Pre race quotes - Auto Club 500.

"Last year we were running well and competing for wins, but we didn't expect to win that soon or that early into the season. We had hoped that by the end of the year we were going to be a contender for race wins. But, when it all came together - to win in my home state - it couldn't have gone any better for me." - Jimmie Johnson

Jerry Nadeau, #01 MB2 Motorsports U.S. Army Pontiac
"California is a great track, real similar to Michigan, but it has a lot more grip. It's a wide track, it's fast and there's plenty of opportunity to pass. Basically there are no tricks about the track. You need to stay clean, have good pit stops and be on your toes all day.

"I not only like everything about the California Speedway, I also like the thought of having the same car we raced with in Texas. Our goal for this weekend is to equal or do better than our Texas performance.

"I knew we were going to struggle a little early on because of being a new team. But the way I look at it is that we've been running strong but just haven't had the finishes we should have had. We've accomplished quite a bit in a short time - it just doesn't show in the points right now. We have a long ways to go and just have to keep our heads up. As long as we keep moving ahead, we'll be in good shape."

Kenny Wallace, #23 Bill Davis Racing Stacker 2 Dodge
"I really look forward to going to California. I know everyone says that, but it's especially true for California. It's a very different environment than we're used to racing at. It's really a big deal for NASCAR to be racing in Los Angeles. The track and all the facilities that surround it are awesome. They offer you so much and they'll help anyway they can. We really enjoy going there.

"We all put our heads together to figure out what we needed to do to improve our intermediate and speedway program. Todd [Holbert, lead engineer for Bill Davis Racing], Philippe and Frank all got together and came up with things to try in the tunnel, at the track in a test and at the track on race weekend. I think we have made some significant gains in those areas and we showed that with the improvement in how we ran in Atlanta compared to Las Vegas.

"We went to Kentucky on Monday with both cars that are on their way to California. We tested both cars to figure out which car we wanted to race with at California. We strictly made race runs all day and finally decided to race the back up car from Texas. We feel like that was the better of the two and we should be in great shape for the race this weekend. Ricky our truck driver, left from the test and headed straight to California. We all left there with a lot of optimism for this weekend's race. We just need to qualify decent and have a good run."

Johnny Benson, #10 MBV Motorsports Valvoline Dodge
"This race will probably be a lot like the Michigan races of the past which means there won't be a lot of cautions and probably a lot of single file racing. James and I and our engine tuner will start working on fuel mileage on Friday in practice and then before the race we will make a call on what gear we will run and stuff like that.

"(Crew Chief) James (Ince) gets with the Hendrick Engine guys before the race and we come up with a plan. You don't want to sacrifice power for fuel mileage but at a place like this you don't want to have a shorter pit window than everyone else. The worst case scenario is you go into the race figuring fuel mileage will be the key and a late caution falls."

Kevin Harvick, #29 Richard Childress Racing GM Goodwrench ChevroletWhat's racing like at California?KH "It usually comes down to fuel mileage because there's so much room to race. Last year, the groove really spread out up high in the corners so you could run three-quarters of the way up the racetrack, or at the bottom, or in the middle. It's really hard on the motor. The year before last, we had a car capable of winning and broke a valve spring. Last year, we didn't run all that great, but that was par for the course. We're expecting to go there and run well this time around. I always put a little extra pressure on myself being that it's close to home."

You touched on the motors. How do you make sure it lasts?KH "The problem is that you sit at the same rpm for so long and you're on the throttle for so long down the straightaway that it puts a strain on the motor. Sometimes valve springs break, then the thing blows up. The guys at the shop feel pretty confident going in that our motors are going to be okay. Hopefully, we have the right balance on the motor and it'll be a good weekend."

How much will the aero-package come into play?KH "It's all aero at California. You do have to have a good motor, but you also have to be able to get through the corners. There's not 28-degrees of banking, or 24-degrees of banking, it's relatively flat. This is probably one of the most important aero-racetracks that there are, and this will be the first really, really big test of it for our new bodies."

You're running the Busch race on Saturday, any special reason?KH "Honestly, I'd like to win a race at California in either Busch or Winston Cup. That's the biggest reason I'm doing it. It's not really a huge rhythm racetrack that will get me ready for Sunday. I mean, every racetrack is some sort of rhythm racetrack, but it's not a Charlotte, or a Bristol, or Darlington, somewhere like that. I like to keep busy when I'm close to home so I don't have a lot of distractions. I like to stay in the racecar and keep moving."

