July 14, 2001 -
TORONTO, Ont. -- CART 2000 Rookie of the Year and current points leader Kenny Brack talked to NYPOST.COM about his feelings about this year's championship - with his first CART victory in Motegi, followed by his second win in Milwaukee. Brack also talked about the upcoming Michigan 500 - the final run by CART next Sunday:
Kevin Ma: Kenny, you started off the 2001 season with a competitive package. You took your first victory at Motegi, followed by your second one in Milwaukee. Now you are leading the championship, does it change your perspective of racing on the track?
Kenny Brack: It doesn't change my perceptive of racing by no means. I always want to win wherever I compete. Last year my goal was to win races - we came so close so many times and even this year at the beginning of the season, we were there and we were the car to beat, but we didn't win. We finally won and I could put something to rest within myself and I don't have to worry about that anymore. Now I have new goals that I set before myself and try to turn those wins into the championship win. We came very close to winning the championship last year where we were one of three cars in the end that could really take the championship at the last race [in Fontana]. But my perspective of racing is always remain the same - you have to do everything you can not to fail here. Otherwise, you won't be successful.
KM: Will you be more conservative on the track because of the champhionship, when you don't have a better car out there?
KB: I mean being stupid is never a good thing in any business, and certainly in auto racing. You push it and you will find the wall. But to win the championship is not winning every race because no one is going to do that. However, scoring the points that you can score is the key, and you have to take what's on the table for you. You will force yourself as hard as you can [to win races], but if you force yourself to a degree that you get stupid, then you are not going to win anything. Most of the time you have to go home with whatever you can get in the weekends. Winning is always the most important thing, and of course you go to races thinking of winning them, but if there is one lap left and you have done whatever you could, it is better to take those points than go home with nothing.
KM: Next week is the Michigan 500 and CART will not return to that superspeedway after that. What is your comment on that?
KB: Personally I like Michigan a lot because it provides really exciting racing for the drivers, for the teams and for the fans; but I don't think the decision of not going back was taken by the fans' standpoint because there is a lot of CART racing around that area, and recent years we didn't have that many fans on the track. I am not sure but I think there is a reason of not going back. However, that is not for me to decide and I don't even know the right reason myself, but I like racing there.
KM: CART always emphasizes the diversities of tracks the it runs, but with Michigan and Texas disappearing from the schedule, do you think it is going to hurt CART's reputation since the series is leaning more and more towards road course races?
KB: I don't really know. For me, wherever I race I will do my best and I think other teams and drivers will do the same. To lead the series in the right direction, it is up to the management of CART. The question you asked is really difficult to answer because there might be reasons that we are not aware of to go to a place or not to go to a place.
KM: As a former Indy 500 winner, this year's race was dominated by the CART teams/drivers. Would you like to go back, perhaps Team Rahal will put two cars there next year?
KB: Sure, I want to go back to Indy 500. Any drivers you talk to wants to go to Indy 500. It is the biggest race in the World. I was able to win it in 1999, but I haven't been back since then. I am going to go back there and I am going to be in a situation where I can be competitive again. But if it is going to be next year, I don't know right now, but I hope so.
