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Side by Side<br />
On the Fast Track<br />
WHEN IT COMES TO SPORTS FANS, there’s always<br />
a spirited debate about who’s the most dedicated. You<br />
can make a case for football fanatics, basketball buffs or<br />
ice hockey junkies. But in our book, no one can match<br />
NASCAR fans for fierce loyalty to their heroes behind<br />
the wheel, in good times and bad.<br />
Take Patricia Johnson, a <strong>UAW</strong> member at<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong>’s Indianapolis Foundry. She’s a perfect<br />
example of what we’re talking about. She went to her first<br />
Winston Cup race in 2002, and she’s been hooked ever<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Senior Vice<br />
since. “I never thought I’d be into NASCAR, but that was<br />
President John Franciosi (left) and<br />
only because I hadn’t given it a try,” explains Patricia.<br />
<strong>UAW</strong> Vice President Nate Gooden<br />
We’re dedicating this <strong>2005</strong> Special <strong>Racing</strong> <strong>Issue</strong> of<br />
Tomorrow to Patricia Johnson (see page 9) and the millions of kindred NASCAR nuts who have<br />
made the Nextel Cup Series the hottest ticket in motorsports — and perhaps the most successful of<br />
all professional sports. The <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training Center is proud to publish this<br />
issue, distributed through the NTC’s NASCAR Exhibit at selected races during the season.<br />
Our association with NASCAR is a great showcase for our union-management alliance, which<br />
has helped to fuel <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group’s recent success in the automotive<br />
marketplace. Our support begins early in the year with title sponsorship<br />
of the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway<br />
(see page 6) and continues all season through our partnership with<br />
Evernham Motorsports.<br />
Like many NASCAR fans, we were thrilled to watch our guys,<br />
Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, power toward the front of the<br />
Nextel Cup pack in the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> NTC–sponsored<br />
No. 9 and No. 19 Dodges in 2004 (see page 12). And we expect<br />
them to make another strong showing in <strong>2005</strong> piloting newgeneration<br />
Dodge Chargers.<br />
Patricia Johnson, page 9<br />
Kasey and Jeremy are helping to write a new chapter in the Charger’s fabled history on the<br />
racetrack. The legacy also continues off the track, with the arrival of the 2006 Dodge Charger<br />
sedan, a muscle car for the family.<br />
Throughout the season, our association with NASCAR gives us an opportunity to share our<br />
pride in all <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group products and in the workers who build them. We hope you enjoy<br />
the NTC’s NASCAR Exhibit and experience the knowledge and infectious enthusiasm of our P3<br />
(People, Pride and Product) Team members (see page 24). These sales ambassadors from the plant<br />
floor are helping the <strong>UAW</strong> and Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> establish a winning tradition in dealer showrooms<br />
as well as on the racetrack.<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER<br />
2211 East Jefferson Avenue<br />
Detroit, MI 48207<br />
313.567.3300<br />
Fax: 313.567.4971<br />
E-mail: rrussell@ucntc.org<br />
www.uaw-daimlerchryslerntc.org<br />
JOINT ACTIVITIES BOARD<br />
NATE GOODEN<br />
VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR<br />
DAIMLERCHRYSLER DEPARTMENT<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>, CO-CHAIRMAN<br />
JOHN S. FRANCIOSI<br />
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EMPLOYEE<br />
RELATIONS DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
CO-CHAIRMAN<br />
DAVE MCALLISTER<br />
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO<br />
VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR<br />
DAIMLERCHRYSLER DEPARTMENT <strong>UAW</strong><br />
KEN MCCARTER<br />
VICE PRESIDENT, UNION RELATIONS AND<br />
SECURITY OPERATIONS DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
JAMES DAVIS<br />
CO-DIRECTOR <strong>UAW</strong>-DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER<br />
FRANK L. SLAUGHTER<br />
CO-DIRECTOR <strong>UAW</strong>-DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER<br />
RON RUSSELL<br />
COMMUNICATIONS ADMINISTRATOR<br />
BOB ERICKSON<br />
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST<br />
TANISHA PEREZ<br />
STAFF WRITER<br />
MICHAEL BULLER<br />
EDITOR<br />
KAREN ENGLISH<br />
SENIOR EDITOR<br />
MEGHAN LITTLE<br />
SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR<br />
TIMOTHY MAHER<br />
COPY EDITOR<br />
JAMEE FARINELLA<br />
ART DIRECTOR<br />
LIZ O’DONNELL<br />
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR<br />
Nate Gooden<br />
John Franciosi<br />
This magazine is printed by a union<br />
printer on union-made recycled paper.<br />
2 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
LOOKING AHEAD AT THE <strong>UAW</strong>-DAIMLERCHRYSLER NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER<br />
Volume 9 • Number 1<br />
www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong><br />
Features<br />
Special <strong>Issue</strong>: <strong>Racing</strong> <strong>2005</strong><br />
12<br />
20<br />
24<br />
Charging Ahead<br />
COVER<br />
STORY<br />
A hot new car and a pair of determined young drivers tear up<br />
the track for Evernham Motorsports.<br />
By Dennis McCafferty<br />
Midgets, Sprints and Trucks<br />
It’s all about speed. In every NASCAR series, look for Dodges<br />
to push the pack.<br />
By Jim Morrison<br />
Fan Magnet<br />
For racing fun and a great deal on a new <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicle,<br />
visit the P3 Team at the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training<br />
Center’s exhibit.<br />
By Molly Rose Teuke<br />
10<br />
12<br />
Departments<br />
2 Side by Side<br />
Fantastic Fans<br />
4 Start Your Engines<br />
Charger to Charger; trackor<br />
street-worthy tires;<br />
magnificent Magnum;<br />
the truth behind the paint<br />
6 <strong>UAW</strong>-DC 400<br />
Pulling off the perfect race<br />
8 Our Fans<br />
Restoring a ’69 Charger;<br />
time out for the races;<br />
Kathy Petty hits the track;<br />
the High & Mighty makes<br />
a <strong>com</strong>eback<br />
26 <strong>Racing</strong> Savvy<br />
Drafting: art or science?<br />
20<br />
A professed lifelong car lover, Marc Rozman has<br />
been with Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> for 28 years.<br />
SEE PAGE 8 FOR MORE<br />
PHOTOS: COVER: GETTY; BACK COVER: GETTY; THIS PAGE SECOND<br />
FROM TOP: GETTY; THIRD FROM TOP: GETTY<br />
fpo<br />
24<br />
Tomorrow (ISSN: 1096-1429) is published quarterly with two special issues in spring and fall by Pohly & Partners, Inc., on behalf of the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training<br />
Center. Pohly & Partners, Inc., 27 Melcher Street, 2nd floor, Boston, MA 02210, 800.383.0888. Periodicals postage rates paid at Boston, Mass. and additional entry offices.<br />
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tomorrow, 2211 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48207. © <strong>2005</strong> by <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training Center.<br />
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
Start Engines<br />
YOUR<br />
BURN<br />
RUBBER,BABY<br />
At around $400 a pop, it’s a good thing all vehicles<br />
aren’t equipped with the tires required on<br />
the Nextel Cup circuit. Likewise, street<br />
motorists should be glad they don’t have to change<br />
tires based on road surface. That’s right, NASCAR tire<br />
specifications differ from race to race depending upon<br />
the degree of track banking and whether the racing<br />
surface is asphalt, concrete or a mix of both.<br />
Tire Talk: GOODYEAR STREET vs. RACE TIRES<br />
STREET<br />
RACE<br />
ESTIMATED COST $150–$200 each $400+/- each<br />
AVERAGE LIFE 50,000 miles 150 miles<br />
AIR PRESSURE (COLD PSI) 35 psi 30 psi left/45 psi right<br />
INFLATED WITH air dry air or nitrogen<br />
WEIGHT 30 pounds 24 pounds<br />
TREAD THICKNESS 3<br />
/8 inch 1<br />
/8 inch<br />
CHARGER<br />
TO CHARGER<br />
THIS SEASON, THE CHARGER is turning heads on<br />
and off the track. The motorsports version of<br />
the famed muscle car and the shiny production<br />
vehicle you can test drive at your Dodge dealer<br />
share a proud heritage and many similarities. To<br />
learn what sets the NASCAR Charger apart, we<br />
talked to some experts at Dodge Motorsports.<br />
Obviously, the Dodge Charger that you see<br />
zooming past on the racetrack needs much more<br />
power than is legal on the street. The NASCAR<br />
Charger boasts a 5.9-liter V-8, MOPAR Cast Iron<br />
Block and aluminum heads with more than<br />
800 horsepower, while the performance vehicle<br />
runs on a still impressive 5.7-liter Hemi multidisplacement<br />
V-8 engine with 340 horsepower.<br />
Because weight can literally be a drag, the<br />
engineers of<br />
