TEAM PENSKE INDY 500 PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Official Release

PAT SULLIVAN: It's a pleasure to be able to say good morning on a sunny morning here at Indianapolis. We're delighted that you've joined us here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We've got an esteemed group, obviously, at the front of the room of course, headed by a gentleman who has tasted victory here 11 times at Indianapolis, Roger Penske. I always like to remind people that Roger began his career as a very talented racer and, in my opinion, raised the bar in American sports-car racing significantly; and I believe this summer will mark the 40th anniversary of a very significant victory at the L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside, which was a very significant victory. Roger, of course, was victorious in the United States Road Racing Championship with Mark Donohue. He was victorious in Can-Am, Trans-Am, NASCAR and, obviously, he has had tremendous success here at Indianapolis. We're delighted that the president of Penske Racing, Tim Cindric, is with us. Tim, of course, is a native of Indianapolis. He's a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute and, obviously, has really done a tremendous job in terms of really moving this Marlboro Team Penske team once again right to the front. I look now to Rick Mears. I enjoy saying this, I'm a native Kansan. I like to point out that he is, in fact, from Kansas, although we associate him with California. He's a four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. I think one of the hallmarks all of you would agree of Rick Mears, any time someone has success in any endeavor, it is usually the case that the crowd and the fans tend to turn against them. Not so with this gentleman. He remained one of the most popular drivers really in America. As you know, you have reached icon status when you have a bobblehead made in your likeness. (Laughter) I look over to a gentleman we've gotten to know a lot more this year. He's a two-time CART champion, Gil de Ferran. Let me say that Gil, who has won seven times in his Indy-car career, this year has been a picture of consistency in the Indy Racing League. Two turns away from a victory at Nazareth, his worst finish this year has been a fourth. But beyond that, Gil, I'd like to say something on behalf of the officials of the Indy Racing League and someone with the media: To deal with someone with your level of professionalism and class has been an absolute pleasure. We enjoy it the way you conduct yourself with your participants, we enjoy the way you deal with your crew, and you set a great standard for professionalism and we appreciate that a great deal. This gentleman, of course, comes in as the defending Indianapolis 500 champion. I think all of us would agree that this sport needs people to be interested and enthused about auto racing across the demographic spectrum. This young man has electrified audiences of all ages. He's a spectacular racer, and these two went one and two last year. I also must know in his bio that he says his hobby is Brazilian beaches and women. If I was as handsome as he was and as fast as he was, I might be able to list those as my hobbies, as well. This is a very exciting group of people we have in front of us, and I think it would be only appropriate, Roger, we're going to turn it over to you now for some general comments.

TIM CINDRIC: Helio wants everybody to know it's his birthday today. Want to get that out of the way.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Two point 7. (Laughter)

ROGER PENSKE: It's a pleasure for us to be here. Obviously, the last time we were here was at the end of the race last year; and the finish was outstanding to see both cars finishing one-two and so close and yet Helio, certainly it was his day winning the race. It was a big win for us because, you know, we had been back here in 1994 and '93 and been successful winning those races and yet came back in '95 and didn't win. Then with the CART/IRL situation, we basically, you know, were gone. We made the commitment to come back. I think that Tim Cindric really gets the credit for last year because he was the one that even the year before that had put together a plan. He came here, he worked with Treadway during the race to start to understand the cars and we really had a, I would say, a very solid plan. We ran at Phoenix, I remember reading some article that said how we fizzled out there, but I can tell you we might have fizzled, but the information that we were able to obtain through that one race was outstanding from the standpoint of reliability, the drivers understanding the ability to drive these cars. They didn't have the power that the turbocharged cars had, but I think that year is over. We certainly had a great season, Helio winning the '500' and then Gil coming back for the second championship. That really set the stage for us to make a business decision, a decision where do we go in 2002. There's been a lot of speculation, you know, why did we move over to IRL? But I want to say this, that from our perspective we looked at the future of our sponsors. Obviously Philip Morris USA was interested in U.S. racing. As the racing was moving more and more outside the country, that became an issue. Not a big issue, but it was a situation that they would rather see us running here. Also, from the standpoint of the Attorneys General, there was no question that you had to be in one series or the other. As you know, we took our logos off the car last year to be sure we were in compliance. It was very important to us and to Philip Morris. So we decided to come IRL racing. I would say we've been received with open arms. It's a professional organization. I think the decisions are made quickly. I take my hat off to Brian Barnhart. We know Brian, Brian worked for us. He was one of the smartest guys on our crew. I remember many times during a race, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Did you see that? Did you see that?' So he was in his game. That's some of the things we see here, he can make a decision. The rest of the folks involved in the officiating certainly have done a good job. So I think that was a good basket for us to jump into. The first four races have been very, very competitive. Qualifying probably all 20 cars within a second makes a huge difference. You're going to see qualifying here tomorrow very, very competitive. I think my goal here is to see both organizations end up in some way together with an opportunity to have one open-wheel series. Obviously, they're going down two different paths. We have one oval- and we have one road-racing series. At some point, someone will have to make a decision. But our team is committed this year to IRL, it's committed next year and the following year. We have no plans to run CART next year. Anything that people might say, the drivers are committed, we extended the drivers' contracts. Going forward, Helio, there has been conversation or speculation in the press about Formula One. When he started driving for us, we talked about that. I said if he had the opportunity to get a Formula One ride, as Montoya did, as other people had, I would be the first one to be supportive. Obviously, I've had some different conversations with people in Formula One, I can't really comment today who they are. If Helio would get a chance for a test, I think that would be terrific, because we could have brought a guy on that has performed for us, let him move on in his career. But at this point there's no -- there's nothing to report at this time. So we're looking forward to tomorrow. The times are going to be fast, and that's all I have.

