The building itself (there are actually two if you include a smaller shop in the rear) encompasses a total of 424,697 feet. 240,781 square feet, that’s 8 acres under roof by the way, of which are occupied by the race teams. There are 3 paint booths, one for each team, 3-body prep stations and 17 surface plates.
By far the most fan friendly shop on the tour, there is a 300-foot long second floor catwalk that will allow fans to view the ongoing work.
Penske made sure to note to Lowes Motor Speedway president, “Humpy” Wheeler, that the 300 foot long stainless steel rail is the longest in North Carolina.
Media Tour Photos! Click here!
Unlike a visit to DEI’s “Garage Mahal” (more on that later) earlier in the day, members were encouraged to tour the facility at their leisure, entering any door and peeking inside any room in the shop, before being led to the food court, sorry, meal area at the far end of the main shop for a meal that made all others this week pale in comparison.
Ryan Newman gave tours of the new facility
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Earlier this week, Rusty Wallace confirmed that he and teammate Ryan Newman have not spoken since an on-track incident last October at Martinsville, when an on-track bump between the two costs Wallace a shot at Victory Lane. "We'll sit down before the Daytona 500," said Wallace of the feud. "I'll be the one to ask for the meeting, since I don't feel like it's going to come from the other side of the camp."
Obviously that “sit down” has yet to happen as the observation was made that there was an empty chair at the head table reserved for Newman, a seat that he didn’t occupy during the meal.
After dinner, Penske unveiled three special paint schemes to promote Mobil's motor oils in the March 13 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The No. 2 Dodge of Rusty Wallace will run a Mobile Clean 7500 paint scheme, the No. 12 Dodge of Ryan Newman will feature a Mobil 1 Extended Performance scheme and the No. 77 Dodge of Travis Kvapil will feature Mobil Clean 5000.
Miller Lite then announced a “Rusty’s Last Call” Tour. The twelve stop tour, part of Miller Lite’s ‘Rock n’ Racing” series, will honor Wallace and will kick off in Daytona with the band “Cheap Trick”.
The morning for the Media Tour kicked off with breakfast in the Hilton's University Ballroom featuring Petty Enterprises team-owner Richard Petty and driver Jeff Green.
Richard Petty speaks to the media Wednesday
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General Mills' Chex cereal announced that they will sponsor the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award for the Nextel Cup Series this year. The contest, which is run by the National Motorsports Press Association, is scheduled to start Feb. 1 at www.mostpopulardriver.com and continue through Nov. 21
King Richard was asked if he could climb back into his famous red-and-blue No. 43 tomorrow and go run at Daytona.
Petty said sometimes it's tempting.
''I watch races nowadays and I think to myself, 'Dang, I believe I could beat them guys,' '' Petty said. ''I used to run with (David) Pearson and (Cale) Yarborough, and if you could run with them you could run with anybody.''
“Then I see a tow truck draggin’ a car back into the pits and say ‘boy I’m glad I ain’t doin’ that any more’.”
The first road stop of the day came at the new headquarters of Wood Brothers Racing, which ironically is located in the same shop where the team's driver, Ricky Rudd, operated his own team from 1994-1999.
Representatives from the historic racing family including founders Leonard and Glenn Wood showed up. Driver Ricky Rudd, crew chief Michael McSwain and Wood family leaders Eddie and Len Wood were also on hand at the Mooresville, N.C., facility.
The Wood Brothers team
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"I had a lot of blood sweat and tears in this building...I'm really happy to see the Wood Brothers in here. I have some great memories from this building” Rudd said,” ...I'm taking it one year at a time. Obviously, I won't be here in five or 10 years, but I think I have a couple more good years in me. With the Yates engine program and everything that the Wood Brothers have assembled here if we aren't able to be competitive and run up front this year, I probably won't be back next year, but if we are competitive and can make the top 10, you'll probably have to put up with me a couple more years."
"It's been a tough winter for me. I've had a lot of things going on.”, said crew chief Michael “Fatback” McSwain, “ We had our first child and I had some work done on myself, but I had some good people overseeing what was going on here and a lot of work has been done. Pretty much every car here has been taken all the way back to the frame and modified; and new bodies have been put on them."
When asked about the move Eddie Wood said, "It came up about a year ago November that we would move. It had been talked about for years, but it was one of those things that you never really thought would happen. Then one day Len and I woke up and decided that if we were going to stay in this business we needed to move...Early last year we were behind simply because we had moved and it took us a while to catch up. If I hadn't seen what happened during the final 10 races of the season when I think we were eighth or ninth in points during that stretch with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."