the racing<br />
Charger designed the mighty vehicle to weigh<br />
only 3,400 pounds, versus the 4,031-pound<br />
street legal Charger.<br />
Speed is the name of the game. The racing<br />
Charger can reach 0 to 60 in just four seconds.<br />
But for quick highway merging, the<br />
street Charger isn’t far behind, with the same<br />
acceleration taking only six seconds.<br />
Two big differences in the racing and production<br />
Chargers are in sound systems and<br />
safety belts. The street edition <strong>com</strong>es with a sixspeaker,<br />
276-watt digital amplifier and threepoint<br />
seatbelts, whereas the racing Charger has<br />
a two-way radio and a six-point harness.<br />
For more information on how you could own a<br />
street-legal Dodge Charger with plenty of power<br />
and performance — and options a NASCAR<br />
driver would envy — go to www.dodge.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
TOP: GETTY; BOTTOM: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
4 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
RACING<br />
pretty<br />
A TRIP TO THE RACETRACK offers more than<br />
just a high-speed chase to Victory Lane.<br />
Along with the excitement of roaring engines<br />
<strong>com</strong>es a mesmerizing swish of color from<br />
the vehicles on the track.<br />
Over the years, paint<br />
schemes of racecars have evolved from racing<br />
stripes to logos to special themes. Race fans<br />
can’t always count on easily spotting their<br />
favorite driver’s car because, as in the case of<br />
the No. 9 and No. 19 Dodges, the cars could<br />
carry up to six special paint schemes determined<br />
by their sponsor per season.<br />
When it’s time for the No. 9 and No. 19 Chargers to dazzle<br />
fans with a new theme, Dodge and the Dodge Dealers work with<br />
Competition Graphics and Action Performance to <strong>com</strong>e up<br />
with a design. Once a design is chosen, it<br />
takes six to eight hours for a car to be<br />
decaled. If a car is being converted from a<br />
special paint scheme and requires a new<br />
color, the makeover can mean two to three<br />
days in a body shop.<br />
All Evernham Motorsports cars are painted<br />
with PPG paint, unless a particular paint<br />
scheme or timing warrants a different technique.<br />
For example, at the October 2004 race<br />
in Charlotte, Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Dodge<br />
Intrepid was sporting a Mopar paint scheme,<br />
which was created with a vinyl wrap. Because<br />
Kahne had <strong>com</strong>peted with the same car the<br />
prior weekend in Kansas, it was not possible to<br />
repaint and redecal the vehicle before the starting<br />
gun in Charlotte six days later.<br />
Though Kahne and No. 19 driver Jeremy<br />
Mayfield are the ones who bring the themes<br />
to the public, they have little say in what is<br />
painted on the cars. Dodge and Evernham<br />
Motorsports drive these decisions and then<br />
must submit the designs to NASCAR for<br />
final approval.<br />
PAINT SCHEMES FROM TOP: SPY VS SPY; MOPAR; SUMMER SALES DRIVE; HEMI; MOUNTAIN DEW<br />
VroommMagnum!<br />
It’s not surprising that the Chicago Speedway<br />
chose the Dodge Magnum for its<br />
pace car at the 2004 Tropicana 400.<br />
Between its jaw-dropping curb appeal and<br />
the power it represents, the flashy Magnum<br />
is a fitting vehicle for the racetrack. But if<br />
you find yourself checking out the pace car<br />
more than the No. 9 or No. 19, you might<br />
want to head to your Dodge dealer and see<br />
how you look sitting in the driver’s seat.<br />
What makes the Magnum so great? For<br />
some, it’s the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine.<br />
For others it’s the return of rear-wheel<br />
drive performance to the Dodge line. Then<br />
there’s the 1,000- to 3,800-pound towing<br />
capability. As mighty as the Magnum is,<br />
engineers had more than brawn in mind<br />
when designing the vehicle. For them,<br />
safety is as high a priority as performance.<br />
In fact, the Dodge Magnum has received<br />
the highest government frontal crash test<br />
rating for both driver and passenger safety.<br />
The attention to detail visible throughout<br />
the Magnum’s interior is just as<br />
impressive as its performance. The front<br />
seats are set two inches higher than most<br />
vehicles’ seats to give the driver a clear<br />
view out over the road. The rear seats,<br />
too, are positioned higher, giving those<br />
passengers a front view as well. Versatility<br />
reigns in the <strong>2005</strong> sedan: 27.2 cubic<br />
feet of cargo space grows to 71.6 cubic<br />
feet once the rear seats are folded down;<br />
the bilevel cargo floor and removable trifold<br />
upper divider store valuables out of<br />
sight; and the cargo management system<br />
includes a floor liner and net separators<br />
to keep items in place during travel.<br />
For more information on the Dodge<br />
Magnum, go to www.dodge.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 5
<strong>UAW</strong>-DC 400<br />
Pulling Off the Perfect Race<br />
Behind the scenes at the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400<br />
Even before the race, NASCAR<br />
fans at the <strong>2005</strong> <strong>UAW</strong>-<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 at Las<br />
Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) get<br />
a thrill.<br />
Picture the opening ceremonies: All<br />
eyes turn toward the American flag<br />
when the first notes of the national<br />
anthem ring out, and a formation of<br />
fighter jets from nearby Nellis Air<br />
Force Base streaks across the sky when<br />
the song ends.<br />
Staging a Nextel Cup event doesn’t<br />
just happen. Hundreds of people put<br />
in tens of thousands of hours working<br />
behind the scenes to pull it<br />
together, and their work starts many<br />
months before the first thundering<br />
roar of a 750-horsepower engine<br />
shatters the still of the surrounding<br />
desert air.<br />
Track Teamwork<br />
For David Stetzer, vice president of<br />
operations at LVMS, the biggest task<br />
is handling traffic flow — not on the<br />
track, but through the feeder roads<br />
and parking lots ringing it. “The goal<br />
6 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong><br />
is to reduce the amount of time needed<br />
to get 140,000 fans in and out of the<br />
property each year without risking<br />
their safety,” he says.<br />
To achieve that objective at the<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400, Stetzer’s<br />
department employs 3,160 people on<br />
race weekend and works closely with<br />
the Nevada Highway Patrol, the Las<br />
Vegas Metro Police Department, the<br />
Nevada Department of Transportation<br />
and other public agencies.<br />
With about 35,000 cars arriving<br />
and leaving simultaneously, “we are<br />
basically moving the equivalent of a<br />
small city in and out of the property<br />
for three straight days,” Stetzer says.<br />
“It’s an enormous challenge, but it can<br />
be done with continuous improvements<br />
and the assistance of those government<br />
agencies.”<br />
March 11, <strong>2005</strong>, is “D-Day” for<br />
Bobby McKenna, director of maintenance<br />
at LVMS. The toughest job he<br />
faces is getting the property ready for<br />
the race by that date and “doing it<br />
without burning out the staff or<br />
doing setups so early that things<br />
“<br />
Their Greatest Fears:Worst-Case Scenarios<br />
”<br />
“A major wreck on either I-15 or Las Vegas Boulevard. This would cause a<br />
tremendous delay in traffic flow. We prepare for this by placing wreckers<br />
and safety vehicles in areas where they can respond in the shortest amount<br />
of time possible.”<br />
DAVID STETZER, vice president of operations<br />
“A power failure or water main break. There’s no quick fix for that<br />
kind of problem.”<br />
BOBBY MCKENNA, director of maintenance<br />
“The worst-case scenario is something I have no control over —<br />
inclement weather.”<br />
JEFF MOTLEY, director of public relations<br />
“It’s an enormous challenge,<br />
but it can be done with<br />
continuous improvements<br />
and the assistance of …<br />
government agencies.”<br />
DAVID STETZER,<br />
vice president of operations at LVMS<br />
don’t look fresh,” he says. “You<br />
can’t hang banners, cut grass and<br />
have the grounds immaculate in<br />
February and get the look you want<br />
on March 11.”<br />
Because the <strong>2005</strong> event is his first<br />
since being named to his current<br />
position, McKenna relies heavily<br />
on two veteran staff members. “I am<br />
fortunate to have two assistants,<br />
Frank Borelli and Joe Bravatto, who<br />
have been here for every NASCAR<br />
event, and a staff of 27 people who<br />
know and do their jobs quite well,”<br />
he says. “I’m staying out of the way<br />
this year.”<br />
Bravatto oversees about a third<br />
of the staff in maintaining all the<br />
The pit crew in action during the 2004<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 at Las Vegas<br />
Motor Speedway.
