories, you know, I had great success over there. I led I think over 300-something laps. We had great head-to-head with Scott in '99, when Scott was on pole, and I started on the outside of the first row.

So it is a great facility, as Scott said. You know, we have one thing in mind: bringing the championship to Lexus, bringing the championship to Chip (Ganassi). It's going to be very exciting. I am really focusing on giving my best to the team on the track and off the track. We are ready for it.

ADAM SAAL: Wayne, moving on to you, I don't know if you have as much experience at California Speedway as some of the other drivers on this call. In fact, have you raced there before on the road course?

WAYNE TAYLOR: No, I've never raced there at all. The only time I was ever there was at the end of 2002 when the Cadillac (sports car) program came to an end. I was asked by (former CART president and CEO) Chris Pook to come out and look at potentially running a CART program for the following year. I went and spent a day watching the cars go around. That was it. I've never seen the road course other than on the Internet.

ADAM SAAL: That being the case, knowing that the championship is on the line, both the drivers title as well as the manufacturer championship between Pontiac and Lexus, and even the chassis constructor, Daytona Prototype bragging rights between Riley and Crawford, is there any added pressure considering you guys have not raced there before?

WAYNE TAYLOR: No. This is probably going to sound weird, but I was saying to someone the other day, I'm so busy with the commercial side of this program that I don't even know when the race is. I haven't had the chance to actually worry about it. Luckily I have all this other stuff to do, then I can focus when I get there rather than spending two weeks trying to focus on something that I can't really do. There's nothing I can do with it.

I haven't been there. I'm not going to be there until next Wednesday. There's no point in trying to focus on something I physically can't do anything with.

So, you know, when we get there next Wednesday, I know we've got a good crew, got good guys, got a good car, got a good engine, got a great teammate, and we'll do the very best we can and race to win the race, like everybody does. I think the championship will be decided at the end of the race. It's just a matter of fact.

ADAM SAAL: Thank you, Wayne.

Andy, you're not out of it. You're mathematically alive in the championship but admittedly it would take a lot. What do you focus on coming in? It would take a complete collapse by the other three drivers on this call with you in order for you to have a chance, but anything can happen in racing, and it might have to at California Speedway. Do you think championship or just getting your third win to match their win total?

ANDY WALLACE: It's always nice to win a championship, but as you say, it's probably not going to happen. I'm too far back now. But we're all very happy with what we've done this year in the team. You know, it was a brand-new team, Howard-Boss Motorsports at the beginning of the year. The car was new. Altogether really we've had a great season. We've won two races. It would have been nice to have won a few more. We just missed the 24 hours (at Daytona) at the beginning of the year.

I just treat every race as they come. Of course, the championship is very important and I think for those other guys in the race, it's going to be a very stressful race. Of course, what I want to do is just go out there and just try to win the race.

I haven't seen the circuit either. I found a nice website that had a few photographs of the track on there. I don't think it will be too difficult to learn the track at all. We're just going to go there and do what we do at every race really.

ADAM SAAL: We have worked up a few championship scenarios. Andy, you would basically need a win with 15th place class finish or lower by Papis and Pruett, and a 12th place finish or lower by Taylor and Angelelli. It’s not out of the question, but I don't think they're going to let that happen. It's going to be a great race, and we look forward to Halloween weekend.

Let's get started with our media questions.

Q. This question is for Wayne. How tough of a duo has Papis and Pruett been to beat this year?

WAYNE TAYLOR: Well, you know, they've been tough. They have a great team. But I think at the same time, you know, Andy has also been tough. And Butch (Leitzinger) has been tough. You know, the good thing about this series is that any one of five, six, seven, eight cars can win. Clearly through the course of the year, the Ganassi guys have been the most stable, and I think that's just by virtue of the fact that they've focused on it.

I think from our standpoint, it was a start-up program, as Ganassi was. But I think the resources that they have far outweigh what we have. But, you know, it's just a case of they've been successfully running every single race, and gaining points at every event. We've not been as fortunate. We've had a couple of problems.

