ESPN Analyst, Championship Winning Crew Chief Andy Petree on Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway

The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup is on ABC

November 13, 2007 -- Q – If you were Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief this weekend, how would you approach the race?

“You’ve got a real choice to make. Do you try and carry on the momentum and win the fifth in a row, because to me that’s a big deal. But you’ve got an 86-point lead and how foolish would you look if you went out there and were aggressive and lost it? It’s a tough question and a tough decision. I would go for that win. These are special times and they don’t come along that often. As Jimmie said after the race at Phoenix, to win five first you have to win four. It’s hard to get to this point. Winning five in a row would be some history to close out the season.”

Q – Even though Homestead is shaped differently, is the setup similar to what NASCAR teams use for the other 1.5-mile tracks?

“The setups will be very similar and the speeds are very similar even though the track layouts look a lot different because you’ve got the dogleg at Texas and Atlanta. But you still have the same basic setup. What you’ve got to have at those tracks is a big downforce setup. You’re trying to get the front end of the car as low as possible, the rear of the car as high as possible, and then try to maximize grip while doing that.”

Q – What makes Homestead-Miami Speedway unique?

“Variable banking is the one thing that stands out at Homestead, depending upon which line you run. You’ll see guys search around the racetrack, and you see that at Atlanta and Charlotte and Texas. I think that’s what makes racing on these mile and a halfs great is when you can race on the bottom of the racetrack to the top. That’s why they redesigned the track at Homestead, to enhance side by side racing, and it worked right off the bat.”

ESPN on ABC’s Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and NASCAR Busch Series from Homestead-Miami Speedway

The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup concludes with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway live on ABC Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. ET beginning with NASCAR Countdown. Defending champ and series leader Jimmie Johnson will be going for his fifth consecutive race win as he tries to hold off four-time champ Jeff Gordon for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title.

Brent Musburger will host ABC’s telecast from Homestead. Dr. Jerry Punch will handle play-by-play for the race telecast, joined in the booth for analysis by 1989 NASCAR Cup champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Wallace is the only national TV analyst who has competed in the Chase as a driver. Pit reporters will be Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Jamie Little and Mike Massaro. Two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the ESPN DISH Tech Center. Suzy Kolber will host NASCAR Countdown along with analyst Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the NASCAR Busch Series and Truck Series, in the ESPN Pit Studio.

On Saturday afternoon, ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series with live racing from Homestead. The telecast of the Ford 300 race begins at 4 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

About NASCAR on ESPN:

ESPN and ESPN on ABC has comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup” championship on ESPN on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Busch Series all season. For the first time in the history of televised motorsports, all programming is produced totally in High Definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes Radio, SportsCenter, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio, ESPN360.com and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN was honored with 17 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

Source: ESPN

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