How are your heels?KH "They definitely hurt. My left foot's not bad, but my right foot, I can't even put tennis shoes on. I tried to put some gel pads in my shoes after I noticed the burning in the truck race. Turns out it was a bad idea, a really bad idea. Once they got hot, they kept getting hotter and they never got cool. I've been wearing sandals or walking around bare foot most of the time letting them recover. It was nice to have some extra time to do that."

Jeff Green, #30 Richard Childress Racing AOL Chevrolet
"We caught a break last year when that caution flag came out and we got our lap back". "I had to hustle around the 97 car, we barely beat him to the finish line and that really saved us. The car wasn't exactly where it needed to be at that point but we kept working on it. Although we never really found the right combination, we held on to get a good finish, which is what teamwork is all about.

"The low banking on the corners allows for sweeping passes coming off the turns. You need the car to stick and handling plays such a factor. We had luck on our side last year when we got our lap back but hopefully we'll be strong enough to where we can run in the front all day. The AOL team has struggled in recent weeks and I know we are capable of so much more. I hope this weekend is a turning point for us."

Jack Sprague, #0 Haas GNC Racing NetZero Pontiac
"California Speedway is a track I have always enjoyed racing at. It's fast and smooth - just the way I like them - and I always look forward to going there. I got through Martinsville, a track I don't really like, by knowing we were going to California next. Plus, we had an off weekend and a little time to regroup - not much - since we've tested at both Kentucky and Sears Point in the last week. Hopefully, Tony and the team and I will be able get it together and put together a good, solid run this week.

"It would be great to get a good finish this week in California. NetZero is based nearby in the Los Angeles area and they bring a ton of people out to the racetrack every year to cheer the team on. This would certainly be a good place for Team NetZero Racing to turn things around and run like we think we are capable of. We need to forget about the first nine races and concentrate and getting this team where it needs to be. I feel like the next couple racetracks we go to present a good opportunity for us. I really like California and Richmond and think this team has a shot of running well at both tracks. Running well at both those tracks would be a real boost for us, and we really need that right now."

Tony Stewart, #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot ChevroletFriday after qualifying you're heading over to Anaheim to throw out the first pitch at the Angels-Red Sox game - when was the last time you threw a baseball?TS "It's been a long time since I've thrown a baseball. I've thrown a softball some, but that was a while ago, too. I'm definitely going to have to practice a little bit."

Which is harder - throwing a strike at a major league baseball game with a packed house or making a three-wide pass at 190 mph?TS "Throwing a strike at a baseball game with a packed house - no question. I don't do that everyday. I can race three-wide all day long and that doesn't bother me a bit, but throwing a baseball - like I said - that's going to take a little practice."

With the new aero package implemented for this season, many thought that Las Vegas - a race track with a similar layout to Fontana - would provide teams with the best idea as to how their cars would perform under the new aero package. Was that the case and was what you learned at Las Vegas transferable to Fontana?TS "The aero issues that we experienced at Las Vegas - and Atlanta and Texas for that matter - we'll be able to take to Fontana and use. All of those high-speed tracks that we've run, where downforce is so much of an issue, we can take what we've learned and apply it to Fontana."

Fontana looks like a lot of the other 1.5-mile to two-mile D-shaped ovals that the NASCAR Winston Cup Series visits. Is it?TS "Yeah, it's essentially like racing at any of the other mile-and-a-half to two-mile ovals. The only difference is that the temperature is a little different, the settings are a little different and the food's a little different. But that's about it."

Of all those tracks, which one is the most akin to California? TS "California is a lot like Michigan. I like to call it Michigan West. I'm not sure that it has the amount of banking that Michigan has, but it is a flatter track than Michigan. The way you approach the weekend is pretty much the same as far as setups on The Home Depot Chevrolet go. You just don't have the banking to help you like you do at Michigan."

How much of a factor does fuel mileage play at Fontana, and what do you do to conserve fuel?TS "Absolutely nothing. I'm not in charge of the Home Depot Racing Team's fuel mileage department. I'm in the driving department. Really, it's the engine tuners who work really hard during the weekend to try to get us the best fuel mileage as possible for the race."