SULLIVAN: Thanks very much, Roger. We'll have an opportunity for some questions in a few minutes. Tim, I think the record of the Marlboro Team Penske team is obvious. It has set a standard for excellence for many years. But like all dynasties, whether it's the Montreal Canadiens or Boston Celtics or New York Yankees, all great dynasties go through lulls and valleys. You have been given credit for really turning the ship around. Of course, the gentleman to your right won the 100th Indy-style race for Roger Penske at Nazareth (in 2000). It must bring you great pleasure to see the success you've had. Tell us a little bit about what's going to be different this year coming back as a defending champion and having had four races under your belt this year with the Indy Racing League.

CINDRIC: I think biggest thing is last year we were working on the broad strokes of what we needed to prepare for this race. We've had the ability with four races under our belt to really plan for the month and look at the details because the cars in the series is a very detail-oriented program. But most importantly, last year we took two very good drivers, and you see it here this week with Tracy, Franchitti, these type of guys. They've proven themselves in CART, and they've come here and they've struggled a little bit to get up to speed and to get to the forefront of where they need to be. Last year we went through that learning curve, and it wasn't until about this day last year that we started to get into our stride. I think we've achieved that a bit earlier this year. Helio has been there on the top of the time charts throughout the week, and that's something we didn't have last year. We weren't off and running from the beginning. We were playing catch-up throughout. So hopefully we just continue to gain the momentum through the month and see if Race Day we put ourselves in a position to defend. But who knows?

SULLIVAN: I think that's pretty good odds. Helio, not only have you come in as the defending Indianapolis 500 winner but you also scored a victory this year at Phoenix, a very exciting race there. As Tim Cindric mentioned, it's been obvious that you have been consistent and fast all week. Tell us what it's like to be the defending Indianapolis 500 winner coming back here. This guy knows a little bit of what that's like, and just give us a sense of how the month is going for you.

CASTRONEVES: I'll be honest, first day when I came here on opening day Sunday, I did have a little butterfly on the stomach going on. But it's fantastic to see the crowd calling your name and, you know, cheering you up. It's really a special moment. But like Tim, like Roger, like everyone, the team saying last year was last year. So we have to grab what was good from last year, what we learned from last year and put again this year. But again, the competition, the track is different, the circumstances are going to be different, and we're going to be as well prepared for any kind of situation that might happen during the race. Last year we had even rain during the race. This year we have more competitors, and so far we're just trying to keep a basic, solid setup and not trying to do too much, which I'm very happy. It's been a fantastic time so far.

SULLIVAN: Very good. Gil, you have a very interesting record in Indianapolis. In 1995, you were caught up in the accident with Stan Fox. You completed one lap. You went the distance last year and, of course, finished second to your teammate. You have been, as I've noted, consistent. You run up front, you obviously take good care of your equipment and you find yourself in a position, obviously, to contend for an Indianapolis 500 victory, but also for an Indy Racing League championship. Congratulations being a champion two times in your career. That's a very difficult thing to accomplish. Talk to us about the month of May, how things are going for you.

