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Crew chief
Drew Blickensderfer answers fan questions once a week.
Submit your question
here. |
July 2, 2009 |
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2009 Q&A
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Q |
Do you and the pit crew do a little bit of
joking around during the race or is it all
seriousness? What are some of your worries
heading into the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint
Cup?
Branden Roach,
Turlock, Calif. |
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A |
We are pretty serious. This group has been
together for a long time and has a good understanding of when to be serious and
not. There is joking around before a race but the race time is pretty serious.
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Q |
Hi Drew, I see you are from Illinois. We all
know that Matt is a Packer fan and makes no
apologies for it. Are you a Bears fan? If so,
have you had a “discussion” with Matt about the
Packers-Bears rivalry yet? Good Luck Drew. If
you are indeed a Bears fan, forget what I just
said.
Mike
Kinjerski, Wales, Wis. |
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A |
I am not a Bears fan. Really, since moving to
Carolina I have become a Panthers fan, but I was
never a Bears fan.
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Q |
Hey Drew when is Roush Yates bringing out their
new FR9 engine?
Chris Jones,
Spanish Fork, Utah |
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A |
The new engine was going to make its debut this
weekend in the 26 car, but they decided it would
be better to wait a month or two. Hopefully it
will be ready for the end of this year.
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Q |
Do you have any meetings during the week with
other Roush Racing crew chiefs, and do you guys
(crew chiefs) collaborate at all during a race?
Joel Busse, Black River Falls,
Wis. |
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A |
We meet every Monday morning and then again
before lunch with the drivers on the previous
race. We also meet Wednesday mornings to talk
about the upcoming weekend. During the race we
have the ability to talk back and forth through
the engineers’ computers on the pit boxes.
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Q |
How important are chassis adjustments like
stagger, yaw, toe, and caster versus adjustments
we see in the race like air pressure, wedge,
track bar, or springs?
Matt Holschuh, Fond du Lac, Wis. |
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A |
With
as close as competition is on Sunday, chassis
adjustments are huge. It has been a trend that
if the car is close, you can do small
adjustments like .25 lbs of air in one tire and
really see/feel the difference. But if the car
isn’t handling good, most adjustments available
to do on pit road aren’t nearly effective. Most
of the things we change on pit road also have to
be fast so we don’t loose too much track
position, which sometimes is more important than
an adjustment.
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