Q&A: Dave Charpentier.

Although Ricky Craven's Tide team has remained almost completely intact during the off-season, there have been some notable additions to the line-up, with PPI team owner Cal Wells and the returning Mike Beam hiring Dave Charpentier as crew chief.

Charpentier is a former technical director for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Q:
What are your thoughts on the results from the Daytona test and your prediction for Daytona?

Dave Charpentier:
I was encouraged and happy with the test at Daytona. The weather conditions weren't as good during the first session as the second session, so relative to the cars during the first test session with us, we ran pretty well. We didn't have everything on the race car that we will have when we go back to qualify, so I feel we will fare better than the test results showed. We found some limitations chassis-wise as we improved the rear travel - we were bottoming out the right-side frame rail, tail pipes and fuel cell, which all were limiting how fast we could go.

We've taken that car and raised all the right-side areas. We know from our chassis dyno work that we are going to be significantly better motor-wise during Speedweeks,
so our goal is a top-ten qualifying time."

Q:
What is the biggest focus for a crew chief during Speedweeks?

DC:
It changes because we are down there for two weeks and your focus shifts. It's a difficult two weeks. The first part of the week is getting through NASCAR's technical inspection as unscathed as possible. That's your first task, so the car is as close to the configuration as you tested it. Tech is a lot more difficult at the superspeedways - they look at a lot more things. It's the first race of the year, first time through tech, and it's Daytona. The cars are under a huge amount of scrutiny at Daytona as opposed to a race later in the year.

Next, you focus on qualifying and getting a good lap on the board because they only decide the front row on qualifying speed. A lot of things have to go your way to be on the front row - besides having the horsepower, and aerodynamically the right body, you are at the luck of the draw literally, as far as weather goes. The air quality and wind are factors, both of which are totally random. Hotter air temps and lower barometers take horsepower away. To put a top-two lap time on the board is very difficult. You can be the best car there, and still end up outside that top-two very easily.

After qualifying, you have to focus on the Twin 125s and attempting to finish well in it to earn a top-15 finishing spot. If you wreck during the Twins, you have to revert back to your qualifying speed, so our goal is to post a top-ten qualifying speed, so we don't have to worry about missing the 500 - as there are no guarantees. First, you have to focus on getting the best lap time you can get, then you can focus on the Twins. Once you have a good lap time on the board, you can try a few things in the Twins, and use that as a learning experience and not be so nervous - you can be more aggressive.

The rest of week after the Twins, you are focused on race set-ups and drafting. You work on getting the car to handle good in the draft and getting the car to pull up or suck up in the draft. The biggest thing I want is for Ricky to be comfortable in it for a 500-mile race. We'll also work on balance over a fuel run.

This year, I think we will be good, but luck plays a role - from being at the wrong place at the wrong time to weather conditions. No matter what you do there are still some things you can't control. It is what makes this sport so interesting and frustrating at the same time. You can have a fast car in practice, but it takes almost four hours to qualify all the cars and the weather changes dramatically during that time. Some tracks you want to draw early and some tracks you want to draw late. Getting a wrong draw can seal your fate in the wrong way.

Q:
What is your fondest memory of Daytona?

DC:
The first place I ever attended a NASCAR race in person was at Daytona in 1984. This was before restrictor plate racing and I really enjoyed it and started going back year after year. I can't say there was one thing that stood out over the other, and going there as a team member was awesome, but going to victory lane with DEI was really special. The next thing that I'm looking forward to is going to victory lane as a crew chief, as it would complete the whole circle.