GIL de FERRAN: Sure. First, thank you for all the very nice compliments. I think for me the month has been slightly more difficult than what it's been for Helio. I kind of struggled a little bit all week to find a little bit of speed and really looking forward to a good day today with clear skies. I really need the track time to get a couple of things sorted out. But I'm quite confident that from what we learned throughout the week that we'll be able to get everything together and hopefully pull some good speeds come qualifying.

SULLIVAN: We're sure you will. Well, obviously Mark Donohue came and began to establish the standard for Penske Racing here at Indianapolis. But the gentleman who took it to the next level, without question, is the man we'll turn our attention to next. If class is a benchmark of this organization, this guy certainly helps establish that standard. One of the things, Rick, I always think about when I see you in these gatherings is you are a guy in my mind who quit the game while clearly still on the top. I always have to ask you this question: Once in a while late in the middle of the night, do you look up at the ceiling and say, 'I could have got No. 5?' (Laughter)

RICK MEARS: Yes. (Laughter) No, you know, I was very, very fortunate to be able to accomplish what we have here and to be with the right people and the right team and organization to be able to put those numbers together. That is what has made it all happen. But this place, you never know. You know, I never dreamed of coming here to begin with. I always thought that was way out of my league. So to be fortunate to even get here was one thing and then to win it was something else, and to win it more than once was incredible. So just right place, right time, right support, and a lot of help from a lot of people to make it happen. So this race, you never know, and after we went down the road a ways after winning the first one, when you get to looking around you think, 'Wow, we won one, and we may never win another one.' And fortunate enough to win a second, you look around and say there's not too many people to have won two. So to continue on the way we did was just fantastic; and, again, you've got to put it to the team and the people who make it happen.

SULLIVAN: On behalf of the Speedway, thank you for your many contributions really to this place that's so clearly etched in the history of this oval. We appreciate the way you conducted yourself throughout. It was a pleasure.

MEARS: Thank you very much.

SULLIVAN: I believe Tina Mendenhall also has a wireless mike. Looks like we've got a question right here. I want to remind you we're also going to take some questions from elsewhere in cyberspace.

Q: This is for Roger and Tim and whoever else wants to answer. The dynamics of this race has kind of changed a little bit over the last couple of years, with the possible exception of Cristiano DaMatta, it seems the best of both series are here this year. Talk about the competition level and how that's kind of increased this year.

PENSKE: I think from our perspective, when you go back and you look at the Indianapolis 500, this was a melting pot for the best drivers way back when we were running in a different series and would come here and run. So this isn't the first time. It's an international race. The way the schedule was set up, it's great to see the teams here. Chip (Ganassi) with his key drivers, certainly (Bobby) Rahal and Barry Green and others, and Mo Nunn. So this is going to be a great race. To me, it's always been a great race; and the more people that can run, you know, I think the better it is. Obviously, the level of competition is always good wherever you go, and I think the experience that these teams have, the pit crews that they come in with are the same crews that work every weekend. So this is not a pickup game, this is a serious event.

Q: For any or all of you. Can you comment on the difference of last year? You were running another series at the same time, you had a little jaunt to Japan in the middle of all this. Can you talk about just how different it is now that you're regulars here and you didn't have all these other things to worry about? Just how it feels for you drivers.

CINDRIC: I guess it allows you to focus a lot more. You're not so worried about the logistics of when your plane is leaving on Monday and how you need to get in the show this weekend absolutely because you may not be here for the next weekend, those type of pressures are off. But at the same time you return with great expectations, but you know how difficult it is to be successful here, whether it be in qualifying or in the race. I think the team itself, I think they understand that and that's probably the important thing. If they think it's a gimme, then we'll probably all go home. I think this week for us, we've been able to sit back and prepare for qualifying and know that we have next week to really prepare for the race, whereas last year we were trying to prepare for the race in the first week at the same time we were trying to prepare for qualifying. We were actually able to prioritize this year than before.

de FERRAN: I think from my standpoint, you know, first of all, last year from a physical standpoint was quite difficult, you know, to be traveling quite a bit and jumping into one car and into another car, so that was an issue. And I think the second thing that I think has been better this year is we gather a lot more knowledge about the car than we had last year. Despite the fact that we were successful, there was a lot more guessing going on than there is now, and I think that's been beneficial overall.