Drivers have won at Fontana by taking two tires instead of four on their last pit stop. When and how do you make the decision to sacrifice tires for track position, or depending on the circumstances, track position for tires?TS "I think it just depends on how your car is working. If your car is driving well, one that keeps you up toward the front all day because it's fast, then just two tires can keep you pretty quick. In that situation, you could make a big gain at the end by just taking on two tires and maintaining your track position. Even some guys who are behind and don't have their car the way they want, by taking on two tires, the track position they gain helps out more than four tires would. But when you get right down to it, I think Fontana is a track where if your car's good, then it doesn't matter whether you take two tires or four."

Some people might say that racing at Fontana is boring. What do you say?TS "If a guy gets going and gets his car balanced, then he'll tend to run away. That's just the characteristic of that kind of track. It's fast, it's flat and momentum is so important there, that if a guy is off just a little, he's off a lot. The drivers like it from the standpoint that if you can find a way to get around it a little better, then it'll help them in the long run. You end up racing the race track instead of each other."

Jimmie Johnson, #48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Home Improvement Chevrolet, Defending Auto Club 500 Champion
"Last year we were running well and competing for wins, but we didn't expect to win that soon or that early into the season. We had hoped that by the end of the year we were going to be a contender for race wins. But, when it all came together - to win in my home state - it couldn't have gone any better for me. It was such a cool thing to have my friends and family in the stands. Like I said, it couldn't have gone any better."

Johnson on coming back to California as the defending championJJ "The only experience I have coming back as defending champion was last year at Dover. We were able to go back to Dover and win a second time. So I sure hope that things go that well for us in California. Our technology has changed so much in the set-ups in the race cars from when we were there last year that nothing will be the same this time. Things change so fast that we're kind of starting over from ground zero again. But I like that race track and Chad (Knaus, crew chief) knows how to set the race car up for there. We're just going to have to find a balance with this new set-up and see what happens. So as much as being the defending champion you'd think would help you and give you and the team the confidence to come back, the car isn't the same. So you've got to go back out and rebuild your race car."

Johnson on what he likes most about California SpeedwayJJ "The reason I like it the most is the trophy that's sitting on my mantle. Seriously, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) gives me a great racecar for a mile and a half and up (track sizes). He gives me a great racecar everywhere. But it seems like a mile and a half and two-mile race tracks - from Vegas to Michigan - we're always competitive. When you're out there running fast and passing good cars and racing for the lead each week on this style of track, you look forward to those on the schedule.

"California is one of those tracks and we took the last trophy home from there so we're really pumped about going back. Trophies are what we're after."

Jeff Gordon, #24 Hendrick Motorsports DuPont Chevrolet, won last round at Martinsville
"It's such a relief to get a win this early in the season and to place ourselves in a competitive position for the championship. I've said all year that this DuPont team has been running well; we just needed everything to come together for a victory.

"Our goal right now is consistency and winning a fifth championship. Right now, we're taking things one race at a time.

"We were inconsistent a lot last year and that's what loses championships not wins them. It seems like we've been running well each week this year, we just didn't have the finishes early on to prove it. Over the last six races, we've consistently finished in the top-10, which has put us in the position to contend for the championship.

Dale Jarrett, #88 Robert Yates Racing UPS Ford
"Racing at California is a lot of fun for me because I think it's a lot like racing at Michigan and that's one of my favorite places to race. We know going in that we have to have a lot of horsepower to get down the long straights, and we have to have a car that will handle well. The good thing about California is that there are so many different grooves that if you're car isn't handling just right in one groove, then there are other grooves where you can race and still be competitive and contend for a win.

"We had a great car at California last year and one I really thought we had a shot of winning with. "California is a great track for racing and I look forward to going back there each year because the more races that are run, the better the racing groove gets. It's very similar to Michigan and Michigan is probably my favorite track we visit because it is a place where you can make use of all the different racing grooves. You have to have a couple things to do well at California and those are a strong motor and an aerodynamically sound racecar. We should have both this weekend.

Elliott Sadler, #38 Robert Yates Racing M&M's Ford
"Our speedway program so far this year has been incredible. We have qualified and ran inside the top-20. It is really cool to get out to the west coast a couple times a year - fans seem like they are just different than what NASCAR is used to. It's also good for the sport to get out into the other markets like Los Angeles.