It’s perpetual motion at the 2004<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 at<br />
Las Vegas Motor Speedway.<br />
CORBIS<br />
facility’s HVAC, plumbing and electrical<br />
systems. Borelli is in charge<br />
of event setup and works with outside<br />
vendors providing restroom and<br />
shower services, temporary fencing<br />
and infield logo painting. Julian<br />
Hernandez and the housekeeping<br />
staff keep the restrooms and suites<br />
clean all week.<br />
Details, Details<br />
No doubt about it, Stetzer and<br />
McKenna and their teams shoulder a<br />
tremendous load and play a critical<br />
role in making sure the race <strong>com</strong>es<br />
together, but at least their areas of<br />
responsibility are clearly defined.<br />
What about the guy who makes sure<br />
the qualified drivers hit the track at<br />
just the right time, lines up a singer<br />
for the national anthem, synchronizes<br />
the Air Force jets’ fly-over with<br />
the song and takes care of dozens of<br />
other details?<br />
All that falls to Jeff Motley, the<br />
track’s director of public relations,<br />
who has no trouble describing his<br />
biggest challenge in making the<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 happen:<br />
“Simply pulling everything together.”<br />
Motley’s job is ruled by deadlines.<br />
He has to make sure information is<br />
gathered and prepared for printed<br />
materials, handle the credentialing<br />
process for the media who attend the<br />
event, line up and choreograph all the<br />
pre-race activities and more.<br />
Having done this several times<br />
before, Motley has experience on his<br />
side. He has 50 full-time and part-time<br />
staffers working for him.<br />
“The best strategy is to have a<br />
checklist of everything that needs to be<br />
done,” Motley says of his keep-itsimple<br />
approach to organizing the<br />
event. “You set dates on that checklist<br />
and do your best to meet them. Once<br />
you get something checked off, you<br />
know that it’s handled and you don’t<br />
have to worry about it any longer.”<br />
It’s a lot of work, Motley and his<br />
coworkers admit. But if the end result<br />
is a <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400 that<br />
<strong>com</strong>es off without a hitch, it will all<br />
have been worth it. ■<br />
— Michael J. McDermott<br />
The BIG Event<br />
by the Numbers<br />
37,000<br />
souvenir programs sold<br />
160,000<br />
gallons of beverages served —<br />
enough to fill 10 swimming pools<br />
60,000<br />
hamburgers and hot dogs consumed<br />
300,000<br />
spectators over the three-day weekend<br />
148,000<br />
spectators on race day*<br />
1,200<br />
credentialed media members<br />
*NASCAR/Las Vegas Events estimate;<br />
LVMS does not release attendance figures.<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 7
Our Fans<br />
Toy Time<br />
It was love at first sight for<br />
Marc Rozman and his Charger.<br />
Marc Rozman enjoys playing with — er, restoring — his 1969 Charger<br />
My wife told me, when our kids<br />
are older, you can buy another<br />
toy,” says Marc Rozman,<br />
reminiscing about his prized 1969<br />
Dodge Dart GTS convertible that<br />
he was forced to sell years ago. Well,<br />
the kids are grown and married, and<br />
guess who’s got a new toy?<br />
Interestingly, it was his wife,<br />
Darlene, who spotted the ad for a<br />
red ’69 Dodge Charger RT/SE in the<br />
fall of 2000. “The guy e-mailed<br />
me a picture,” says Marc Rozman,<br />
a <strong>UAW</strong> Local 412 member and<br />
a dynamometer operator at the<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Technology Center<br />
in Auburn Hills, Mich. “As I saw it<br />
roll across my screen, I had that ‘this<br />
is it’ gut feeling.”<br />
Marc Rozman’s favorite pastime:<br />
restoring his 1969 Dodge Charger.<br />
A professed lifelong car lover,<br />
Rozman has been with Daimler-<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> for 28 years, and his dad<br />
worked for the <strong>com</strong>pany before him.<br />
In fact, the family had a brand-new<br />
Charger when Rozman was a teenager.<br />
“For an 18-year-old, that was<br />
pretty cool,” he says.<br />
“As I saw it<br />
roll across my<br />
screen, I had<br />
that ‘this is it’<br />
gut feeling.”<br />
So when he spotted the classic muscle<br />
car, it was indeed “it,” and he has<br />
been gradually restoring it ever since.<br />
The car had nearly 100,000 miles on<br />
the odometer and was “pretty clean,”<br />
but Rozman has done some body<br />
work and replaced a few interior<br />
parts. “Only one part is not original,”<br />
says the 50-year-old avowed stickler<br />
for details, referring to an electric fuel<br />
pump tucked under the gas tank.<br />
In November, the 440 Magnum<br />
engine was out to bore the cylinders<br />
and restore the heads, but Rozman<br />
vows to have his Charger back on<br />
the road this year. “I want to drive it<br />
and enjoy it,” he says. About that,<br />
he’s not toying around.<br />
■<br />
— Bob Woods<br />
8 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
Nothing gets in the way of Patricia<br />
Johnson and her NASCAR Sundays.<br />
Our Fans<br />
LEFT: ROY RITCHIE; THIS PAGE: TOD MARTENS<br />
Do Not Disturb<br />
On Sundays, Patricia Johnson is off to the races<br />
You can call Patricia Johnson<br />
an extreme fan. You can call<br />
her a Kasey Kahne fanatic.<br />
Just don’t call her on a Sunday afternoon.<br />
On Sundays from February<br />
to November, when men across<br />
America are strategically<br />
slouched in<br />
front of TVs — hoping<br />
for nothing but<br />
engines that growl —<br />
they’re not alone.<br />
Johnson is right<br />
there with the rest of<br />
NASCAR’s fan base.<br />
“On Sundays, I am<br />
a couch potato,” says<br />
Johnson, a nurse at<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong>’s<br />
“When I<br />
heard the<br />
engines<br />
roaring …<br />
I was just<br />
thrilled.”<br />
Indianapolis Foundry for the past 10<br />
years, and office and clerical unit chair<br />
for <strong>UAW</strong> Local 361. “On Sundays, I<br />
don’t shop, I don’t go to the movies, I<br />
don’t even cook — I make Sunday dinner<br />
on Saturday night so I don’t have<br />
to be disturbed the<br />
next day. Everyone,<br />
including my 13-yearold<br />
son, knows not to<br />
bother me.”<br />
Johnson says she<br />
caught the NASCAR<br />
bug naturally. “I grew<br />
up watching and enjoying<br />
a lot of different<br />
sports,” she says.<br />
“I never thought I’d<br />
be into NASCAR, but<br />
that was only because I hadn’t given<br />
it a try.”<br />
Her introduction to the races came<br />
in 2002. “My boyfriend asked me to<br />
go to Charlotte. I didn’t think much<br />
about it, but when I got there and<br />
heard the engines roaring and saw the<br />
speed on the track, I was just thrilled.”<br />
As for the claims that NASCAR<br />
plays to a traditionally white male<br />
fan base, Johnson says, “Sure, I’ve<br />
seen the Confederate flags. That’s<br />
really not an issue for me with<br />
NASCAR. The only flag I care about<br />
is the American flag.”<br />
Over the past three years, Johnson<br />
has returned to Charlotte twice and<br />
put Bristol and Las Vegas on her list<br />
of NASCAR venues visited. Her wish<br />
list includes Talladega and Daytona.<br />
But Johnson’s primary race venue<br />
is the den in her Indianapolis home,<br />
featuring her very own NASCAR<br />
Wall. “I have everything from an<br />
Evernham <strong>Racing</strong> T-shirt — signed<br />
by Ray Evernham, Kasey Kahne and<br />
Jeremy Mayfield — to a Tomorrow<br />
magazine signed by Bill Elliott, to a<br />
USA Today front page story on Kasey<br />
Kahne, signed by Kasey himself,”<br />
says Johnson. By the way, she has<br />
officially transferred her “favorite<br />
driver” designation from semi-retired<br />
Elliott to 2004 Raybestos Rookie of<br />
the Year Kahne.<br />
“I have a great time being a fan,”<br />
muses Johnson. “I get all my work<br />
done; then on Sunday it’s off to the<br />
races — with Kasey Kahne’s sweet<br />
blue eyes smiling over my shoulder.” ■<br />
— S.C. Biemesderfer<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 9
Our Fans<br />
Look Out for Women Drivers<br />
Kathy Petty sets the pace on a different kind of track<br />
During NASCAR season, a<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> test driver<br />
named “Petty” gets a lot of<br />
attention. With the most famous<br />
name in racing, you’re bound to get<br />
a few <strong>com</strong>ments.<br />
“Since I drive cars for a living,<br />
sometimes people tease me about my<br />
name,” says test track veteran Kathy<br />
Petty (no relation to the NASCAR<br />
clan). “I tell them, ‘I’m a Petty, but I<br />
don’t drive like one.’”<br />
Maybe … maybe not. Kathy Petty,<br />
mother of seven, likes to tear up a<br />
six-lane highway at over 140 miles<br />
per hour and take a vehicle to the<br />
limit with the throttle wide open,<br />
weaving through roads riddled with<br />
hazards. It’s her job.<br />
On any given day at Chelsea<br />
Proving Grounds, outside Detroit,<br />
you’ll find Petty somewhere on the<br />
3,800-acre facility’s 47 miles of<br />
asphalt, 36 miles of concrete or<br />
12 miles of gravel road, putting<br />
another <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicle to<br />
the test. She rates vehicles on speed,<br />
endurance, power and a full range<br />
of quality “musts,” with trials that<br />
run the gamut from chassis qualifying<br />
exams to high-speed performance<br />
checks.<br />
“Before I applied, I never thought<br />
about having a job like this — but<br />
it turned out to be a great fit,” says<br />
Petty, a <strong>UAW</strong> Local 1284 member<br />
who joined Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 12<br />
years ago. At the time, she was a<br />
single mother with five daughters<br />
and two sons ranging in age from<br />
12 to 23.<br />
