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GOING TO HOMESTEAD DIFFICULT ON ALL ASPECTS
3/2/2011
THIS WEEK IN FORD RACING
Dearborn, Mich. — After a frustrating second-place finish in the Grand-Am 200 at Daytona International Speedway, Scott Maxwell is ready to get back on the race track.
Maxwell talks about preparing for Homestead-Miami Speedway and the advancements that have been made to the Boss 302R program since it last made its HMS appearance.
SCOTT MAXWELL – NO. 15 MULTIMATIC MOTORSPORTS FORD MUSTANG BOSS 302R
AFTER YOUR FINISH IN DAYTONA WERE YOU READY TO GET RIGHT BACK IN THE CAR? DID THAT MAKE YOU ANXIOUS FOR HOMESTEAD?
“For sure, after Daytona it’s been a whole month and I was ready to go the next day. I’m excited by it. We tested in Homestead[-Miami Speedway] immediately after Daytona and it went pretty well. Hopefully we can continue with the momentum we had in Daytona and carry through in Homestead.”
HOMESTEAD IS TYPICALLY A HOTTER TRACK. HAVE YOU BEEN PREPARING FOR THAT?
“Homestead is typically a hot event. That translates usually to a slippery track and hard on tires. Again, making your car good on bad tires is really what you want to aim for and we certainly had that at Daytona, but Homestead is an entirely different type of track. The elements are a lot different and more intense because of the heat. It’s harder on the engine, harder on the tires, it’s harder on everything. It’s harder on brakes, too. It’s a much tougher race than Daytona is.”
WHAT TYPE OF THINGS DO YOU FOCUS ON WHEN GOING TO A TRACK LIKE THIS?
“Two things really, reliability, and that’s what we suffered with last year. We’ve beaten that and hopefully solved all the issues that we had last year with that, and definitely the focus on getting a car that is gentle and nice to its tires. You want to drive it so the car will still go quick, but you’re not abusing it. Really getting a good set-up which is effective at the end of the race is important. At the beginning of the race everyone is running on good tires and your brakes are fresh and it doesn’t really matter. Looking at the big picture it’s the last 30 or 40 minutes when everyone has used up all of their cars and it comes down to whoever has done a good job of sorting it.”
DURING YOUR LAST RACE IN HOMESTEAD, THE BOSS 302R WAS ONLY MAKING ITS SECOND RACE APPEARANCE. WHAT CHANGES AND ADVANCEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE ON THAT PROGRAM SINCE THEN?
“The biggest over the winter was reliability and I think we’ve taken a big step forward on that. As far as performance, they’re sort of related. Because the car is more reliable now, the car is running a lot cooler. We can now be more aggressive with the engine. We have more power than we did a year ago because we’re harder on the engine. We’ve made some aerodynamic advances so the Mustang has a bit better overall downforce. Other than that, a lot of little things have been made that add up. It’s not one element that has made us better or quicker. It’s a series of little changes that combined as a package make a faster Boss 302R. Everyone has been doing a superb job all winter in keeping their heads down and bouncing back from the frustration of last year. If we continue with where we left off in Daytona, I think both Ford and Multimatic are looking forward to a strong season.”
YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT YOU COULDN’T WAIT TO GET BACK IN THE CAR AFTER DAYTONA. WITH IT BEING A MONTH SINCE THE LAST RACE, DOES IT MAKE IT HARD ON YOU AS A DRIVER TO CARRY THAT MOMENTUM?
“Typically for Grand-Am it’s every couple of weeks. I guess I would prefer that. It’s always like this, this time of year. We can’t race up north and even in the mid-south, so the races are spread out for the first part of the season. It’s frustrating. I think everyone would love to race every weekend but realistically that’s the way it is, and it’s the same for every series. It doesn’t affect your mindset or your preparation.”
http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=38985
3/2/2011
THIS WEEK IN FORD RACING
Dearborn, Mich. — After a frustrating second-place finish in the Grand-Am 200 at Daytona International Speedway, Scott Maxwell is ready to get back on the race track.
Maxwell talks about preparing for Homestead-Miami Speedway and the advancements that have been made to the Boss 302R program since it last made its HMS appearance.
SCOTT MAXWELL – NO. 15 MULTIMATIC MOTORSPORTS FORD MUSTANG BOSS 302R
AFTER YOUR FINISH IN DAYTONA WERE YOU READY TO GET RIGHT BACK IN THE CAR? DID THAT MAKE YOU ANXIOUS FOR HOMESTEAD?
“For sure, after Daytona it’s been a whole month and I was ready to go the next day. I’m excited by it. We tested in Homestead[-Miami Speedway] immediately after Daytona and it went pretty well. Hopefully we can continue with the momentum we had in Daytona and carry through in Homestead.”
HOMESTEAD IS TYPICALLY A HOTTER TRACK. HAVE YOU BEEN PREPARING FOR THAT?
“Homestead is typically a hot event. That translates usually to a slippery track and hard on tires. Again, making your car good on bad tires is really what you want to aim for and we certainly had that at Daytona, but Homestead is an entirely different type of track. The elements are a lot different and more intense because of the heat. It’s harder on the engine, harder on the tires, it’s harder on everything. It’s harder on brakes, too. It’s a much tougher race than Daytona is.”
WHAT TYPE OF THINGS DO YOU FOCUS ON WHEN GOING TO A TRACK LIKE THIS?
“Two things really, reliability, and that’s what we suffered with last year. We’ve beaten that and hopefully solved all the issues that we had last year with that, and definitely the focus on getting a car that is gentle and nice to its tires. You want to drive it so the car will still go quick, but you’re not abusing it. Really getting a good set-up which is effective at the end of the race is important. At the beginning of the race everyone is running on good tires and your brakes are fresh and it doesn’t really matter. Looking at the big picture it’s the last 30 or 40 minutes when everyone has used up all of their cars and it comes down to whoever has done a good job of sorting it.”
DURING YOUR LAST RACE IN HOMESTEAD, THE BOSS 302R WAS ONLY MAKING ITS SECOND RACE APPEARANCE. WHAT CHANGES AND ADVANCEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE ON THAT PROGRAM SINCE THEN?
“The biggest over the winter was reliability and I think we’ve taken a big step forward on that. As far as performance, they’re sort of related. Because the car is more reliable now, the car is running a lot cooler. We can now be more aggressive with the engine. We have more power than we did a year ago because we’re harder on the engine. We’ve made some aerodynamic advances so the Mustang has a bit better overall downforce. Other than that, a lot of little things have been made that add up. It’s not one element that has made us better or quicker. It’s a series of little changes that combined as a package make a faster Boss 302R. Everyone has been doing a superb job all winter in keeping their heads down and bouncing back from the frustration of last year. If we continue with where we left off in Daytona, I think both Ford and Multimatic are looking forward to a strong season.”
YOU MENTIONED EARLIER THAT YOU COULDN’T WAIT TO GET BACK IN THE CAR AFTER DAYTONA. WITH IT BEING A MONTH SINCE THE LAST RACE, DOES IT MAKE IT HARD ON YOU AS A DRIVER TO CARRY THAT MOMENTUM?
“Typically for Grand-Am it’s every couple of weeks. I guess I would prefer that. It’s always like this, this time of year. We can’t race up north and even in the mid-south, so the races are spread out for the first part of the season. It’s frustrating. I think everyone would love to race every weekend but realistically that’s the way it is, and it’s the same for every series. It doesn’t affect your mindset or your preparation.”
http://www.fordracing.com/news/detail/?article=38985
