Question Quest Story and photos by Dwight Drum
© 2007 Dwight Drum Web work by Larsen & Drum
DAYTONA LEGENDS
Everything seems larger at Daytona International Speedway. At 2.5 miles the track is longer than almost all racetracks and with its years of Daytona 500 history edging up on 50, DIS is heading for a gala celebration in 2008. Daytona has an aura that seems to permeate the atmosphere of all racing events and other programs. Even an empty DIS commands respect.
While the drivers aren't any taller at DIS past winners become a part of racing history and present contenders dig deep and dream big. A win at Daytona goes straight to the top of a speedy resume.
In keeping with everything large Daytona management arranges a comprehensive media day in advance of the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400 so that drivers get maximum exposure and the media has abundant access.
Past winners of the Daytona 500 gathered before the Pepsi 400 in advance of the 50th festivities in 2008. The prestigious group seemed to trigger noble questions while providing generous answers in typical Daytona fashion - another large way.
"You just got to take the good with the bad."
A.J. Foyt
"You can never teach somebody to go fast."
Mario Andretti
"I never endorsed anything that I didn't use."
Richard Petty
"I had some really good help early on."
Bobby Allison
"Controlling your emotions is a huge part of being a great driver."
Darrell Waltrip
"We didn't know where we were headed."
Bill Elliott
"I don't think the challenge is as great now."
Junior Johnson
Two Question Quest
Reporter Dwight Drum was among the eager media at DIS but was able to ask at least two questions to many of the world's greatest drivers.
A.J. Foyt
Focus, did you have focus from the beginning or did you acquire it along the way?
"I always did. Every race I went to, I went there to try to win. I didn't care if it was a big race or a little race. I'd still have fun racing just as hard as I could. One carried a lot more prestige than another but I didn't look at it that way. I just looked at it as another race. That's the way I am today still."
The ups and downs in racing, is there a best way to handle that?
"Yeah. Just work that much harder and try to get back up. Like I said I've been up and down that ladder like a yoyo. You just got to take the good with the bad."
Mario Andretti
Focus can be so important. Did you bring that with you or acquire it along the way?
"I think there are certain things that you can't teach an individual. Like I came to terms about one thing - you can never teach somebody to go fast. That has to be from within. You can hone their skills. You can try to minimize mistakes and al that. But the ability, the will to go fast, either got it or not. That's one thing about any sport. Some people can pick up a set of golf clubs and have a very natural swing. Others no matter how hard they try they just can't hit it. It's the same thing with motor racing.
"I've watched my own kids and not all kids are created equal. You know when they are young you put in a go-kart or an ATV or something like that. You can see the ones that it just feels natural right away like they have the feel of the throttle and other ones are confused or whatever. How do you explain that? I have no idea. I have no idea how to explain my love for the sport. I feel in love with it and my family didn't even own a car. It's just something that just captured my imagination. Why didn't something else capture my imagination? Oh yeah, something else might have been being a fighter pilot, something like that. But racing was the direction that I was going."
Is there a best way to handle success?
"Just enjoy it. Just be happy. Be relaxed. Be thankful."
Richard Petty
You've became an ambassador of speed over a period of time and you've become an ambassador for products. Was that as easy for you along the way?
"I'll tell you what it's all about. I never endorsed anything that I didn't use. So that makes it easier. See. A guy comes up and says, 'W'ed like for you to endorse SueBee Honey.' I said how much are you going to give me? Not the money, how much honey are you going to let me have? So those are the things that we look at. SueBee Honey is a small operation. Not that many people eat honey, but they should. We just automatically do that or do that with all of our sponsors."
Racing has ups and downs. Is it as difficult to retrieve momentum as it is to achieve it?
"I guess I look at it different ways. I think it is. The big deal is if you've ever been successful and know what successful is all about so you work that much harder at getting there. If you have never been successful you're working hard to get to it, but you don't know what it is. So I think it makes you work that much harder on the second trip around because you enjoyed being at the top so much that you're going to do that little bit extra to get back to it."
Bobby Allison
Focus can be so important. Did you bring that with you or acquire it along the way?
"I had some really good help early on. My parents were great. My mom and dad had 10 kids and raised us all. They were just great parents. They didn't want me to race to begin with so I had to work really hard to get involved in my racing stuff but as I got going and told my dad that I was committed to this. He said, 'OK, I'll support you.' That was really a great message for me. It took lots of work still along the way. I'm just pleased that I was able to have success. All those other tough wins I got too, you know. I'm still trying to get credit for that 85th win. The NASCAR record book has three races in the record book have no winners. Tiny Lund won two of those is a Camaro and I won one of them in a Mustang. I really have 85 wins. I have 85 trophies but only credit for 84."
You have so much success. Is there a best way to handle success?
"Once again, the people around you help support you. I had an old man help me when I first started that really taught me about life and racing. Roy Armstrong, who I knick named 'Crash Armstrong.' Buy a copy of my book, 'Bobby Allison, A Racer's Racer'. I tell about that in there."
Darrell Waltrip
As far as focus goes, did you bring that with you or acquire it along the way?
"The ability to concentrate for 500 miles is unbelievable. I can just only tell you about how many times again back in the day, no power steering, little bucket seat - you literally hung in the car. You set on a chair you had a little set of seatbelts. You had an open face helmet and a pair of bubble goggles and you were hanging in the car. So when they said be hanging on, they weren't lying. You were literally hanging on. But the ability to focus through anything, bad situation, bad handling car, pain, ribs hurt, back hurts, side hurts, feet burning up - you drove on to the end of the race. That's probably the one thing, the most important thing that makes you a winner is the ability to focus and concentrate over a long period of time."
Is there a best way to handle frustration?
"That probably separates the men from the boys, being able to control your emotions. That a huge part of what we do, whether it's in the car or out of the car. You gotta be able to control your emotions. You can't get angry on the track and take yourself out of the race. You can't get angry in the pits and take yourself out of the sport these days. Controlling your emotions is a huge part of being a great driver I think."
Bill Elliott
Is there a best way to handle success?
"There's different ways to handle it. Right now in the situation where I'm at, you look around and you realize life goes on. You have to do different things. I've always been kind of big watching all these entertainment shows. Where are these guys now? Some people snub off, certain characters on sitcoms through the 60's and 70's. For me I'm just enjoying what I've done. It's time to sit back and say look I've been here a long time. I've accomplished a lot of things and I've enjoyed it immensely."
Focus can be so important. Did you bring that with you or acquire it along the way?
"I think I brought it with when I first got here. We were very focused. We didn't know where we were headed, but we were very focused on detail, getting the stuff done. The proudest thing I had was we did our deal out of Dawsonville, Georgia. It was a bunch of people, the typical race fan and we achieved what a lot of teams were never able to achieve. We did it. We came. We won races.
We won a championship, all out of that shop."
Junior Johnson
Can you compare the challenges you have today to challenges back then?
"I don't think the challenge is as great now. I think the cars are more challenging, but I don't think the drivers challenge is as great as it was back in the older days."
Do you think drivers have changed over the decades?
"Yeah. A lot. A lot. They have better technology and they don't have to do the real hard humane things that we had to do when we won. Our cars were like driving a truck compared to what they are driving today."
Disclaimer: NASCAR® is a registered trademark owned and controlled by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. Nextel Cup and Sprint Cup are registered trademarks. The operators of this site are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the NASCAR organization. The Official NASCAR® website is NASCAR ONLINE® at: www.nascar.com.