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Raybestos Rookie Dodge Challenger 500 Advance: Spotters Nick Defazio and Roman Pemberton

Saturday May 10, 2008

 

RAYBESTOS ROOKIE CONTENDER ADVANCE MATERIAL FOR THE DODGE CHALLENGER 500 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY, MAY 9, 2008.

The spotter for each Raybestos Rookie will play an important role in the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington. Nick Defazio (No.77) and Roman Pemberton (No. 00) discussed the how challenging their jobs are going to be in tomorrow night’s race.

NICK DEFAZIO, SPOTTER, No. 77 MOBIL 1 DODGE: YOUR DRIVER DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE HERE AT DARLINGTON. DOES THAT MAKE YOUR JOB MORE INTENSE? “It makes it a lot harder. This weekend, with the new surface, the closing rate is really fast. I mean, you come up on other cars really fast and if something happens in front of him in one and two, when you’re turning into one, you can’t see halfway through the corner so that’s a real big part of it. That’s a lot different, letting him know what’s going on in front of him as opposed to Talladega or something where you’re talking about stuff going on behind him. But as far as the line and anything I could help him with there is pretty much the same. Everybody is pretty much running the same line but just reminding him to take care of his stuff and keep the right side on it and keep the brakes on it and stay out of trouble.” HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO FINE THE LINE BETWEEN RACING HARD FOR POSITION AND NOT HOLD UP THE LEADER AND OTHER CARS ON THE LEAD LAP? “It’s very difficult trying to make friends out there and not holding anybody up because especially here they’ll get in the back of you and it’s real narrow out there. Anybody gets to you you’re going around so you need to be real conscious of what’s coming up behind you with the leaders and stuff. But just racing all the other Raybestos Rookies that are grouped all right together, I try not to focus on that but it’s in the back of your mind staying in the top-35 and moving on.” HAVE YOU WORKED WITH A RAYBESTOS ROOKIE BEFORE? “I’ve worked with some inexperienced drivers and you deal with some of the same things. I’ve known Sam for a while and really got a lot of respect for him and really think he can do this job.” CAN YOU TELL THAT OTHER DRIVERS RACE GUYS WITH THE YELLOW STRIPE DIFFERENTLY? “I know that we get raced everywhere, from here to Talladega and Daytona, we get raced differently. That’s just a matter of the other guys getting to know Sam and being comfortable around him.” WHAT IS GOING TO BE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE TOMORROW NIGHT? “Here, definitely the rate of speed, the tightness of the track, very narrow track. It’s very hard for us spotters to see coming out of two. It flattens out back there, very hard for us to see and just keeping those guys out from the sides of each other and not running into the sides of each other.”

ROMAN PEMBERTON, SPOTTER, No. 00 BRAIN CANCER ACTION WEEK TOYOTA: IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE SPOTTED FOR A DRIVER WITH THE YELLOW STRIPE? “No, not at all. I’ve spotted for few. I did a lot with the development of Kraig Kinser when I was at Ginn and some of their other development drivers in the past. I guess Boris Said when he had the yellow tape on a road course so yeah, a few rookies.” HOW CHALLENGING IS YOUR JOB HERE AT DARLINGTON? “Well in the past it was because they’re speed is so different on tires. You get guys on different amount of laps on tires and that makes the biggest difference. The speed variance is so much which being the surface is new we don’t know how much that’s going to be like the old Darlington. But from the looks of it, it’s going to be a very cautions race and I think you’ll see some of that.” WHAT DO YOU REMIND THE DRIVER ABOUT DURING THE RACE? “Each track is different. Every track there’s different things. Here, when you get in race mode, it’s probably keeping him calm from spinning the tires and all that and 10 of those laps that he feels like he’s not driving hard is going to pay off for the next 20 and that’ll be the biggest thing for this place. But every track has different things.” HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO FINE THE LINE BETWEEN RACING HARD FOR POSITION AND NOT HOLD UP THE LEADER AND OTHER CARS ON THE LEAD LAP? “Our main goal is to finish races and so far I’d say as a whole, for a Raybestos Rookie driver, I think we’ve done that so far. We have finished almost all the laps. He has kept it off the people. They made a big thing at Martinsville but he did nothing wrong there. He drove a good race and that’s basically our tactic. The last three tracks he hasn’t even seen, basically highlights on TV of ‘em, much less coming here in the hardest division in the world of racing and he’s got to go out there and within four or five laps he’s within the top-35 in time. I think he’s doing a great job and that’s basically our goal. When we start coming back around repeating these things he can turn it up and start bouncing off the walls trying to get that extra little speed.” WHAT IS GOING TO BE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN THE RACE TOMORROW NIGHT? “Probably keeping myself calm [laughs]. There’s so much going on at both ends of the track at all times, even in practice, that you just have to have good peripheral vision of just keeping up and watching. There’s five, six guys out there hitting the wall in practice before one who will actually bring the caution out so you’ve got to pay attention to stuff falling off their car and debris. A lot of that stuff happens that people don’t know other than the team that dealt with the problem. So there’s going to be a lot of that through the race. The more you can pay attention the more you can be aware of what’s going on with all the cars out there and info the better shot you’ll have at making it a good day and finishing the race.”

®Raybestos® brand brakes are produced by the Affinia Under Vehicle Group, the leading manufacturer of braking systems and components for the automotive industry. The line includes everything from brake drums to rotors, pads, shoes and hydraulic parts. Affinia Under Vehicle Group is at the forefront of research and development in brake technology and operates manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout North America.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Kim DeHaven.

 

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