"California Speedway is a huge two-mile racetrack that calls for a good motor. Robert Yates horsepower has never let us down so our expectations are to qualify and finish in the top -10 this weekend, maybe move up in the points and keep the momentum for this team going into May. The track itself is very fast with long sweeping turns. The fans will get to see three and four wide racing all day."

Dale Earnhardt Jr, #8 Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Budweiser Chevrolet
"I see a lot of people pointing at our poor finish here last year as a sign we shouldn't be expected to do very well this week. But, it (the crash) was a freak deal, (Kevin) Harvick blew a tire and we had nowhere to go. It was a big-time hit, and I struggled for weeks after that, but we hit the wall in practice the year before (2001) and then came from the back of the field in a back-up car to finish third. I'd prefer to look at that run (2001) as a more realistic example of what we can do as a team.

"It's been a fun start to the season. Tony (Eury, car chief) Jr. has been really good up on top of the (pit) box. He used to change the front tires on the stops and had a lot of different jobs on his plate, but this year we all decided it would be better for him to have a comfy seat up there on the box, and he's really responded. We've kept each other focused and we have been making the right choices on changes and strategy.

"At Martinsville, we felt like we were the car to beat for 450 laps until a lapped car almost crashed us big time. Tony Jr. was really great about keeping everyone calm and focused on the bigger points picture. We did all we could to get as many positions back in the last 50 laps. I'm not so sure it would have been as positive of a comeback for us in years past."

Ricky Rudd, #21 Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft Ford
"California is a track I've always enjoyed running. You hear a lot of people compare it to Michigan. To me, it is not a good comparison. You have to handle a little bit better at California than you do at Michigan. Turns three and four are similar to Michigan. Turns one and two are very different than Michigan.

"It is a track that takes a lot of horsepower, but it also takes a good handling race car. We've been fortunate that we've run pretty well there every year.

"There is no big secret to it. You drive off into turns one and two. You work to get your car driving well enough to drive right on the bottom of the race track. You have a real wide arc entry into the corner. As you enter turn one, roll out of the throttle and use very, very light brake pressure. Just enough to know that you have brakes there. You are out of the throttle just a couple of seconds.

"Similar to all of your big tracks that have the big radius corners, you want to keep your momentum going, keep that speed going so that when you roll into the backstretch straight away you are up to speed. You drive it right in against the bottom of the white line and try to hold it there. As you are making the exit you want to unwind the steering wheel and let the car build acceleration and RPM as quickly as possible. That means you use up pretty much every inch of the race track and drive it out against the fence on the backstretch. It is a long, flat back straightaway.

"There is a real nice entry into turn three. The way the track was designed it has a real nice gradual bank angle as you enter the corner, which makes for pretty good racing. You can enter that corner low or high, two wide and it is not a big issue.

"Once you arrive in the middle of that corner, the fast way in qualifying trim and on fresh tires is on the bottom getting the car to stick, get a bite and keep it rolling off the corner and into the front straightaway. You tend to fight a push up off that corner. The front end doesn't want to stick as well as you need it to a lot of times. And if you get too greedy and try to run too fast through that corner and keep too much momentum going it won't show up until you get to the late exit right as you're coming into the straightaway. And if you get a little overly aggressive with it, it will kill your lap time. That is because right at the last minute when you roll into that straightaway, where you need to be accelerating you will have to lift the throttle a little to keep the front end from smacking the fence. So the trick is to keep the momentum going without having to lift the throttle on a late exit and use that momentum down that long front straightaway.

"It is a big long front straightaway - a lot of fun. You will run three, four, five wide there all day and there is a lot of dicing going on. That is a track you will see guys go down the front straightaway and they'll start off wide against the fence. And they will come all the way down to the inside of the apron and then swoop back up again as you enter turn one - right up against the fence and then that wide arc as you enter turn one.

"As the race progresses and the track gives up grip, the cars have a tendency to want to move up the race track. That's when you see some good racing because some cars can continue to run on the bottom but also cars will get to running really fast about the middle or three-quarter mark. Not all the way up against the fence, but about three-quarters of the way and then a very late exit right up against the fence."