Chelsea Proving Grounds paved<br />
the road for women drivers from the<br />
time it opened in 1954. That year,<br />
driver Betty Skelton set the Women’s<br />
Closed Track World Record at the<br />
proving grounds, clocking 143.44<br />
miles per hour in a Dodge. And the<br />
Proving Grounds stayed ahead of its<br />
time, hiring the facility’s first woman<br />
engineer in 1965.<br />
“Around here, we know those<br />
Test driver Kathy Petty tears up the<br />
track at Chelsea Proving Grounds.<br />
‘women drivers’ remarks aren’t true,”<br />
jokes Petty, whose fastest speed on the<br />
Proving Grounds happens to be 143<br />
miles per hour — the same world<br />
record pace recorded by pioneer<br />
Skelton. “In fact,” she adds, “I’ve<br />
never had an accident or injury. In<br />
more than 10 years, driving hundreds<br />
of miles a week, I think that says<br />
something about the cars we make.” ■<br />
— S.C. Biemesderfer<br />
10 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
LEFT: ROY RITCHIE; THIS PAGE: JOHN SOBCZAK<br />
No one had ever seen a drag<br />
racer quite like the beast that<br />
rolled onto the track at the<br />
1959 Nationals of the National Hot<br />
Rod Association (NHRA). Before the<br />
day was done, though, the High &<br />
Mighty stood proud in the record<br />
books, setting a new speed mark.<br />
Now, more than four decades later, the<br />
dragster is being re-created by a group<br />
of <strong>Chrysler</strong> Employee Motorsport<br />
Association (CEMA) members.<br />
Fabricated from a 1949 Plymouth<br />
Business Coupe by a team of <strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
workers called the Ram Chargers, the<br />
High & Mighty was a vision of muscle,<br />
speed and innovation. “It was<br />
a rolling laboratory,” says CEMA<br />
spokesman Roy Baker, an industrial<br />
designer at the Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Technology<br />
Center in Auburn Hills, Mich.,<br />
and volunteer on the High & Mighty<br />
II project. “The technology born out<br />
of that vehicle is still current today.”<br />
The rear wheels were moved forward<br />
to increase weight transfer to<br />
the rear tires when the car is launched<br />
from the starting line. The top was<br />
chopped down to reduce wind resistance,<br />
and a hole cut in the hood<br />
made room for two four-barrel<br />
carburetors and the<br />
first high-rise tunnel<br />
intake manifold. The<br />
354 Hemi engine<br />
breathed fire out of<br />
eight exhaust pipes.<br />
It came together to<br />
claim the the 1960<br />
NHRA Class Title.<br />
In the fall of 2003,<br />
George Stayniak<br />
pitches in.<br />
The record-setting 1959<br />
High & Mighty dragster<br />
Re-creating a Legend<br />
The in<strong>com</strong>parable ’59 High & Mighty dragster<br />
inspires a cloning project<br />
“This is being done for the<br />
preservation of the Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
motorsports heritage.” – Roy Baker<br />
Bob Lees, a retired homologation<br />
engineer at Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong>’s Technology<br />
Center created a stir at a<br />
CEMA meeting by proposing the<br />
cloning project.<br />
Ready for the challenge, 26 CEMA<br />
volunteers formed <strong>com</strong>mittees of<br />
designers, engineers, technicians and<br />
fabricators, just as the<br />
original Ram Chargers<br />
had. Many of the<br />
1950s pioneers have<br />
lent their support, providing<br />
journals, renderings<br />
and formulas<br />
from the first project.<br />
Progress on the<br />
replica has been slow<br />
Our Fans<br />
High & Mighty II team members Bob Lees<br />
(left) and Roy Baker measure a window.<br />
but steady, with parts <strong>com</strong>ing from all<br />
over. A body came from Nebraska, an<br />
engine from Kansas. The original<br />
dragster intake manifold and tachometer<br />
have even been unearthed. A list<br />
of needed parts is on the CEMA Web<br />
site (www.cemaclub.org/highmighty).<br />
The finished High & Mighty II<br />
won’t be run out on the track, but<br />
it will be exhibited at NHRA races<br />
before being housed in a museum<br />
yet to be determined. “This is being<br />
done for the preservation of the<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> motorsports heritage,”<br />
Baker says. “And we all feel<br />
very strongly about that.” A high<br />
and mighty ideal. ■<br />
— Bob Woods<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 11
COMEBACK KID:<br />
JEREMY MAYFIELD<br />
JEREMY MAYFIELD’S FANS TRY NOT<br />
to blink. With Mayfield behind the<br />
wheel, things can change fast. Even<br />
during the dips of the roller-coaster<br />
2004 season, Mayfield kept his edge —<br />
and his flair for the dramatic. Take the<br />
September 11 race in Richmond, the<br />
one that would decide who gets in the<br />
Top 10 Chase. Mayfield and his team<br />
were in 14th place, 55 points down. Put<br />
a fork in the season? Um, not exactly.<br />
Mayfield and his team gave<br />
Richmond their grittiest, gutsiest<br />
best and ended up in Victory Lane —<br />
a win that leapfrogged them into the<br />
Chase for the championship.<br />
In the end, it was typical of his year<br />
— facing adversity and over<strong>com</strong>ing<br />
it with nothing but sheer determination.<br />
“We had our<br />
ups and downs<br />
all season,” says<br />
Mayfield. “But our<br />
team always knew<br />
how to turn a negative<br />
into a positive.<br />
That’s how I knew<br />
we could handle this<br />
kind of season.”<br />
One key: Sticking<br />
with — and believing<br />
in — a winning<br />
plan. Even if the<br />
plan wasn’t winning<br />
much at the time.<br />
“A lot of other<br />
teams don’t run that<br />
way,” Mayfield says. “They run into<br />
trouble and they want to change a<br />
bunch of things — shift people over<br />
here and there. We stuck together.<br />
That’s how we ended up like we did.”<br />
It helped that Mayfield kept the<br />
same Dew Crew. “We got more <strong>com</strong>fortable,<br />
knowing how we all thought<br />
about running a car,” he says. “That<br />
made a difference.”<br />
Ultimately, it was in Richmond<br />
where the No. 19 team made its<br />
breakthrough. “Our position going<br />
in was, ‘Fine, let everybody talk<br />
about us being out of Top 10 contention,’”<br />
Mayfield says. “Then, we<br />
were going to just show what we<br />
could do. But I have to admit, after<br />
we won at Richmond, there wasn’t<br />
any feeling in the world like it.”<br />
notice. “It proved to everybody what<br />
we already knew about Jeremy and<br />
his team,” says No. 19 owner Ray<br />
Evernham, president and CEO of<br />
Evernham Motorsports. “It proved<br />
they could go out there with all the<br />
pressure in the world. And believe<br />
me, there wasn’t anybody on that<br />
track who had more pressure on him<br />
than Jeremy.”<br />
Richmond was the peak moment<br />
in a lifetime devoted to racing.<br />
Mayfield, who turns 36 this season,<br />
actually wore out a ground oval track<br />
with his toy motorcycle in his grandmother’s<br />
backyard when he was only<br />
4. The Owensboro, Ky., native graduated<br />
to go-karts and then the Street<br />
Stock division at the Kentucky Motor<br />
Speedway. By age 19, he had moved<br />
The racing <strong>com</strong>munity took to Nashville to work for Sadler<br />
“WE STUCK<br />
TOGETHER.<br />
THAT’S HOW WE ENDED UP<br />
LIKE WE DID.”<br />
LEFT: In the pit with<br />
Jeremy Mayfield’s crew.<br />
—JEREMY MAYFIELD<br />
14 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
LEFT CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: GETTY (2), BOB MAHONEY; THIS PAGE: BOB MAHONEY<br />
<strong>Racing</strong> as a fabricator, and he pretty<br />
much worked every job he could find<br />
around the race shop, waiting to<br />
prove his skills behind the wheel. He<br />
got his chance. By 1987, he was<br />
tearing up the ARCA Series, earning<br />
Rookie of the Year from the<br />
Kentucky speedway. He made his<br />
debut in the Winston Cup Series in<br />
1993 at Charlotte Motor Speedway;<br />
went full-time in 1995; and, in 2001,<br />
joined Ray Evernham to drive his<br />
No. 19 Dodge co-sponsored by<br />
the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National<br />
Training Center.<br />
As for this season? “We’re <strong>com</strong>ing<br />
in with a ton of confidence,”<br />
Mayfield says. “We know what<br />
we’re capable of doing, and we’re<br />
going to do it that much better.”<br />
And this season, the No. 19 has<br />
a new crew chief in Richard<br />
“Slugger” Labbe, who took over<br />
from Kenny Francis.<br />
That the No. 19 team is pursuing<br />
the Cup in a Charger just makes<br />
it all the sweeter. “This is really a<br />
great car,” Mayfield says. “What I<br />
really appreciate about being with<br />
Dodge is that they spend so much<br />
time and resources making sure that<br />
the job is done right. They support<br />
our team in every way possible.<br />
They’re going to be with us, every<br />
step of the way, to make sure we all<br />
share in the success.”<br />
And he’ll be pulling some moonlight<br />
duty as well this season, as<br />
Mayfield drives the classic No. 64<br />
Miller High Life Dodge for team<br />
owner Rusty Wallace in the Busch<br />
Series. “It’s just going to be so much<br />
fun driving it,” Mayfield says. “The<br />
Miller Lite car is a classic, and Rusty<br />
Kasey Kahne’s pit crew in action.<br />
Wallace is a legend.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 15
“I’M DOING THE SAME<br />
THING I’VE ALWAYS DONE —<br />
RACING TO WIN.”<br />
—KASEY KAHNE<br />
FAN-TASTIC:<br />
KASEY KAHNE<br />
WHEN IT COMES TO RACING,<br />
No. 9 Dodge driver Kasey<br />
Kahne has the speed thing<br />
down. But the “act like a star”<br />
thing? Kasey has a long way to go.<br />
When he goes out before a race to<br />
get introduced to the crowd, fans<br />
scream for autographs. Most Nextel<br />
Cup drivers know what to do here —<br />