However, it always appears to be competitive between them, us and whichever car Andy's in, and/or Butch now. You know, I think the fact that they're going to three cars (on the Ganassi team) for the last race is probably a good thing because maybe they'll get their resources strained and not focus on the right car. We're going just with one car, and aim to focus on the same car like we do every race and see what happens.

Q. Would you rather be in the position they're in or do you like maybe being the guy that's only like a few points out? Maybe there's less pressure on you than there is on them coming in as a leader?

WAYNE TAYLOR: Well, I can only tell you how it was the last time I was in a championship race with Max Papis, which was 1996, and the roles were completely reversed. I led the whole way, and he came on stronger. And I can remember feeling the pressure going into the last race, knowing that they were chasing and I had to look after my position.

I remember that feeling pretty clearly, and it wasn't pleasant. In the position I'm in today, I feel a hell of a lot better than I did then. I think they're probably more worried than I am because they've got a lot more to lose than I have.

ADAM SAAL: There are many championship scenarios. If either the No. 01 or the No. 10 car win at California Speedway, they win the title. That's what it comes down to. A win would take everything, all the permutations, clear it up and make it real easy, but we can only have one winner.

Next question, please.

Q. Andy, when are you going to leave England for Fontana?

ANDY WALLACE: I have a flight I believe on Tuesday, the Tuesday before the event.

Q. Tuesday of next week. Now, are you flying all the way or are you making -- are you just going to hop from plane to plane or stop over or are you going to go straight on to Fontana?

ANDY WALLACE: Actually, one of the very lucky things about living in England, because we're such a small country, London being the main airport, you can fly pretty much anywhere direct. So I have a direct flight from London to LAX.

Q. How long is that going to take?

ANDY WALLACE: 11, 11 and a half hours.

Q. Your opponents hope you have a tremendous amount of jet lag off of that.

ANDY WALLACE: Where they'll be slightly upset is I've just come back from California just yesterday, and I plan to stay on California time. So I'll be just fine (laughter). It’s a nice idea, though. Thanks for bringing that up.

Q. The Comp USA team has grown by one with last year's IRL champ and his teammate, this year's teammate and they'll be teammates again next year, (Scott) Dixon and (Darren) Manning, teaming up in a third Chip Ganassi, Lexus Riley for the Fontana race. The interesting thing about that is that provides an extra blocking back, Mr. Taylor. What do you think you need to do in order to get through those two red and white cars in order to beat that third one with Mr. Papis and Pruett at the wheel?

WAYNE TAYLOR: Oh, I don't think they're going to be doing any blocking of us. You know, it's just another car on the grid really. It really doesn't affect the way that we prepare for the race. I mean, what can I really do about it? We've just got to go there and try and win. You know, whether they have three or five cars. If I were in their position, I'd probably be worried that they're bringing on a third car - although they have such vast resources, they can probably manage it pretty well. If it was me in that program, I would probably not be so happy.

You know, I think it's more of a problem for them than it is for us.

Q. Speaking about that, because you've twice referred to that concern, if you were to have to face sharing resources, as you put it, Scott take that for me, what is your angle on that, sharing the resource thing?

SCOTT PRUETT: I understand where he's coming from. If it was a normal team, that would absolutely be the case, but the fact that where the team is housed, we have both the Grand-Am team and the IRL team. IRL is done. They knew they were going to be done. They only ran one car in the last race. The guys on the IRL side, everybody, mechanics, engineers, everything, it's being run under the IRL umbrella not under the Grand-Am group of guys.

We've been around in this business long enough to know what happens when you stretch your resources or try to do something you shouldn't do. That's not the case at all.

It's being run almost as a completely separate team, except for the information stream, as far as all the data and so on. So for us, it's going to be seamless as far as any impact for our side of it.

I kind of disagree with some of the comments earlier, you know, with Wayne saying that more pressure's on us. It's really not. I mean, we're in a good position because we, except for them winning or for us winning, they have to win to win the championship, otherwise, you know, we can finish right behind them. I mean, a win is the game. Anything less than a win potentially for them, the game's over.