CASTRONEVES: Well, I definitely agree with Cindric and Gil. No doubt about the traveling. Not only for us, but also for whole team. Basically was really fatigue, you know. And from our standpoint, from one car to another, I mean the first day that when you were jumping from CART car and to the IRL, you were a little uncomfortable, you learn something in the other car that might be confusing. It was really something I have to give credit for the team as well because every time we came from a trip or something like that, the car was always ready to run. Being a full-time IRL driver certainly helps as we know a lot of things we've been doing in different tracks that we don't have as many options that might go wrong. At least we know which direction we're going to keep going instead of last year like everything we were testing, and that was very tough. So much more comfortable this year. But, again, it's going to be even harder than last year.

Q: If Roger, Rick and/or both drivers could give us their thoughts on this: Considering the vertebral fractures and the concussions on the IRL, beginning of the season this year in general and then seems like the soft wall is beginning to get a little bit of some skeptics are saying, well, people are getting hurt a little bit, do you think the soft wall is getting a bad rap? Also, is there concern on the team -- I think it's three vertebral fractures and two concussions -- that there might be some problem in the current design of the cars, seats, anything like that?

PENSKE: Let me just answer that one. I guess that we've got to evolve safety. There's no question. I remember back here when we had that bad accident with Swede Savage and we were carrying 71 gallons of fuel, and went over to a meeting and within a half an hour we decided to cut it in half and have no fuel on the outside. So I think the organization is responsive. Certainly Tony (George) has spent a lot of money trying to develop a wall. He has stepped up first; and there's no question when you're looking at accidents that the G forces recorded were over 100, you've got G forces now that are not spiked, they're more level in the 40 category. There's been a big, big change. And you have no idea what would have been the results of those same accidents hitting the wall. So to me -- these people walked away. They're all in pretty good shape. So to me that's most important. The cars are the same cars we ran last year. These cars are absolutely the same, maybe slight aero differences, the tires, the racetrack. So to me this is racing, and I've been here when people hit the wall many, many times, the speeds are fast obviously. But I'm quite happy to see that the results of guys being able to get out of the car. Fortunately here, if you hit the wall and you have a slight concussion, you can't run or you have a slight fracture, those are things that the doctor has to make those calls. But, you know, overall we have HANS devices that the drivers are wearing, those seem to help those injuries. Emerson (Fittipaldi) and Paul (Tracy) had accidents in our cars, you remember back in Michigan, and both of them were out for quite a while with more serious injury than these fellows have had here today. So I think there's been a big step forward, and we've got to continue to work on an evolutionary process for safety.

Q: Considering the injuries in Phoenix without the wall there, is that just coincidence that these seem like high vertebral fractures, small that they may be, seems like the injuries are similar in nature, the ones they had at Phoenix, as well?

PENSKE: Well, quite honestly, if you look at the G force that you're pulling around Phoenix -- I don't know the numbers, Rick, you might -- but I think we're much more on the edge at Phoenix when something goes wrong because you're at high, high loads. Here you're in the corners, you don't have the loading that you have at Phoenix.

MEARS: Right, you don't have the side load. It's like the rock on the end of the string as you're spinning it. The faster you spin it, the harder the rock pulls. And when the string breaks, you hit harder. That's what G loading does in a corner. But I think really the key is, like here for the soft wall, racing is development. That's what racing is all about is improving, gaining, making gains. You always want to go forward. I think that's where Tony has done a great job. He's made that initial step, and we have to develop it and continue it on and go forward. So, you know, you've got to start someplace, and I think we've started in a very good place, and we'll just be able to make it better from here on out.

Q: Helio, the whole world has seen your exuberance after you win a race. How do you control your emotions when you're in the car driving? (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: I don't, you're right. (Laughter) Well, it's a technique -- no, just kidding. (Laughter) Basically I just -- you do have to have a kind of a -- before you go into the race car, you just can't be thinking about how many things you've been doing or what am I expecting to do, you know. Just close the visor, and I go for racing. I feel comfortable with that and as soon as the checkered flag is over -- like last year here, I still like go into Turn 1 with my one arm in the air and still going flat out. I basically didn't catch -- I didn't lift off, I was still thinking about racing. But normally when you finish the race, and that's the time to celebrate hopefully when you're in a good position. But it's just the way I am, you know. I'm able to control and I feel comfortable with that.