give a friendly wave and keep walking.<br />
Not Kasey, 2004 Raybestos Rookie of<br />
the Year. He stops and signs. And after<br />
the race, he’ll do it again, for as long<br />
as it takes. Kahne’s good nature pays<br />
dividends: Last season his collectibles<br />
were the most popular of any rookie<br />
since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000.<br />
“I have to admit I wasn’t prepared<br />
for all this attention,” says Kahne,<br />
whose car is co-sponsored by the<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training<br />
Center. “I want to treat the fans as<br />
they want to be treated. Give them<br />
time — and treat them right.”<br />
Kahne’s star appeal took off in<br />
his rookie year as he just missed the<br />
Top 10 in the Chase for the Nextel<br />
Cup Championship, winding up at<br />
No. 13. He had 13 Top 5 finishes,<br />
including five as runner-up. At the<br />
start of last season, Kahne could<br />
walk around out of his firesuit unrecognized.<br />
But soon, he couldn’t even<br />
show up in street clothes outside the<br />
track without a <strong>com</strong>motion. With<br />
piercing blue eyes and a youthful face,<br />
Kahne elicits both squeals from<br />
teenage girls and<br />
maternal “aws”<br />
from 40-something<br />
moms. True to his<br />
“fans are first”<br />
credo, he gives<br />
them all what he<br />
feels is proper,<br />
respectful attention<br />
from a guy<br />
who didn’t let his<br />
selection as one of<br />
People magazine’s<br />
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9<br />
Evernham Motorsports Dodge, during<br />
practice at Homestead Miami Speedway.<br />
“50 Hottest Bachelors” go to his head.<br />
This season, Kahne has every reason<br />
to believe that he’ll not only<br />
crack the Top 10, but contend for<br />
the championship. “It’s good that I<br />
had the season I had, at the age [24]<br />
that I had it,” Kahne says, when<br />
reminded that most drivers wait far<br />
longer for similar results, if they<br />
enjoy them at all. “It helped our<br />
team build confidence. It’s going to<br />
pay dividends for our future.”<br />
Kahne started out racing at dirt<br />
tracks in his native Washington<br />
state at age 14, after begging his<br />
parents to let him try. His brother<br />
Kale and cousin Cole were his<br />
crew. Today, Kale drives Kasey’s<br />
Kasey Kahne’s pit crew gets pumped<br />
at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.<br />
16 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
LEFT CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: GETTY (2), BOB MAHONEY; THIS PAGE: GETTY<br />
motorcoach and Cole is his spotter.<br />
Kasey won four events in his first<br />
year on the micro-midget tour. After<br />
more success, winning the Hannigan<br />
Speedway Championship in Washington<br />
and the Northwest Mini-<br />
Sprint Car Championship, Kahne’s<br />
performance caught the eye of Steve<br />
Lewis, owner of U.S. Auto Club’s<br />
Lewis <strong>Racing</strong>. Kahne became the first<br />
driver since Jeff Gordon to win the<br />
“Night Before the 500” race at<br />
Indianapolis back-to-back. After successful<br />
Busch Series runs in 2002 and<br />
2003, Kahne was more than ready<br />
for the Nextel Cup.<br />
Deep down, observers say, the kid<br />
has an uncanny intuition about<br />
driving that usually takes years to<br />
develop. “He can be as good as anyone,”<br />
says No. 9 owner Ray Evernham.<br />
“He’s <strong>com</strong>e to us with incredible<br />
natural ability. But unlike a few racers<br />
who’ve <strong>com</strong>e up to this level, he’s<br />
determined to work as hard as he can<br />
with this natural ability. That’s what<br />
sets him apart.”<br />
Ask Kahne about any Star Wars–<br />
like “force” within, and you’ll get a<br />
polite denial. “I’m doing the same<br />
thing I’ve always done,” he says,<br />
“racing to win, gunning to get to the<br />
front. I’ve been doing that with<br />
midget cars, sprint cars, Nextel Cup<br />
cars — it doesn’t matter.”<br />
Well, he concedes that maybe a little<br />
Jedi-style karma does enter in.<br />
“Yeah, maybe there’s a point where a<br />
special sort of instinct kicks in.” But<br />
let’s not make too much of it, OK?<br />
Kahne is young, but levelheaded. “It<br />
really just <strong>com</strong>es down to racing,” he<br />
says. Case closed.<br />
Seasoned veterans are taking<br />
notice. “He races like there’s no<br />
tomorrow,” says teammate Jeremy<br />
Mayfield, a Top 10 championship<br />
contender last season. “That’s what<br />
makes him and his team so strong.<br />
The No. 9 team has a strong, winning<br />
tradition, and he’s doing a great<br />
job of keeping it going.”<br />
The fact that Kahne is gunning for<br />
MY<br />
TRACK<br />
FAVORITE<br />
Jeremy Mayfield, driver of<br />
No. 19 Dodge: “My favorite track is<br />
Richmond. That’s where we won the<br />
big race that got us into the Chase.<br />
It’s a day I’ll never forget.”<br />
Casey Mears, driver of No. 41<br />
Dodge: “I like the mile-and-a-half<br />
tracks — Texas, Atlanta and Lowe’s.<br />
I came up with an Indy background,<br />
going 240 mph. These NASCAR<br />
tracks <strong>com</strong>e closest to that adrenaline<br />
rush.”<br />
Kasey Kahne at the<br />
Darlington Raceway.<br />
“I LOVE DARLINGTON.<br />
YOU’RE RUNNING RIGHT<br />
UP THERE NEXT TO THE<br />
FENCE. AT ANY POINT, YOU<br />
CAN RUN INTO THE WALL.”<br />
Kasey Kahne<br />
Driver of No. 9 Dodge<br />
a championship in a Dodge Charger<br />
this year only makes it more exciting.<br />
“We’re really going to do well in this<br />
car — it’s a great move by Dodge.<br />
The car looks and runs great. Every<br />
year, Dodge is focused on making the<br />
cars better and better, and that’s<br />
what the Charger is all about.” ■<br />
Kasey Kahne, driver of No. 9<br />
Dodge: “I love Darlington. You’re running<br />
right up there next to the fence.<br />
At any point, you can run into the<br />
wall. On every lap, you have old tires<br />
racing against new tires. It’s even<br />
tricky getting on and off the pit road.<br />
Drivers love that kind of challenge.”<br />
Ken Schrader, driver of No.<br />
49 Dodge: “Daytona and Darlington<br />
are neat because of the history. But<br />
from a <strong>com</strong>petitor’s standpoint, I’d<br />
say Richmond. It’s a short track, but<br />
multi-grooved. You can pass high or<br />
low, and new tires can make a huge<br />
difference, which allows for different<br />
pit strategies.”<br />
Ryan Newman, driver of No. 12<br />
Dodge: “Darlington is hands-down my<br />
favorite to drive. I don’t say race,<br />
because at Darlington you race the<br />
track, not the <strong>com</strong>petition. To win at<br />
Darlington, you have to be on top of<br />
your game.”<br />
Jamie McMurray, driver of<br />
the No. 42 Dodge: “At Darlington,<br />
you can make the most difference as<br />
a driver. In fact, if you pointed a<br />
camera at our feet all race long,<br />
you’d see how hard we’re driving.”<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 17
A DRIVER’S RACE<br />
WEEKEND<br />
THURSDAY<br />
3 p.m.: Board a plane for the track.<br />
Jeremy Mayfield will fly in his own;<br />
Kasey Kahne in Ray Evernham’s.<br />
6 p.m.: Get settled in private<br />
motorhome — they <strong>com</strong>e with everything.<br />
Mayfield’s wife, Shana, cooks.<br />
Kahne and his brother Kale aren’t bad<br />
in the kitchen either.<br />
FRIDAY<br />
9 a.m.: Before practices and qualifying,<br />
drivers work out at the Motor<br />
<strong>Racing</strong> Outreach mobile fitness center.<br />
10:30 a.m: Teams go over details about<br />
the car and track, from weather conditions<br />
to shock absorbers.<br />
Noon: Two-hour practice time.<br />
After 2 p.m.: Drivers may use this<br />
time to qualify for the Busch Series.<br />
At night, there may be sponsor meetand-greets,<br />
or more kicking back.<br />
SATURDAY<br />
10 a.m.: Qualifying for starting position<br />
in the Nextel Cup race.<br />
Noon to 3 p.m.: You’re likely to find<br />
Dodge drivers signing for fans,<br />
unless they’re in the Busch Series.<br />
Rest of the day: More working out<br />
and, for many drivers, functions<br />
with sponsors.<br />
SUNDAY<br />
9:30 a.m.: Up for breakfast functions.<br />
11:30 a.m.: Mandatory meeting for<br />
drivers and crew chiefs. Every detail<br />
about the day’s rules is discussed.<br />
1:30 p.m.: Race time. (Finally!)<br />
5 p.m.: If a Dodge team makes the Top<br />
5, they stick around for inspection.<br />
Otherwise, drivers head to the airport,<br />
by car on special access routes, for the<br />
trip back to North Carolina. They’re<br />
usually home by 8 p.m.<br />
VISIONARY OWNER:<br />
RAY EVERNHAM<br />
AS YOU’D EXPECT from perhaps<br />
NASCAR’s most legendary former<br />
crew chief now turned highprofile<br />
car owner, Ray Evernham<br />
has been more than eager to get inside<br />
the “head” of the<br />
new Dodge Charger<br />
racecars for his<br />
Nextel Cup teams.<br />
The cars, replacing<br />
the Intrepid models,<br />
are among the most<br />
significant changes<br />
in NASCAR this<br />
year. Count Evernham<br />
among those<br />
who are giving a big<br />
“thumbs up” on the<br />
new development.<br />
“Dodge has<br />
done a great job<br />
on this,” says Evernham, president<br />
and CEO of Evernham Motorsports.<br />
“There’s been a high level of interest<br />
in this car. It looks great.”<br />
It’s not all about looks, either.<br />
Evernham appreciates the engineering<br />
power and manufacturing quality<br />
behind the new Charger racecars.<br />
“Having strong support from<br />
Dodge at the factory level is the<br />
most important part of the whole<br />
equation,” he says. “They’re the<br />
ones that bring in the resources.<br />
When you see a winning team, you<br />
see that it’s a team that has the<br />
“THERE’S<br />
BEEN A HIGH<br />
LEVEL OF<br />
INTEREST<br />
IN THIS CAR.<br />
IT LOOKS<br />
GREAT.”<br />
—RAY EVERNHAM<br />
manufacturer behind it every step<br />
of the way, and that’s what we have<br />