You know, it's always exciting going into it. We're both looking at it in our own view and most certainly are going to do whatever we can. The focus is to go there and win, do whatever we have to. All of us I think are faced with that.

Andy's in a great position because he's just wanting to go and win. That's the bottom line. They've shown very, very strong all season, especially to the end, and on these types of circuits.

I see those guys as being one of the toughest guys to beat this weekend.

MAX PAPIS: Absolutely. If I can say something about what Wayne said and Scott said, as well.

Q. Please.

MAX PAPIS: I'm actually really pleased about seeing the third car out there. You know, we are such a motivated team and such a well-established organization that unfortunately for Mr. Taylor and Mr. Angelelli, what most of the people are thinking, that maybe is going to distract. It is the opposite. Those guys had better start fearing that we're going to be out there for one goal.

Our goal is winning the championship. That's why Chip Ganassi committed, and Comp USA and Lexus committed, to put the third car out there, because we're going to take no prisoners. We're going to be out there fighting to win the championship, winning the race.

You know, as Scott said, we have a lot of determination. We have a lot of will to succeed. You're going to see it all coming from Thursday on the track all the way to Sunday. I think I couldn't be in a better team that actually could have run a third car and could have run it in a proper way.

Again, you know, we spent a lot of time analyzing and looking and preparing ourselves in the best way. I know that my motivation and Scott's motivation couldn't be higher. I think that with the added help of Manning and Scott Dixon, it's going to be awesome.

Think about it, we can share a lot of the information. We have guys, not just the 02 car, but even the 8 car now, we can go, finish the session, talk to them, say, "What do you think? What do you feel?" This and that. I think it's going to be really something that is going to help us a lot.

Not to take anything away from the 10 car. They've done a fantastic job up till now. They've been definitely very, very strong contender together with Andy. Andy has done an unbelievable job, you know, coming from the back most of the time. Really hats off to the job he's done from the beginning of the season.

But again, you know, we're prepared to go out there and fight.

Q. Max, I'm curious, you and Scott - this is a question I haven't addressed before - when you and Scott get in that car, Scott qualified the car for a few races at the first of the season, and I believe it was Mont-Tremblant when you first qualified, I believe, and you have qualified since. Of course the car is on a 10-race streak of sitting in pole position - streak is an inappropriate word, but nonetheless it has 10 poles this season. How is it you guys figure out who's going to qualify?

MAX PAPIS: This is a team decision. You know, as we spoke before, I think the luxury we have right now in our team between me and Scott, you know, we have no ego to fulfill. We have one common goal: that is bringing success to Lexus and to Chip Ganassi Racing and the CompUSA team.

We had a conversation. (Managing director) Mike (Hull) came up with the plan, he said he thinks that it seemed to work fine that I was going to qualify and Scott was going to finish. We're going to see coming to Fontana what the situation is going to be. We think about these things before going to the racetrack. I'm sure that (crew chief) Mitch (Davis) and Mike, they've been home thinking about it, deciding what they want to do.

From my side and Scott's side is exactly the same. We feel comfortable about starting or about finishing. Again, you know, it's a team decision and whatever -- at the end of the game, the goal is being successful. You know, we are successful as a team. Our goals are team goals. They're not individual. I think that has been the key for our great success this year.

Q. Andy, as noted, the 10 car would have to finish 12th or worse, and the 01 would have to finish somewhere in the area of 15th or worse for you to come through and win if you were out front and take the championship at the same time. What is it that motivates you looking at those tall odds? And we all recognize it could happen under racing, but being realistic about it, knowing the preparation of the two teams, it's not entirely likely to happen, what motivates you to get in that car, which is not going to be comfortable? It's going to be in California, it's going to be with sunshine, no doubt, and you're going to be going around that track a number of times, how can you get in that car and do what it is that you want to do?