SULLIVAN: Do we have any questions, Dawn, from elsewhere in this universe?

DAWN: At this time we're showing no questions over the phone lines.

SULLIVAN: Thank you very much. We've got a question up front.

Q: For Roger and Tim. Next year you're switching over to the new Toyota engine. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the logistics for preparing for that. This will be your third new engine in a few years. It's a little different program. I guess those engines would be maintained at Reading (Pa.). But if you could talk, Tim and/or Roger, the logistics of preparing for that and so forth.

PENSKE: Let me take a crack at it first. You know, basically as we came into the series in 2002, we knew that there was going to be an engine change, and we looked at really where we would go beyond. We're trying to anticipate and look, be forward thinkers in the business. Our business relationship with Toyota was a strong one. They were very interested in our team. So we committed early, as you know. That's going to give us a chance hopefully to do some development running, getting the engines and the opportunity to build these in our operation. We have a number of people, quite honestly, who have stayed with us hoping that we would have an engine program because that was really the heart of our team for many years; and the reliability for Rick and some of the other drivers is the fact that we were putting our engines together. So I think it's a great opportunity. They needed a rebuilder, we qualify as a rebuilder; and, Tim, you might want to comment on just when you think when we're going to be able to start some running and just where the background is today.

CINDRIC: Sure. Just taking us back a bit to the '99 season when the Penske team had run just the one car primarily with (Al Unser) Junior and then ran a second car at select races and that type of thing. At the end of '99, we were basically a one-car team with an engine shop. Going into 2000 with the Honda association, there was no more need for an engine shop, but there was a need for a second team. And at that point in time, we took the strengths of the guys in the engine shop and figured out where they would fit within the test team or the race team. I think Gil has three of the engine shop guys or ex-engine shop guys on his team, two of them are over the wall. We tried to figure out how that would all fit and keep the people that we knew and the talents that we knew and hope that something else would come around. And here we are. The unfortunate thing is we have to make decisions with how to balance and how to compromise. We had 16 or 17 guys in the engine shop at one point in time that have made themselves very useful in other aspects of the team. Just to take those guys directly out of those aspects of the team and put them into the engine shop would probably unweight the scales a bit. So we're looking at, OK, what makes the most sense going forward, and we're going to take probably half of those guys and move them back into the roles they performed before and find another fresh new half to take on other roles within our program. We're trying to look to make sure we're ready to turn the lights back on in the engine shop here very shortly. I think they'll hit their stride probably not until late in the fall or early in the winter in terms of doing rebuilds and that type of thing. Right now, Toyota is in the initial stage of development. We feel it's best for them to carry that forward, and from our perspective we're just going to do the maintenance. I guess Roger and I look at it we're developing a franchise of TRD, if you will. They set their direction and we carry out the task. That's really what we're looking to do, is just continue on the basics and the way that they've put the program together. Because, obviously, they've been successful to this point in time and we're just going to add to it whenever we can.

Q: Gil, you were a test drive for four or five years and you have a reputation for (inaudible). Any comments from you on (inaudible)?

de FERRAN: I'm looking forward to working with the manufacturer again. Certainly one of the highlights of my career as I look back was my relationship with Honda. I enjoyed that work tremendously, and I made a lot of friends, not only among the management but amongst the engineers. That's a relationship that I treasure very much. You know, certainly this year we're racing Chevrolet and next year again with Toyota in a slightly different program. I'm looking forward to getting close with those guys. From what Roger and Tim has related to me, they are very committed people. Certainly there's a strong relationship there between Penske and Toyota. I'm really looking forward to getting right in the middle of it and try to see whatever I can do to contribute. Because that's really the kind of work that I very much enjoy.

Q: Roger, you mentioned earlier about still having a desire to kind of see things come back together a little bit. Can you talk about now that you're racing IRL, do you see more common ground, less common ground? And then, also, can you talk a little bit about how much of it coming back together may be product versus people or people versus product?