with Dodge.”<br />
As a businessman who happens to<br />
sell high-end, customized Dodge Ram<br />
pickups on the side, Evernham appreciates<br />
the attention to detail that<br />
Dodge manufacturing teams invest in<br />
their products. “Dodge has always<br />
been about a quality product with<br />
great engineering,” Evernham says.<br />
“That’s a great tradition that goes all<br />
the way back to the 1970s. That’s why<br />
I’ve been so excited to be a part of<br />
not only associating<br />
with Dodge on<br />
the track, but in the<br />
after-market business.<br />
When people<br />
see a vehicle that<br />
<strong>com</strong>bines the power<br />
of a Hemi with the<br />
style and look of a<br />
Dodge Ram, they<br />
are impressed.”<br />
As for this year,<br />
expectations are<br />
big. Especially after<br />
the highly successful<br />
2004 seasons of<br />
veteran Jeremy Mayfield and rookie<br />
Kasey Kahne. Evernham, as always,<br />
is prepared for more of that success.<br />
After all, that’s what he and his teams<br />
position themselves for, year in and<br />
year out. “We’re in our fifth year<br />
now with the Dodge program, and<br />
we’re building a foundation to get<br />
results,” Evernham says. “We had<br />
more Top 5 finishes than before.<br />
We had more Top 10 finishes than<br />
before. With the kind of teamwork<br />
approach we have going here, we can<br />
just expect more of the same kind<br />
of winning results for this season.”<br />
THIS PAGE: BOB MAHONEY; RIGHT TOP: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; BOTTOM: GETTY<br />
18 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
By now, the Evernham story is<br />
the stuff of NASCAR legend: After<br />
a career racing modifieds, he moved<br />
to North Carolina to pursue a<br />
career building racecars. Eventually,<br />
he formed a partnership as a<br />
crew chief with a young racer<br />
named Jeff Gordon, a pairing that<br />
resulted in an astonishing 47<br />
Winston Cup wins.<br />
In 1999, Dodge sought to return<br />
to Cup racing after two decades out,<br />
and turned to Evernham to lead the<br />
way. He has. With more than 230<br />
employees and four buildings totaling<br />
more than 175,000 square feet,<br />
he enjoys the backing of nearly<br />
60,000 Dodge Dealers and another<br />
60,000 <strong>UAW</strong> members.<br />
His leadership transcends the<br />
sport, as Evernham is often asked<br />
to speak to Fortune 500 executives<br />
as well as notable organizations<br />
such as NASA. But the sport<br />
is where his heart is. Especially<br />
during this inaugural season for<br />
the Chargers, which for Evernham<br />
are cars that embody the legacy<br />
of Dodge power and precision engineering.<br />
“You can go right up<br />
to it and say, ‘This is a classic<br />
Dodge car,’” he explains. “That’s<br />
Kasey Kahne’s pit crew is<br />
critical to his success.<br />
DODGE DESIGN<br />
UPDATES A LEGEND<br />
ON AND OFF THE TRACK, NEW<br />
DODGE CHARGERS ARE MUSCLING IN<br />
The fastback Dodge Charger of the late 1960s<br />
was a car like no other. It remains a pop<br />
culture icon with a following convinced it<br />
was the greatest muscle car of all time.<br />
Now <strong>Chrysler</strong> is relaunching the legend in<br />
a decidedly different package. The 2006<br />
Charger will be a four-door family car with<br />
attitude and the option of a powerful<br />
Hemi V-8 engine.<br />
But the new generation of Chargers won’t<br />
all be on the street. This season the Charger has replaced the Intrepid as<br />
Dodge Motorsport’s NASCAR Nextel Cup series entry, reviving a rich heritage.<br />
The first Dodge NASCAR win came in a Charger during the 1966 season, with<br />
the last in 1977. A Dodge Charger Daytona made history at Talladega in 1970,<br />
when Buddy Baker became the first driver to be clocked at more than 200 mph<br />
for a lap on a closed course.<br />
Of course, the car that set all those records was rare off the track. On the<br />
track, Dodge introduced the Charger 500 in 1969 with improved aerodynamics.<br />
Then, midway through 1969, Mopar created perhaps the most outrageous<br />
stock car ever. Using research conducted at the George C. Marshall Space<br />
Flight Center, engineers added a giant wing hovering over the rear deck. They<br />
christened it the Dodge Charger Daytona. With a 426 Hemi under the hood,<br />
it became the dominant car of the 1969 and 1970 NASCAR seasons.<br />
The Design Difference<br />
But for Mark Hall, senior design manager for the 2006 Dodge Charger, that<br />
distinctive history didn’t <strong>com</strong>e into play — his team wanted to create a car<br />
that could build its own legacy.<br />
Over more than a year, designers tinkered with their original concept of a<br />
muscle car–inspired sedan. “We altered the design of the front end so if it<br />
caught up behind you, you’d want to get out of the way,” Hall says.<br />
With the new Charger, the team wanted the flavor of a coupe with a four-door<br />
package. “When you look at the vehicle,<br />
it’s all about performance,” Hall<br />
says, noting that it has plenty of room.<br />
“A person can feel pretty responsible<br />
buying a vehicle like this,” he<br />
adds. “You can drive to work owning<br />
a car that has the flavor of a muscle<br />
car of yesteryear, but you can carry<br />
your family on weekends.”<br />
— Jim Morrison<br />
To learn more about the 2006 Charger,<br />
check out www.dodge.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
what Charger is.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 19
MIDGETS<br />
SPRINTS<br />
AND<br />
TRUCKS<br />
DODGE RACING GIVES FANS PLENTY TO CHEER ABOUT<br />
By Jim Morrison<br />
]<br />
Dodge’s <strong>com</strong>mitment to reaching Victory Lane extends from the high banking<br />
and high profile of Daytona to the slippery dirt tracks and lightning-quick drag<br />
strips off Middle America’s beaten path.<br />
Competing in diverse racing series, Dodge made a mark in 2004 with its<br />
MACHO MACHINES and TALENT BEHIND THE WHEEL,<br />
including little-known but promising drivers who may join the next generation<br />
of Nextel Cup Series superstars.<br />
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series<br />
Florida Dodge Dealers 250 race action<br />
at Daytona International Speedway<br />
20 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
LEFT: CORBIS; THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER<br />
And in <strong>2005</strong>, sprint-car standout<br />
Erin Crocker joins the team. <strong>Racing</strong>’s<br />
hottest woman driver last season,<br />
Crocker is <strong>com</strong>peting in the NASCAR<br />
Busch Series and ARCA races for<br />
Evernham Motorsports and in the<br />
USAC Silver Crown Series for Kasey<br />
Kahne Motorsports.<br />
Succeeding should not be difficult<br />
for Crocker, who turns 24 this year,<br />
even if it means driving three different<br />
types of vehicles. The first woman to<br />
win a World of Outlaws race, Crocker<br />
won her first event — a quarter midget<br />
race — at age 7, and has been raising<br />
dust ever since.<br />
Last year, her victory in a 410<br />
winged sprint car in Tulare, Calif.,<br />
added the “410 Wild Card” to her<br />
impressive collection of awards. It also<br />
got the attention of Ray Evernham<br />
and Nextel Cup Raybestos Rookie of<br />
the Year Kasey Kahne, who drives<br />
Evernham’s No. 9 Dodge Charger<br />
co-sponsored by the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler-<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training Center.<br />
For Crocker, a Massachusetts<br />
native who has an engineering degree<br />
from Renssalear Polytechnic Institute,<br />
driving for Ray Evernham is a perfect<br />
fit. “I get to drive for a leader who<br />
puts teamwork, engineering and technology<br />
first,” she says. “This is a<br />
chance for me to learn from the best<br />
in the business.”<br />
ALL ABOUT SPEED<br />
Those cars can lead to bigger things.<br />
By the end of last season, Dodges<br />
dominated the NASCAR Craftsman<br />
Truck Series, and much of the credit<br />
goes to drivers who moved over from<br />
Nextel Cup. Bobby Hamilton, for one,<br />
won his first Craftsman Series championship<br />
in 2004, giving Dodge its first<br />
drivers’ title in a NASCAR national<br />
series in nearly 30 years.<br />
Hamilton’s victory came in just<br />
his second year as a full-time truck<br />
driver. The win also gave Dodge its<br />
first-time hold on both the drivers’<br />
and manufacturers’ titles in a single<br />
year. For his part, Kahne won two of<br />
two starts in the 2004 Truck Series.<br />
When Ted Musgrave left the highprofile<br />
Winston Cup series in 2001 to<br />
race the No. 1 Mopar Dodge Ram<br />
truck in the Craftsman Truck Series,<br />
he saw it as a rare opportunity. Since<br />
“<br />
I get to drive<br />
for a leader<br />
who puts<br />
teamwork,<br />
engineering<br />
and<br />
technology<br />
first.<br />
”<br />
— Erin Crocker<br />
USAC Sprint Car<br />
getting into the truck with the barbed<br />
wire paint job, Musgrave had more<br />
victories — 13 — in the 2001 through<br />
2004 seasons than any other driver.<br />
For the <strong>2005</strong> season, Musgrave is driving<br />
the No. 2 Team ASE Doge Ram for<br />
Ultra Motorsports. Dodge scored its<br />
first Craftsman victory in 1995, just<br />
two years after the series began, and<br />
didn’t look back. Last year’s manufacturers’<br />
title was its third in four years<br />
— Dodges have won 52 percent of the<br />
races during that period.<br />
In the NASCAR Busch Series,<br />
Crocker is joined this season by<br />
Evernham Motorsports’ teammates<br />
Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield, driver<br />
of the No. 19 Nextel Cup Dodge<br />
co-sponsored by the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler-<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training Center.<br />
After finishing 11th in the drivers’<br />