ANDY WALLACE: Actually, I feel very, very privileged to have this job in the first place. I love driving cars. Yes, I would like to win the championship very much. We've all tried very, very hard. But the 01 car, and the 10 car especially, and some of the others, too, have been very, very competitive this year. All the drivers and the teams have done a great job, and it's been very difficult to win races.

The Grand-Am and the Rolex Series has proved to be one of the most competitive racing series anywhere this year. So, you know, just to be realistic, you get in the car every time and you try to win. I'm looking forward to going out to California. I think it's the last race of the year for me. But I've enjoyed every single lap I've done this year.

Of course, I work for my team, and for CITGO and for Pontiac. Every time I shut the door in the car, I drive as fast as I can.

Unfortunately for Scott and Max (Papis) and Wayne and Max (Angelelli), they've also been doing the same thing. They've won a few more races than I have, than our team has, so they're in front of us in the championship. It would be very, very sweet if we could go there and win the last race because, as they say in motor racing, you're only as good as your last race.

If we can win that, we'll carry that all the way through to Daytona next year, and the winter in England won't be quite as bad as it normally is (laughter). I'm sure the three guys you've got there, they're not going to let that happen. We're all going to be out there and we're going to have a great race.

Q. Scott, I want to know, you've had a varied career, raced in four or five different series, but how does winning this championship compare? Does it make your career? How would you rate this thing?

SCOTT PRUETT: You know, all championships are exciting, especially when they're getting down to the end. For me, I focused on a championship the very first race as we rolled out of Daytona and kept that focus all the way through.

It's exciting. I mean, it's what we live for. It's what we do. We talk about the pressure and the excitement and all that. That's one of the things I think that makes race car drivers great. Handling that, it's an everyday job for us to go out there and deal with that and be in the situation to drive absolutely as fast as you can, the pressure of getting down to a championship, the pressure of getting out there and qualifying up at the front.

I think all of us here in the conference this afternoon share that same desire and that passion. When you look at championships, you don't look at it that this championship means any more than this championship. You look at it, dang straight, we're in it for the championship right now, and it's exciting to bring that home for the team, for everybody on the team, because it's something that's shared amongst everybody: amongst the drivers, amongst the mechanics, amongst the team owner and the sponsors, the manufacturers.

That's one thing that I think sometimes is downplayed in championships, that you really focus on the drivers more so than the team. But it's everybody working together with one common goal. You know, whose team, it makes no difference. Everybody is pulling together in the same direction to make it happen. Whether it's the truck drivers, the tire changers or right up at the top with the owners.

Chip is as focused as any driver I've been around to do whatever it takes to bring home championships. To be part of that organization, it's exciting.

Q. You and Max have raced at California Speedway before in CART. How important is it for you guys to send the word out to Southern California fans about sports car racing? Can you and Max answer that?

SCOTT PRUETT: Come see exciting racing. I mean, you're not going to be bored any moment. The exciting part with Grand-Am, not only is there a championship on the line for drivers and for manufacturers, you're also going to see 60 cars going around in one race, a lot of action.

When we get out there with the other two classes, it really changes the complexity of the race. And add that to a facility like Fontana, the fact that you can get up in the stands...

If you look at Long Beach, and I loved Long Beach as a driver, but as a spectator, having a number of friends go down there as spectators, I think they get a little discouraged because they can see one turn or maybe two turns. You go to Fontana for the race, for this sports car race here in 10 days or so, and you're going to see a lot of racing. You're going to see what takes place in road course racing. You can watch and see the majority of the racetrack and how things unfold. That's somewhat unique when you're talking about road course racing.

Absolutely, I encourage the fans to come out and see what we do, how exciting this series is, and what's on the line for so many teams. For us specifically and for the 10 car, we’ve got a championship on the line. For the rest of the guys, Andy and Butch, they easily can go win this race and change everything fairly significantly.

ADAM SAAL: Max, do you want to respond to that same question. What can the fans expect?

