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    Steve Letarte was on Sirius XM this morning and is pumped for Saturday night!! Archived Message

    Posted by magic8ball on 2/13/2012, 9:55 am

    Steve Letarte called into the Morning Drive with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone on Sirius XM this morning. Pete asked Steve if he watched the Grammys and he said he watched about the first half. He said he is an early bird and they stay up too late for him. He fell asleep during the second half but did watch the first half. Pete said Steve tweeted out a picture of him and his daughter going to the father/daughter dance and Pete was jealous. Pete asked if it was fun. Steve said it was and said his daughter escorted him to the father/daughter dance on Saturday night. He said it was a blast and fun to see all the girls dancing around. He said and tried and tried to talk her into giving her a dance but he couldn’t talk her into a dance. He told his wife that the next event they go to, she owes him a dance because her daughter wouldn’t give him one. At 6 years old, he couldn’t talk her into a dance but it was a fun event.

    Mike asked about the world of short track racing with the closing of Irwindale and asked Steve’s take on the state of short tracks. Steve said it is very unfortunate whenever you hear about a facility closing. Steve said the northeast guys like himself and Zippy grew up on short track racing like Oxford and others. Racing is expensive and it takes capital to run. Even to run a late model, it takes capital to buy tires, fuel and get your truck there. In today’s economic state with people struggling to make house payments, it is hard to continue to Saturday night race. Nascar is built from the grassroots up. A lot of great guys from the 88 team have roots in short track racing. Steve encourages people to go to your local short tracks. He mentioned a dirt track down the street from Kansas and White Mountain up the street from Loudon. He said they go to short tracks all over the country and try to watch some short track racing at its best.

    Pete said some people like Kahne and Stewart give back to short track racing. Steve said even Dale Jr has some late models that are not running on the JRM banner. He separated them a little bit to give those guys some anonymity. It lets the guys race without the pressure of racing for Dale Jr. Dale pays for it without his name on it and Steve said it proves how near and dear short track racing is to his heart. He tries to give some kids a start. These guys all give back.

    Pete asked Steve if he packed up and ready to go to Daytona. Steve said doesn’t know if the road guys are more excited to leave or the shop guys are more excited to ship them off. He looks out this morning over the shop and he sees 6 speedway cars in the 48/88 ship and they are ready to go. You are never really finished, it is just time to leave. A sign of a great race team is that you work on every detail you can. Soon after Daytona, they go to the west coast and those cars have to be ready. Start of season is very intense with all different types of cars.

    Pete asked if they spent too much time prepping for the 500. Steve said you can’t over prepare for any single event. They went to Pike’s Peak to test and will be going back in a week or so. The 500 can make an entire year. What is important to his owner is important to him. He wants to cover the front row again like they have the last couple years.

    Mike asked at what point can Steve exhale and be all ready for Daytona. Steve said when you push onto the grid a week from this Sunday for the 500. You learn more as the week goes on. You really are never done until you put them on the grid. They think Nascar is doing everything to prepare and give them good guidance. Steve said it is their responsibility to put on a great show for the fans that have spent their hard earned money to come down there and watch them race.

    Pete asked how important it is to get off to a good start. Steve said Daytona is still race 1 of 36 or in Steve’s book, it is race 1 of 26. Winning the 500 would mean more than the other 25 race because it is the 500 but you still want to run well. Last year, they ended up in a crash but still had a great year and a lot of momentum. It is a special day to win the Daytona 500.

    Mike asked what gives Steve confidence that this year will not be like last year. Steve said the most confidence is that when he looks out over the shop, he sees a group of guys that have another year under their belt together and with their driver. They now have a year of notes. Dale was very committed last year and gave great feedback. Dale is fired up for this year. Lots of notes from last year and a great group of guys who are excited to go to the track. It is very hard to replace time together. They did a good job last year and want to do a great job this year.

    Pete asked Steve what he expects Saturday night at the Bud Shootout. Steve expects it to be a huge pack of excitement. It will be a gripped up track under the lights and it is a fun event. It is a big field this year, bigger than normal. If there is a trophy, they want it. They won’t practice a lot. A couple years ago they tore a car up during the practice for the shootout and it hurt their whole Speedweeks. The rules should be pretty well set for the Shootout so they won’t practice much.

    Mike asked if Dale will take it to extremes to win on Saturday. Steve said they want him to do whatever he feels he needs to do to win a race. If that costs them a car, it costs them a car. They are going down there to win it. They will limit practice to make sure on Saturday night whatever Dale feels he needs to do on the while flag lap, he will do to win it.

    Pete said how temperature sensitive the track is with the new pavement. Steve said normally people talk about the pavement, tire grip and handling. He doesn’t think the track will be temperature sensitive for handling. It will be temperature sensitive to the cooling systems. As they dance on the edge of pressure relief valve size, grill opening, water limit and Nascar plays the rules to try and limit tandem push, that becomes very sensitive. Very hard to practice at 65 degrees and predict what it will race like at 85 degrees. As a crew chief, you have to pay attention to details and what type of parameters to put on the drivers. The team with the fewest mistakes have the best opportunity to win.

    Mike said last year it came out that Dale’s confidence was better due in part with the arrangement with Steve and the team. Mike asked if there have been any other revelations with the personality of Dale, the team or anything else to make team better even via chemistry building in the off season. Steve said what they learned over the winter is that they are more than just a race team. They spend time together socially and hang out with each other’s kids. They are a big family that goes to the track and that is the difference. It is not confidence they have gained because they run well. It is confidence that is gained because he believes in Dale Jr. He believes that when Dale gets in the race car, he was 100% committed to give the best to the race team. There are going to be races where you should have taken 4 tires or the driver misses pit road or the pit crew left a lug nut off. You have to limit those mistakes. As long as you can go back to the shop and put your arms around each other, he thinks they are there.

    Mike said we look forward to getting to Daytona and wished him all the best this weekend. Steve hopes for some huge crowds and they can’t wait to get down there!

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