standings in 2004, Kahne shares<br />
time behind the wheel of the No. 38<br />
Dodge with USAC Silver Crown star<br />
Tyler Walker. Mayfield is co-pilot<br />
of the No. 64 Dodge owned by<br />
fellow Nextel Cup veteran Rusty<br />
Wallace, sharing duties with Cup<br />
driver Jamie McMurray.<br />
SERIES SCORCHERS<br />
In the World of Outlaws series,<br />
Mopar drivers challenged for championships,<br />
but came up just short<br />
in 2004. Steve Francis finished second<br />
in the Late Model Series season<br />
in the No. 15 Mopar Dodge. “The<br />
Kentucky Colonel” also won the<br />
first World of Outlaws Late Model<br />
Series event at Volusia Speedway in<br />
Barberville, Fla., and the highestpaying<br />
series event of the season at<br />
the Red River Valley Speedway in<br />
West Fargo, N.D.<br />
For Danny “the Dude” Lasoski,<br />
last year was the debut of the new<br />
Mopar 410 Aluminum Sprint Car<br />
engine block. He led all 25 laps at the<br />
Dirt Track in Las Vegas the first time<br />
out. Lasoski’s No. 20 team, owned by<br />
Nextel Cup driver Tony Stewart,<br />
earned the runner-up position in the<br />
2004 Series Championship.<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 21
The challenge to win<br />
is one sentiment that’s shared by<br />
Dodge drivers in every series.<br />
In the United States Auto Club<br />
National Sprint Car Series, the Tony<br />
Stewart <strong>Racing</strong> Enterprises Mopar<br />
team placed three drivers in the Top<br />
10 in 2004. Jay Drake won his first<br />
USAC sprint car title.<br />
The up-and-<strong>com</strong>ing Sport Compact<br />
class saw Scott Mohler race his Mopar<br />
Dodge SRT-4 Neon dragster to second<br />
place in the points standings. He<br />
bought his Neon off the lot in 1998<br />
Dragster<br />
and is still running the original Neongeneration<br />
body.<br />
In the Busch Grand National Series,<br />
Kahne finished 11th in the points<br />
standings last year. Watch for him this<br />
season, joined occasionally by<br />
Crocker. Mayfield ran only one Busch<br />
race last year, but he’s racing this season<br />
in a Dodge owned by fellow<br />
Nextel Cup driver Rusty Wallace.<br />
DRIVEN TO WIN<br />
Mopar expanded its menu<br />
of racing excitement in 2004<br />
by making its impressive first foray<br />
into the sport of drifting, where drivers<br />
are judged on their ability to<br />
“drift” the rear end on turns. Samuel<br />
Hubinette had Mopar sponsorship as<br />
the driver of a Dodge Viper Competition<br />
Coupe (see page 27) in the<br />
Formula Drift Championship Series.<br />
For the Mopar Dodge SRT-4 Sports<br />
Car Club of America ProRally teams,<br />
a successful 2004 season concluded at<br />
the Lake Superior race at Houghton,<br />
Mich. Doug Shepherd, chassis engineering<br />
director for <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group<br />
Ted Musgrave drives the No. 1 Mopar Dodge<br />
at the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series<br />
Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway<br />
in Martinsville, Va.<br />
22 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
RIGHT: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; THIS PAGE TOP: COURTESY OF DAIMLERCHRYSLER; BOTTOM COURTESY OF EVERNHAM MOTORSPORTS<br />
Family Vehicles, and co-driver Pete<br />
Gladysz, a powertrain manager at<br />
DaimlerChrylser Performance Vehicle<br />
Operations, captured another Top 5<br />
finish overall (their third) and a Group<br />
5 win (Shepherd’s sixth, Gladysz’s<br />
fifth). Dodge had a perfect season,<br />
winning nine of nine races, giving<br />
Mopar and Dodge the overall SCCA<br />
ProRally manufacturers’ title.<br />
Shepherd and Gladysz took the<br />
championship, dominating the division,<br />
winning six of nine races.<br />
Shepherd has been rallying since<br />
1972 and Gladysz since 1977.<br />
They’ll keep doing it, a two-wheel<br />
drive David against the four-wheel<br />
drive Goliaths. “It’s the challenge of<br />
winning,” Gladysz says. That’s one<br />
sentiment that’s shared by Dodge<br />
TOP: Driver Shaun Carlson’s NHRA<br />
Sport Compact raises dust.<br />
RIGHT: Erin Crocker, the first woman to<br />
win a World of Outlaws race, brings<br />
diversity to the Evernham team. She’ll<br />
be <strong>com</strong>peting in the NASCAR Busch<br />
Series and ARCA for Evernham Motorsports<br />
and the USAC Silver Crown for<br />
Kasey Kahne Motorsports.<br />
Oh, Yeah, It’s a HEMI<br />
CHRYSLER INTRODUCED THE HEMI V-8 ENGINE in 1951 with<br />
what was then an astonishing 180 horsepower. Thirteen<br />
years later at the Daytona International Speedway, the legend<br />
of Hemi power was chiseled in granite.<br />
On that day in 1964, the first three finishers of the<br />
Daytona 500, led by Richard Petty, were driving 426<br />
Hemi-powered Plymouths. It was the engine’s first race,<br />
a remarkable testimony to the <strong>Chrysler</strong> engineers who<br />
built the engines in record time. They worked around the<br />
clock in late January 1964 to correct a problem with thin<br />
cylinder-wall castings. It was only on the night before the<br />
race that improved engine blocks were installed.<br />
For the Hemi’s <strong>com</strong>petition, Daytona was a season<br />
preview. Plymouths and Dodges won 26 times, largely<br />
thanks to Hemi power.<br />
In 1965, NASCAR decided the Hemi was just too<br />
powerful and issued rule changes basically outlawing the<br />
engine because it was not available in stock production<br />
models. A year later, Dodge offered the 426 Hemi as a<br />
production option, and the engine was back in NASCAR.<br />
When <strong>Chrysler</strong> began offering a slightly tuned-down version<br />
of the 426 Hemi in Plymouth Belvederes and Dodge<br />
Coronets and Chargers, the era of the muscle car arrived.<br />
The street Hemi came with dual, four-barrel carburetors<br />
mounted on an aluminum dual-plane intake manifold.<br />
The engine’s advertised horsepower and torque<br />
were 425 horsepower and 490 pounds per foot of<br />
torque, but drivers often claimed the output was closer<br />
to 500 horsepower.<br />
What made it a Hemi? The cylinder head configuration<br />
has a nearly centrally located spark plug in a hemispherical<br />
<strong>com</strong>bustion chamber. This unique architecture has an<br />
inherent airflow that translates into big power.<br />
Anyone with a Hemi under the hood knew the car<br />
would be the first off the line at a stoplight. What Hemi<br />
couldn’t beat was the oil crisis.<br />
The first-generation street Hemi passed into history<br />
in 1971. Today, a state-of-the-art version of the Hemi is<br />
available on the Dodge Magnum, Dodge Durango and<br />
Dodge Ram pickup, as well as other <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group<br />
vehicles. Find out more about the Dodge Domination<br />
Powered by Hemi vehicles at www.dodge.<strong>com</strong>. — J.M.<br />
drivers in every series. ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 23
STORY BY Molly Rose Teuke<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Bob Mahoney<br />
FOR RACING FUN AND<br />
DEALS ON WHEELS,<br />
THIS EXHIBIT IS A<br />
CLEAR WINNER<br />
MAGNET<br />
In racing, a split-second decision can make all the<br />
difference. For John Vanek, a longtime race fan<br />
from Albertville, Ala., a decision to visit the<br />
<strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training Center<br />
NASCAR Exhibit at the Talladega Superspeedway made the difference<br />
in a winning deal on a brand-new, butane-blue <strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
Town & Country minivan.<br />
“Being a NASCAR fan really paid off<br />
for me this time,” says Vanek. “I<br />
wanted a Town & Country, but I<br />
couldn’t fit it into my budget.” Until,<br />
that is, he visited the exhibit and<br />
walked away with a discount number<br />
good at his local dealership.<br />
FAST TRACK TO FUN<br />
The exhibit is all about helping fans,<br />
whether it’s getting a great deal on a<br />
new ride or making the most of their<br />
race experience at Talladega, the<br />
Daytona 500, <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
400 and up to 10 other events during<br />
the <strong>2005</strong> Nextel Cup season. A sureto-be<br />
popular feature is the photo<br />
opportunity, where fans can have<br />
their picture snapped with one of the<br />
NTC co-sponsored vehicles — the<br />
No. 9 and No. 19 Dodge Chargers.<br />
Photos are taken against a specially<br />
designed racing backdrop, <strong>com</strong>plete<br />
with a stack of tires and pit toolkit.<br />
Four big-screen monitors offer<br />
race-related programming, from<br />
video footage of the previous day’s<br />
qualifiers to highlights of memorable<br />
NASCAR moments. Fans also<br />
can view a retrospective on Dodge<br />
racing and video loops about the<br />
National Training Center and the<br />
close working relationship between<br />
the <strong>UAW</strong> and Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong>.<br />
Updated versions of the exhibit’s<br />
popular video racing modules invite<br />
fans to figuratively climb behind<br />
the wheel of No. 9 or No. 19 and<br />
test their skills against top<br />
NASCAR drivers. Now in its fourth<br />
year of touring duty, this season’s<br />
simulation games are the best yet,<br />
ILLUSTRATION: KEN HANSEN<br />
24 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
with improved visual clarity and<br />
greater interactivity.<br />
DESIGN IT — DRIVE IT<br />
Thanks to the program Vanek took<br />
advantage of, fans are invited to do<br />
more than get behind the wheel in a<br />
video game — they can literally put<br />
themselves behind the wheel of a new<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicle at significant<br />
savings not available to the general<br />
public. In October 2004, Vanek<br />
worked with members of the P3<br />
Team, a group of <strong>UAW</strong>-represented<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> workers who educate<br />