The Woods were also asked why they’ve always stuck with Fords:
"When I was young, dad and Leonard, that's what they ran. I guess they instilled a sense of loyalty to Len and myself to stick with what got you there.", said Eddie Wood
"If you've got a good thing, don't mess with it.” quipped Leonard.
Ricky Rudd
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Eddie:
"We've had opportunities to switch to another brand. Sometimes the grass looks greener over there, but when you get over there sometimes it's harder to chew .
These people have been really good to us for 55 years. There's never been a race car in our shop other than a Ford product and that's one thing that we're really proud of. I don't see that changing. It's just loyalty. There's not a lot of loyalty left in racing. If you dig deep enough, it's still there. The Petty family still races as the Pettys. I'm proud of those guys. We had Kyle for a number of years and we had a good relationship there. Their racing family is exactly like ours. It's all about the race cars. It's not about hunting, golfing, fishing - nothing - it's just all about racing and Ford is just part of that."
Leonard:
"I guess I'd just like to say that NASCAR and Ford and the Wood Brothers - it seems like a whole family for our whole racing career. It just wouldn't feel right to be any other way."
Rudd also said he hasn't decided when he will retire from NASCAR, but he has settled on the criteria that will determine his decision.
"If we can't get it done and run up front this year, you probably won't see me next year," He said. "If I'm competitive this year, and we run up front, maybe win a race or two and be a factor in that top 10, then you're probably going to deal with me a couple more years."
The 48-year-old seems optimistic about the future as he enters the last season of a three-year contract with Wood Brothers Racing despite two consecutive finishes outside the top 20.
His No. 21 Ford enjoyed a resurgence after the reunion of Rudd and crew chief Michael McSwain in August, earning 10 top-20 finishes in their 13 races together. Rudd placed second at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 10, his best result since a second at Richmond in Sept. 2003.
"I couldn't be happier with the way our cars are coming on, and [they are] fun to drive again," he said. "Getting in a car that drives good is what it's all about. That keeps me hanging around. I won't be here five to 10 years, but I have a couple of good years in me."
The choice to stay apparently will be up to Rudd. "I've told Ricky he can stay as long as he wants," Eddie Wood said.
Robert Yates 2005 team
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Team owner Robert Yates and engine builder Doug Yates were joined by drivers Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett and crew chiefs Todd Parrott and Mike Ford in greeting the media at the Robert Yates Racing shop.
Yates pointed out that he had only 10 employees when he bought the team, including himself, and he drove the transporter to the racetracks. The company now employees 148 people.
Last season, Yates Racing struck a deal with Roush Racing to use RYR engines in Roush cars.
When three of the five Roush cars qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup while only one of the two Yates cars did, there was some natural envy from the RYR camp.
But seeing Roush driver Kurt Busch win the championship last season only gave Yates drivers Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett more hope for 2005.
Sadler, who finished ninth last season, said the Chase's postseason format gave him valuable experience.
"It's kind of like taking a quarterback that plays really good under the regular season, but you put him in playoff situations and he might react a little differently," Sadler said.
"Well, same thing with driving. Maybe I didn't react the way I should at a lot of the racetracks or drive the way I should."
48-year-old Jarrett is not at all discouraged.
"If I honestly thought, and could see, that my age had anything to do with performance, I think I could tell you that," Jarrett said Wednesday at the sprawling compound of his Robert Yates Racing team. "But I don't see it happening."
Dale Jarrett said he isn't slowing down
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The trouble hasn't been Jarrett, team owner Yates acknowledged.
"When you put him in the car, you're not worried about the driver," Yates said. "The car's got to be there for him. And I think we're getting a lot closer on that."
Jarrett said he isn't ready to slow down for a while.
Asked about retirement on Wednesday during a stop by the media tour at the Robert Yates Racing shop, Jarrett said he has given the subject a lot of thought.
"I've seen what some of my buddies have done, but I started later than they did," Jarrett said. "I still think I can compete with anybody out there and I still love to compete."
The 1999 series champion's contract with Yates runs for two more seasons.
"I plan to continue for a minimum of two years and probably three years, if Robert, Ford and (sponsor) UPS still want me. That's what I'm looking at."
That statement startled Ned Jarrett, Dale's father and a two-time NASCAR champion who retired from driving at the age of 34.
"That was news to me," the elder Jarrett said. "His mother and I just looked at each other, like, `Where did that come from?' But he's in better condition physically at 48 than I was at 34, so it shouldn't be that surprising."
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