MAX PAPIS: First of all, I'm really looking forward to go back to Fontana. As most of you guys know, I lived really close to there for about four years. I really feel like that Fontana race and Long Beach, they're kind of my - how can I say - kind of a home race for me. There’s going to be lots of fans coming out. As Scott says, basically people are going to come out and see what Grand-Am is. Grand-Am is competitive racing, fair racing, you know, tough on the track, but still shaking hands and congratulating each other when the race is finished.

It is going to be super exciting. I was reading on the Internet, there are going to be eight championships in a line to be decided in Fontana. So it's going to be superb. I'm really looking forward. I'm going to have the boss of my fan club in Italy coming over specifically for that with a few supporters. There's a lot of excitement around. I've been receiving calls from people all around the area that have known me for four years. We're going to be very close to the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) facilities, very close to Toyota facility.

As Scott said, I am so excited and I'm so pleased to be able to go race in Fontana for the last race, that is just going to be -- it's going to be awesome and people are going to see fair, great battles, and a lot of overtaking.

Q. Wayne and Andy, they're not as familiar with Southern California, how important is this for their sports racing world?

ANDY WALLACE: Well, just to say again, I haven't been to the circuit before. But California, every time I go there, I enjoy myself. It's got a wonderful climate.

The circuit looks likes it's going to be fairly tough because you have to compromise between the high speeds and the banking and much, much lower speeds, so the setup is going to be important. But it's a track where all the cars will be able to pass each other reasonably easily. We should have a lot of back and forward fighting for the lead right up till the end of the race. In fact, that's been a feature of pretty much all the races this year, where the lead has changed several times and the intermediate positions have changed several times.

It's absolutely surprised me this year just how close the racing has been. I don't think I've ever been in a championship throughout all the years I've been driving, maybe save for perhaps Formula Ford way back when I was driving in England in the '80s, that it's been this close. It's incredible the kind of racing you have. You may win one race. You go to the next race and suddenly you find yourself back in third, fourth, fifth, sixth position again. That's how competitive this series is.

I don't think the Fontana race will be any different from that. We should be able to put on a great spectacle.

ADAM SAAL: Wayne, would you like to make a final comment on this?

WAYNE TAYLOR: Southern California for me is a special place. My partner and friend who I grew up with in South Africa, we're partners in an indoor go-karting facility, and also we build electric vehicles in San Diego. I spend a lot of time in San Diego every year. Of course, you know, racing in Fontana will be the first time that they've seen Grand American. In the earlier days, they used to come to Del Mar, which was a great event as well. Now it's a new package at this track, and I think I'd say exactly what Andy and everybody has said. This championship is great. It's going to be tooth and nail right down to the last lap.

I just hope that we don't end the race under caution.

SCOTT PRUETT: I hear that.

ADAM SAAL: We'll do what we can to avoid that as always.

Q. What about the weather? Do you race in the rain or just a dry-weather track only?

WAYNE TAYLOR: We are real racing drivers (laughter).

ANDY WALLACE: I think I better answer that question as I'm from England. If I didn't race in the rain, I don't think I ever would have raced for the first 15 years of my career as I was trapped in England where it rains just about every single day. So rain is not a problem. All you have to do is put your umbrella up.

MAX PAPIS: I totally agree. The last couple races with the mist and rain, something like that, we even drove basically the last race, all last race on slick tires, on the wet track, and I'm sure that I have more white hair than what I had before, than what some other guys do, because it was kind of hectic out there. Again, wet or dry, no problem, just bring the umbrella.

ADAM SAAL: Rain or shine, we will race the Lexus Grand Americans Championship Weekend October 29th through 31st.

Q. I want to clear up a little bookkeeping. The 08 car, that is a spare car? Is that going to show up next year on a regular basis?

SCOTT PRUETT: That's a good question for Ganassi. I don't think so. But the boss does all kinds of things we don't know about.