potential customers about the<br />
quality vehicles they produce, to<br />
“build” the car he wanted and price<br />
it accurately. This season, visitors<br />
also can price their dream car at a<br />
pair of Vehicle Information Center<br />
<strong>com</strong>puter kiosks.<br />
PEOPLE, PRIDE, PRODUCT<br />
As the P3 Team sees it, there’s no one<br />
better qualified to spread the word<br />
about the innovation and value in<br />
every <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicle.<br />
“Once they found out that we<br />
weren’t from a dealership, they<br />
opened up to us,” explains Vernita<br />
Monk, a <strong>UAW</strong> Local 7 member who<br />
works in the paint shop at Detroit’s<br />
Jefferson North Assembly plant.<br />
“This isn’t a stressful environment<br />
because we’re not ‘selling’ anything<br />
but knowledge and pride in the product<br />
we make,” adds Susan Ambers, a<br />
<strong>UAW</strong> Local 140 member who works<br />
on the trim line at the Warren Truck<br />
Assembly plant in suburban Detroit.<br />
“We’re just not intimidating, so fans<br />
always seem to walk away with a<br />
smile on their face.”<br />
For fan Vanek, it’s a smile with<br />
staying power. “I’m still amazed by<br />
the Stow ’n Go seats I got in my<br />
new Town & Country,” he says. “But<br />
what really sold me is the pricing. That<br />
Top: Connie Sanders (left) talks to P3 Team Specialist<br />
Lee Murry at Centennial Park in Atlanta.<br />
Bottom: Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> vehicles on display at<br />
Centennial Park in Atlanta.<br />
ON THE ROAD WITH THE P3 TEAM<br />
People, Pride and Product: Bringing them together are members of the P3 team,<br />
a group of 30 <strong>UAW</strong> members drawn from nine Detroit-area <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group facilities.<br />
Team members are on special assignment to bring a plant-floor perspective to<br />
their mission: spreading the message about the quality vehicles they build.<br />
“People are impressed by how far <strong>Chrysler</strong> has <strong>com</strong>e, impressed with the new<br />
designs in all the vehicles,” says Lee Murry, a member of <strong>UAW</strong> Local 51 who works<br />
in the production control department at Mack Avenue Engine in Detroit.<br />
It’s a message the P3 Team takes on the road, traveling to worker events at<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> locations and to public events like auto, sports and fishing shows.<br />
During the <strong>2005</strong> Nextel Cup season, P3 Team members are promoting awareness<br />
of <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group products at all races where the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National<br />
Training Center has its NASCAR Exhibit.<br />
Each team member is well-versed in the <strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicle lineup, a<br />
breadth of knowledge that <strong>com</strong>es in handy, according to Susan Ambers, a <strong>UAW</strong><br />
Local 140 member at Warren Truck Assembly. “People like being able to talk to<br />
people who actually make the cars and can talk about the highlights in safety, utility,<br />
performance, styling and value.”<br />
The P3 Team does more than talk about the features of the vehicles they build.<br />
They work with other programs to heighten the message of “buy what you build.”<br />
— M.T.<br />
really made a winner out of me.” ■ TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 25
THE SCIENCE AND SKILL OF DRAFTING<br />
Gone with the<br />
Aerodynamics plays a huge part in motorsports. Regardless of the type of race<br />
machine, airflow will influence its top speed, acceleration, deceleration, handling<br />
and cooling. So it’s no surprise that racers try to manipulate it to their<br />
advantage. They design bodies and aerodynamic devices to manage air. And<br />
when they’ve done all they can with design, they try to influence the air during<br />
the race. There’s no better example of this than drafting.<br />
Slip Sliding Away<br />
Drafting, or slipstreaming as it is also<br />
known, plays a role primarily in auto<br />
and motorcycle racing. As a race<br />
vehicle rushes through the air, its<br />
body design creates an air pressure<br />
bubble in front and a minor vacuum<br />
behind it. Together, the effects produce<br />
drag. Aerodynamic detailing<br />
can reduce drag, depending upon<br />
how much freedom designers are<br />
allowed. But by drafting, a driver can<br />
reduce drag on his own.<br />
Drafting occurs when a car tucks in<br />
closely behind another. The leading<br />
vehicle loses some of the drag at its<br />
rear. The following vehicle still has a<br />
vacuum at its rear but now has less air<br />
resistance in front. The result is that<br />
both machines go faster. In fact, the<br />
closer they are, the faster they go.<br />
As former NASCAR Winston<br />
Cup champion and NBC broadcaster<br />
Benny Parsons explains, “A<br />
boat goes through the water and<br />
the water spreads. You have a wake<br />
behind it. I think air does the same<br />
thing. You go through that air and<br />
it splits and leaves that wake<br />
behind it. Before the air can reform,<br />
there isn’t as much resistance,<br />
so when you ride back in that<br />
wake, it makes running easier.”<br />
Power to Pass<br />
Of course, the point of drafting is to<br />
make two or more racecars go faster<br />
and, at some point, to allow one of<br />
the machines to pass — to “slingshot.”<br />
Slingshotting occurs when one<br />
vehicle gains speed in the first vehicle’s<br />
wake and pops out to pass using<br />
Air pressure creates<br />
a drag on lead car.<br />
The wake of lead car<br />
creates an area of<br />
decreased pressure.<br />
26 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
the extra momentum. As it moves<br />
ahead, the vacuum reappears behind<br />
the first machine, increasing its drag<br />
and slowing it down.<br />
While you can see drafting and<br />
slingshotting in MotoGP, Formula I,<br />
the Indy <strong>Racing</strong> League and Champ<br />
Car, the effect is most easily spotted<br />
on NASCAR superspeedways like<br />
Daytona and Talladega. There, drivers<br />
work in drafting lines, cooperating<br />
and <strong>com</strong>peting with drafting<br />
partners until the final laps, when<br />
they try to time a slingshot pass. If<br />
they time it wrong, they lose several<br />
positions. If they get it right, they’re<br />
gone with the draft, and they cross<br />
the finish line first. ■ — Eric Tegler<br />
Bad as It Wants to Be:<br />
Dodge’s Viper Competition Coupe<br />
When Tommy Archer stalled on the<br />
standing start of the final 2004<br />
Speed GT series race in October, he<br />
fell to the tail of the 34-car field. But<br />
he got going and stormed his way to<br />
a third-place finish, passing the Audi<br />
RS6 of championship leader Michael<br />
Galati on the way. With that, Archer<br />
took the drivers’ championship. He<br />
did it in a Viper Competition Coupe.<br />
Building on the tradition and outstanding<br />
racing success of the<br />
Dodge Viper GTS-R (1996–2000),<br />
the <strong>com</strong>pany introduced the new,<br />
track-ready Viper Competition Coupe<br />
in 2003. Based on the street-going<br />
Viper SRT-10, the Competition<br />
Coupe is wrapped in a carbon/Kevlar<br />
body, strengthened by a full roll<br />
cage and stout front-end bracing.<br />
Power <strong>com</strong>es from a race-tuned version<br />
of the SRT-10’s aluminum 8.3<br />
liter V10, which produces 520<br />
horsepower and 540 pounds per<br />
foot of torque.<br />
Other racing enhancements include<br />
a differential cooler, ducted brakes,<br />
six-point restraints and fire suppression<br />
system, all adapted by <strong>com</strong>pany<br />
engineers at Dodge Motorsports. Such<br />
racing technology transfers to the<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicles you can drive.<br />
Check them out at www.dodge.<strong>com</strong><br />
and www.chrysler.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
BOB MAHONEY<br />
Second car drives in<br />
lead car’s wake to gain<br />
momentum from<br />
decreased air pressure.<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 27
<strong>2005</strong><br />
NASCAR<br />
Nextel Cup Series Highlights<br />
02/12/05 Daytona International Speedway<br />
02/17/05 Daytona International Speedway<br />
02/20/05 Daytona 500/Daytona International Speedway<br />
02/27/05 California Speedway<br />
03/13/05 <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> 400<br />
Las Vegas Motor Speedway<br />
03/20/05 Atlanta Motor Speedway<br />
04/03/05 Bristol Motor Speedway<br />
04/10/05 Martinsville Speedway<br />
04/17/05 Texas Motor Speedway<br />
04/23/05 Phoenix International Raceway<br />
05/01/05 Talladega Superspeedway<br />
05/07/05 Carolina Dodge Dealers 500/Darlington Raceway<br />
05/14/05 Richmond International Raceway<br />
05/21/05 Lowe’s Motor Speedway<br />
05/29/05 Lowe’s Motor Speedway<br />
06/05/05 Dover International Speedway<br />
06/12/05 Pocono Raceway<br />
06/19/05 Michigan International Speedway<br />
06/26/05 Infineon Raceway<br />
07/02/05 Daytona International Speedway<br />
07/10/05 Chicagoland Speedway<br />
07/17/05 New Hampshire International Speedway<br />
07/24/05 Pocono Raceway<br />
08/07/05 Indianapolis Motor Speedway<br />
08/14/05 Watkins Glen International<br />
08/21/05 Michigan International Speedway<br />
08/27/05 Bristol Motor Speedway<br />
09/04/05 California Speedway<br />
09/10/05 Richmond International Raceway<br />
09/18/05 New Hampshire International Speedway<br />
09/25/05 Dover International Speedway<br />
10/02/05 Talladega Superspeedway<br />
10/09/05 Kansas Speedway<br />
10/15/05 Lowe’s Motor Speedway<br />
10/23/05 Martinsville Speedway<br />
10/30/05 Atlanta Motor Speedway<br />
11/06/05 Texas Motor Speedway<br />
11/13/05 Phoenix International Raceway<br />
11/20/05 Homestead-Miami Speedway