Bobby Labonte, #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
"We are not very proud of what we have done out there the last two years. We won the pole position in 2001, but ran like crap in the race. We weren't even competitive. Then last year we had a belt come off on just the 10th lap or so and we spent almost 10 laps getting that fixed. We never even had a chance at victory after that. About the only thing good to come out of last year's race was that we spent the remaining 240 laps using it as a live test session. We tried all kinds of stuff with the car to see how it would react. Other than that it stunk."

"We've run well this season, but we don't have all the finishes to go along with it. I have felt like we have been competitive at almost every track so far, but circumstances beyond our control have prevented good finishes at places like Daytona, Talladega and Texas, just to name a few.

"Our goal this season was to get back to leading laps and being a contender each week. I feel as though we have done that for the most part and I am happy about that. We were in a number of wrecks though that weren't our fault. We will just have to work harder as we press towards the mid-point of the season."

John Andretti, #43 Petty Enterprises Cheerios Dodge
"I like California. We've run pretty well out there and have led out there too. It's like a Michigan, and it can be pretty hard on engines. You are always up on the power. The hardest part of California is getting up off the corner. You want to run in third gear coming off the corners and fourth gear for the straightaway but you just can't do that. It's not a Pocono, but that's the kind of gearing you need. You abuse the engine pretty hard because of that. We've got a great engine program so I don't see any problems.

"California is different. It has three or four different grooves. You can run about the same speed with someone who has a push even if you are loose, if you are both running different grooves. It gives us a chance to see where our car works best.

"If California gets a second date then NASCAR is going to take from an East Coast race. If they do that, everyone is going to have to buckle down and hang on because it's on. We are going to be travelling more and more, and it's more of an expense. If that second date comes from a Rockingham or a Darlington, it's going to be a big effort for everyone. There is a big difference in the amount of time it takes to do that. It's not only travelling, but also the transportation of race cars and the other things that go with it. Who knows where the end is? Then again, if they say, 'Hey, we're having a race,' everybody is going to be there for it. We'll show up, you know that.

"I love racing. Let's run two races when we are out in California this weekend. We can race one on Friday and race one on Sunday. We can just blow off qualifying or we can do one-day shows. I think the answer is not the number of shows, or where they are at, but the length of time that is takes to perform them. If we could do two-day shows, like Richmond does, that seems to be the better answer. It gives you a chance to catch your breath at home, or let some of the guys off to go and work on the cars.

"With body changes that are happening too, it's so hard to stay ahead. If you start the season behind you pretty much stay behind. Unless you are a team that has an unlimited amount of resources, you just can't build as many cars as you need. You are building while you are repairing."
Todd Bodine, #54 Belcar Racing Army National Guard FordWHAT DO YOU NEED TO RUN WELL AT CALIFORNIA? TB "It takes a complete package to run well and it requires a lot from me as a driver. I mean a complete package in a sense that the car has to be aerodynamically sound, handle well, and have a good power plant. If you've got all those elements working for you then you should have a fast car. We are bringing a new car that has just gotten out of the wind tunnel, so we hope to have something for the competition.

"Handling as always is crucial but at California it is especially so because of its configuration. The corners and straightaways are longer than usual. It carries a lot of momentum so there's another reason why horsepower can't be lacking. I also need to be able to let the guys know how the car is handling so that they can make the right adjustments. We won't get many chances to fix the handling however, it does boast several grooves so I can move my car around to get it to handle in different ways."

Jamie McMurray, #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Havoline Dodge
"It's always fun to head out west to California. I was really surprised the first time I raced out there, because there are so many NASCAR fans out on the west coast and you can just feel the excitement when we come out there."

"It's also going to be a big weekend for my sponsor, Havoline. ChevronTexaco is based on the west coast, and there's going to be a lot of guests that will be at the race." "We're taking the same car we ran at Rockingham and Texas with earlier this year, and got top-10 finishes in both of those races. I don't know why, but this car just feels good, and obviously it races well, so I'm really looking forward to the race this weekend. I think we'll give all the Havoline guests something to cheer about.

"California is also big because we get to unveil our T3 car that we're going to run in Daytona in July. There's going to be a special Hollywood actor that will be in attendance for the announcement, and it should be a lot of fun."