Q. (Mike) Hull was once destined for law school. You’ve got a guy you have to watch out for. He's got that in him. He wanted to go racing, but he's got that in him. One of the neat things I found when you came down for test days earlier this year in Daytona, the first time the Ganassi team showed up, the first time we saw the colors, the cars were just surrounded by a group of people. All you had was one car. It was surrounded by a group of people. I found it rather interesting that they came from every discipline within the Chip Ganassi ranks, but most especially the open-wheel guys. Is that where that staff for the 8 car is going to come from, from the IRL guys that have now slacked off a little bit with the championship having been decided?

SCOTT PRUETT: Yeah, absolutely. That actually started taking place before Texas because they only raced one car at Texas. They made the commitment at that point. Everything is in the same shop. If you've seen the shop, there's a lot of crossover between some of the IRL guys helping the Grand-Am guys, the Grand-Am guys helping the IRL. Everybody is working together under the same roof. So for them to take on doing this car, you know, is just an everyday job for them.

MAX PAPIS: It is not going to be a problem. In our 01 car, most of the guys are working in the 01 car have been working on the Scott Dixon car in the IRL last year. Again, you know, the guys that are regularly working on the 01 and 02 car are still going to do the same job. The IRL guys are going to take over the other car.

We’re a big family. The fantastic thing of the organization that we're in is I'm sure that Bill (Pappas), the engineer of the IRL, or any of my engineers, could go and engineer a Grand-Am or IRL car any time. It's an open book. It's a continuous exchange of information. We can pick up the phone and talk to anybody within the organization and they all know what we are up to and what's happening. This makes our life very easy.

Q. Anecdotally speaking, I was very surprised to learn that most of the people on the 01 car actually were IRL guys who volunteered to move over to that program, from the IRL to the Grand-Am, because it was something they really wanted to get into. I thought that was rather interesting. Mr. Taylor, is the 10 car you're bringing going to be brand-new or is Bill Riley going to keep that car on the shelf till the first of the year?

WAYNE TAYLOR: We will run the same car we've run all year.

Q. I didn't know if he was perhaps tempted to do it, or if perhaps he were tempted to do it, he would have asked you, or whether they just simply are going to lead up the No. 10 and bring it on.

WAYNE TAYLOR: No, there's never been any discussion of putting a new car out there. This car's run perfectly well all year. There's really no reason to think about changing it.

Q. Andy, in the last race, a 61-year-old guy (Elliott Forbes-Robinson) was able to run in front of that field and win. Eventually he was relieved by a guy almost half his age. That was a pretty impressive performance. That also heralds the developmental stage of the Crawford. Have you been able to push the envelope a little further? Are we going to see the same car at Fontana?

ANDY WALLACE: Yes. It will be actually the same car. Actually, when you say somebody of that age, Elliott is not really a normal person. If you watch him in the paddock, I don't know how he got to be that old, because he runs about like a teenager. He's a very, very good driver, of course.

Yes, the car, it's getting better all the time. I think the conditions of that race suited our car very well, and those two guys didn't put a wheel wrong.

But as you saw yet again, it was one of these very, very close Grand-Am races with just a few feet between all the cars. Unfortunately for myself in that race, we sort of hid a bit from the results. I did manage to get all the way up to just behind Elliott when he pitted, therefore I took the lead for just a short time. When we came in to refuel, the refueling hose was actually spilling fuel onto the floor instead of going into the car. We had to make an extra stop. Later on in the race, I made the extremely bad decision of going onto wet tires. So our race didn't look as good as perhaps it could have. It was really nice that Butch and Elliott could hold their end up for the team and get another win. Everybody was absolutely thrilled to death, nobody more than myself because we all work for the same people. It was just great to have another result.

Q. In case EFR should be listening here, I don't think lowly of that man whatsoever. He is a phenomenal person. I agree with you, when you see him running around in the pits, it is hard to imagine that he is the age that he is.

MAX PAPIS: I wanted to clarify one last thing that I said. As we said before, we're going to be out there with the will to win the championship, and we are going to play the championship within our value of racing that we have. I mean, it's going to be a hard race. It's going to be a tight race. But we're going -- we have our values in racing. We're going to play with that as well.

ADAM SAAL: We look forward to that.

Gentlemen, thank you all very much.