PENSKE: Well, I would say from our vantage point I see the IRL as a well-organized series. It's competitive. There's a good entry-level opportunity for people to come in because the cars have stayed the same for the last three years. So we can take a last year's car and sell it. The engine programs are certainly a lot less expensive than what we were involved in in the past. So those are two metrics I think that you need to look at from the IRL perspective. There's less races, so there's less cost. The international situation of running different parts of the world obviously, typically those costs are associated with the individual promoter, so they don't really offer any more cost to the teams. But the number of races and certainly the logistics. On the CART side, I think that, you know, Pook is a terrific guy and, quite honestly, I had hoped that he would have been in that slot earlier. But, you know, timing is everything. He had commitments. They've got a good series. I think the real issue they're dealing with is that they really have two organizations, they have two constituencies. They have the public ownership, the people in the marketplace that own the stock and then they have racers. Racers are drivers, car owners and sponsors. They have a much different interest than the person that buys five shares of stock because, you know, you put your money into the team, put your money into the drivers and into the engines, and that to me is somewhat of a crossroads, and I'm not sure how you deal with that. Quite honestly, I've thought about it myself, what would I do? I really don't know. So I think that's one of the things that makes it very difficult to see the organizations come together today because you've got capital that has been invested by the public in one series and you have another series where we have team owners who have invested and those team owners can get together, they can change rules, they can do things in conjunction with the sanctioning bodies. So I think there's more flexibility. So those are the two different positions that the series are in. I think that's going to make it much tougher to get together. What's going to happen over time, I think you're going to have people really matriculate over from one series to the other. Obviously, if there's less costs -- we've read about Formula One today where people are complaining about the tremendous high cost, and there's not the competition that they have. I think in our series, at least in the IRL, there's a lot of competition, and people can join the series. I think that's one of the things, Tony's vision. I have to take my hat off to him, he's stayed on course with that. You can come here and get a car, probably last year's car, and make the race. That's important. People can do that, and then they can generate a team and generate sponsorship. I think the public entity makes it very tough to see a merger. I don't think you're going to see a merger. I think you're going to see people deciding over the next maybe 12 to 18 months, they'll have to make a choice. The product side of it that you mentioned, there's no question with the engine changing next year and with another manufacturer coming in, we have Infiniti, we have Chevrolet, we have Toyota now, this is going to bring a lot of interest. The good news is these engine manufacturers have dealers, they have customers, they have a lot of things technically that they can bring to the party. They buy TV ads, and that's important, and that's going to be a plus for the IRL next year.

Q: Roger, there seems to be general agreement in all of American racing that the cars are too fast no matter what series you talk about, but there's no agreement on how to make them slower. I wonder if Penske Racing has an idea on the Indy car, would it be aero, would it be narrower tires, less horsepower, flat bottom, that would wouldn't compromise the interest in the racing?

PENSKE: We've been trying to slow them down, Chris, since we went 180 here back in '71, 30 years ago -- maybe 180 it was, an exact 50 seconds. About the time you get the tire manufacturer to make a harder tire, someone figures out more downforce, and we get more power. Everything, just look at your own car today, there's so many things technically we know today that we didn't have before. And I almost think that when you look at cars running together, 30 of them side by side like it's a pace lap and something happens, you have a horrific accident. I think we have to have cars that are faster so they can pass. The problem is people make mistakes. When they make mistakes, there's an accident. So one of the things that I see that's important is we used to do, people had to race in other series before they could come here. I think this year as you come in, most of the drivers have had oval racing, which is important. From a speed perspective, you know, putting engines that you -- you have high-tech engines putting restrictors in the carburetor let's call it, I think is foolish. Like putting a plate down in NASCAR, it wastes it. To me we're going to have to monitor the speeds by drag. I think we can put more drag on the cars, but then you get them all running together. So I don't have an answer. If I did, I certainly would have -- you know me well enough, I would have put it on the table. I think it's going to be evolutionary. We're doing to make a step forward to slow them down, and six months later we're going to be right back to where we are. Here we're running almost 230 miles an hour. Remember when that was one of the things, well, we'll run 215 or 216? Well, people forgot that now. And the race is just as good probably at 215 or '16. I think you'll see this race, though, down in the low 220s following the big speeds because you just can't run with that many cars and run those speeds. Those speeds you're seeing in the last couple of days are just optimized, and I think we've really got to think speeds are in the low 220s right now.

SULLIVAN: Just a second, Bruce. Any questions, Dawn, from the telephone?

DAWN: No questions.