Kyle Petty, #45 Petty Enterprises Georgia Pacific/Brawny Dodge
"Every week, we're in a race on the track and every week, the sponsors are on a race off the track. Something that is a big race for us might not be as big of a race for them. Don't get me wrong. All of the races are big races but the market might make something bigger for a sponsor one place than someplace else.

"Television has changed things in that regard some. Every race is big because we have so many people watching and following us. Say 15 years ago, we didn't even have all of our races on television and we were running a lot fewer races than we are running today. Look at it that way. A race at, say, Nashville in the mid 1980's might have had a total of 20,000 people seeing the race. Now, our smallest crowd is way into the millions when you count television.

"For the sponsors, the races don't get much bigger than southern California. The California market is a lot like Texas has been for us. The only difference is California was a much hotter NASCAR market at one time before things kind of cooled off there, and then we came back again. Texas was the same way.

"Twenty years ago, we were running races in Texas and southern California. We were at Texas World Speedway, and we were running two southern California races - not far from the new Fontana track in Ontario and down the road a little bit at Riverside (road course). The land got to be so valuable in Ontario that the track went away and, not long after that, Riverside was gone too. Texas World Speedway just couldn't draw. It was halfway between Dallas and Houston, which seemed to be perfect, but it was just far enough to be too far away from both cities. It was gone too.

"As the sport has grown, those markets have come back to us. The races at Texas have gained a ton of attention. The media in those areas is real strong, and they cover the sport on a regular basis too, not just when we're in town. The fan base there has gotten really strong really quick, and it's a great place for us to be. I don't see that area doing anything but growing for us in the future.

"California is growing too. They started off with like 75,000 seats, and the demand is strong. The media is paying more and more attention to us, and there is a really solid fan base there now too. Things are looking pretty good for that speedway right now.

"That's a huge market for anybody, regardless of what kind of business. Just because it's huge doesn't mean you automatically succeed. The NFL ended up having a pretty rough time with the area. You have to think pro football will come back there at some point but, so far, they have sort of set the Los Angeles area aside. There are two major league baseball teams that seem to do pretty well, but the NBA teams, one does great and the other kind of struggles some.

"I guess we kind of gave up on the Los Angeles market too at one point. Once they dug up Riverside there just wasn't anything in southern California for us. A lot of people were talking but not many people were building. So we missed out on this market for a long time.

"Being here and having been here for a few years now is good for everybody. It's good for Georgia-Pacific, it's good for General Mills, it's good for the sport. There are just so many people out here, and being able to touch them through promotions or whatever is big - whether they come to the race or not, or watch the race on TV or not. Whether it's doing an appearance at a souvenir stand or the Georgia-Pacific Teen Safety program or something like the deal John (Andretti) is doing this weekend with the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program, it's a big deal.

"You have to work hard to make these things work, and you work a little harder in the bigger markets because you have so many more people to touch. There aren't any guarantees without hard work. If all Georgia-Pacific did was buy a sponsorship, paint their name on the side of the car and wait for the business to roll in, that wouldn't be a very successful program. But they start with the sponsorship and they work it and promote it and use it every way they can to market. They have to have great products, which they do, and they have to market them well, which they do. That makes them successful.

"At Petty Enterprises we do the same thing with every sponsor. We have our marketing people set up to make the programs work for the sponsors. I don't know of another race team that, from car owner to driver to marketing department to crew to everywhere else on the team, works as hard and is as willing to work hard as we are. You have to go that extra step to make things work. You have to be willing to go that extra mile to make things work. And going to southern California this weekend, this is one of those places where you have to do the things you need to do from a marketing standpoint as well as a racing standpoint.

"We only get one shot in southern California now, so we have to make the most of it as a race team. We'd like to have a really good run with this Georgia-Pacific Dodge at that speedway. We're going to do what we can to do to just that."

Ken Schrader, #49 BAM Racing Dodge
"California is as close to a 'complete package' track as anything we run. You have to have a strong engine. You have to handle well in the turns. You have to have an aerodynamic package that is darned near perfect. And everybody has to be on their game all the time.

"If you are off just a tick, it will cost you in a big way at California. Losing a little in the turns or being down on horsepower just a bit doesn't work too well there. Being perfect is pretty tough in this sport but if you are perfect one or two laps, you can pull away from people. The car that is closest to perfect - if everything else works out - will be the winner."