SULLIVAN: I'm going to take two more questions from the back, and that's where we're going to have to cut it off because these gentlemen have to go to work.

Q: If the drivers could comment. Although you've come from different backgrounds in racing, road and street course racing, the fact you've extended your contract and you're going to be in the IRL for a few more seasons, if you could both comment on your contract extension.

de FERRAN: I think from my standpoint, I was actually asked that question in the past regarding Formula One, you know, would you go Formula One racing, that sort of question. The way I always saw it, to me the biggest priority when deciding what to do was the team because the team is what you spend the most time with. The team is the way in which you're going to be successful, you know, by choosing the right association there. So for me the answer was simple. I feel very much at home at Penske Racing. It's the team that probably brought me the most success throughout my career. I was happy that Roger and Tim offered me an extension.

CASTRONEVES: Well, as a race car driver, everybody knows to be, you do have to have a good team, otherwise - you're might yourself get a good run one or two race but not consistently. And I'm very - I consider I'm a blessed person today to be here with Marlboro Team Penske. Again, it's a good team, I feel comfortable and since I came to the team, I told Roger that always I want to try one day Formula One, and my opportunity might happen, and we want to see. You know, everything depends on the opportunity, but right now I'm very happy where I'm at.

Q: Roger, if you could tell me what kind of enthusiasm Helio has brought to the shop, and have you had to kind of curb it, maybe have him try decaff or something like that?

PENSKE: This morning he came in with his lanyard on, had a paper that said, "It's my birthday today." (Laughter) So that says it all. He has been a great spark plug. And I would say this, that these two guys as we deal with our sponsors and other people, they work well together. Helio, I think, has been good for the sport. We got in trouble in CART when we climbed the fence, but we don't get in trouble now. Now they've got to do it in NASCAR, so once they do it down there, I guess it's all right.

Q: If any of the five of you have a comment. Throughout its long history, this place has been renowned for technology and innovation, and you've spoken yourself in the past and said you'd like to see a little bit more technology in the cars. We know we have the complex, the constraints of speed we've just talked about and economics. But do you have any thoughts on any way that there could be introduced some way that would open it up a little bit that would create some room for technology?

PENSKE: Well, I think that what's happened. The person in the stand comes here to see a driver, to see a red car, a white car, a blue car. Quite honestly, we have all this technology under the hood, and I don't think the person in the stand - there might be a few, that really appreciate that. We need to keep the cost down in the racing. It's escalated, and to me to have a lot of gadgets under the hood that really don't - it might be great for the engineering community as you're testing, but once the racing comes, we need to keep it pretty simple. I like seeing more pit stops, I like to be able to see people pass. Those are things we should be worrying about. Technology is going to drive cost. I don't want to come out here with a two-by-four obviously, and we're not, but at the end of the day, you know, we have a specification. I think one of the good things that's happened, the specs stayed the same. So the cars hold value and that keeps the cost down. There's going to always be a balance between technology -- look, we have tire sensors, we have data on fuel, those types of things make the strategy a lot better. Let's have technology to give us information so we can be smarter, understanding what we need to do, and I think those things are very important from a safety perspective and also from an ingenuity standpoint once you're in the race. So I see that, if we could do more of that. I think the pit stops, the more pit stops then better. It shows the crew off, and it's exciting, and maybe we've got to take 10 more gallons of fuel out of the cars, you follow me? And we have to make more stops. It's like the shot clock in basketball, those are the things we have to keep thinking about.

SULLIVAN: We have -- just one more quick thing. I've got to mike this announcement real quickly. There will not be time for one-on-ones following this press conference. If you want to establish a time, see the two PR people. There's a practice session coming up. Rick, thank you.

MEARS: Just real quick. Along with the technology, also the technology can take it out of the driver's hands, depending how far you go with the technology. You need to be careful with that besides cost, also leaving it up to the driver to try to help to get the job done.

SULLIVAN: Tim, I understand we have perhaps a little special presentation.

CINDRIC: You don't need your sunglasses for this. We want to acknowledge your birthday here in front of everybody so everybody knows it's your birthday. We couldn't come up with anything better that you would want than another picture of yourself. (Laughter) Happy birthday, you and the other 500,000 fans.

CASTRONEVES: Thank you. (Applause)

SULLIVAN: Gentlemen, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you. Again, if you want to set up a one-on-one, there's the two people to see.