Toyota NNS Iowa Notes & Quotes Annett Herring McDowell

TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Michael Annett, Drew Herring & Michael McDowell — Notes & Quotes Iowa Speedway — August 5, 2011

MICHAEL ANNETT, No. 62 Pilot/Flying J Toyota Camry, Rusty Wallace Racing What happened during the competition at the Living History Farm? “I was disappointed in myself — I didn’t have it today. I had a horse malfunction, got an injury in the corn shucking — I think I dominated the cow milking, I don’t know what that means, but I did dominate one thing.”

How does it feel to come home to Iowa Speedway? “Getting a win here, that would definitely be a dream come true. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this place. I had some really good runs and had some bad ones as well. This track is kind of what started my career with my first ARCA race here where I sat on the pole and ran third in that race. This place has been really good to me, but it’s been bad as well. Kind of like Jason (Leffler) said, this weekend is really cool. Of course we’re all going for the trophy — we all want the win, but one of us here is going to get that bonus. We’re not going to the race saying we need to beat three guys, we need to beat 42 guys and get the trophy. It would be a dream come true.”

What are you going to work on during practice to prepare for the race? “Just going into this one, I think everybody thought loose in here in the race earlier in the season and we got back to North Carolina and tried to figure out what did we need to make the car that could have improved us and get us in the top-10. Basically if we could have fixed the loose in, we would have been right there. We’ll take care of that and I think we saw in the Truck race that ran here at night that we need to get the car to be able to turn around on the bottom and drive through the bump rather than around it in turns one and two. Those are probably two things that we’ll focus on.”

DREW HERRING, No. 20 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think of racing at Iowa Speedway this weekend? “I’m definitely excited to be back at Iowa. I think it’s a great track with great people and some of the best fans in the nation, really. I had the pleasure to come here a couple times in the Pro Cup Series and now this will be my third race in the Nationwide Series. For me, I’m just excited to go back to a track that I’m familiar with. We ran our first race with Gibbs earlier this year here and it was my first race working with Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys on the 20 team. These past couple weeks we’ve been in the car consecutively and for me not having the seat time, and a lot of the other guys in the series do, it is really important for me to be able to get in the car consecutive weeks. Not only that, but now we’re coming back to a track that I am familiar with and definitely feel like I have some good confidence coming into this weekend. We have SportClips on and I’m just really excited to get this day started here at Iowa.”

Are you going to be attending college at N.C. State full time in the fall? “It’s definitely been a great vacation, that’s for sure. Last summer, I actually did summer school. This summer we had this opportunity with Gibbs, so I took the summer off and wanted to make sure I focused on that 150 percent. I’m definitely getting ready to start here in a couple weeks. This is almost like I’ve been off for two years now having the whole summer off. It’s going to be a little difficult to get back in the swing of things, but we’re definitely going to keep digging. I definitely would like to run some more races, but right now we’re going to keep focusing on this weekend — I’m really excited to be back here at Iowa. As Michael (McDowell) said earlier, we both had really good races here at the beginning of the year and led some laps. I think we have a lot to build on, working on my pit stops and clean that up. Hopefully we won’t have any issues with that tomorrow and we can run just as well and hopefully get a solid top-five. I felt like all three races we’ve run, we had a chance to finish in the top-five and just had some things taken from us. We’re going to keep digging and hopefully we can get it done this weekend.”

How would you handle school and racing this fall if that opportunity was presented to you? “Yeah, I definitely thought about it. My professors before have usually been pretty good about working with me on those kinds of things. You kind of have to take it day by day though. Definitely going to go back and try to focus on school and do the best I can with that. Racing is my life — I love it and I’ve been doing it since I was 10. I really don’t know what I’d do without it. If I got the opportunity to come back and do something, it would definitely be hard, but we’d make it work somehow — I just hope I get that chance.” What is your major? “Mechanical Engineering.”

DREW HERRING, No. 20 SportClips Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing (continued) What does it mean to be in a car that has won races and championships? “It’s definitely some added pressure. I think there’s two different ways to look at pressure — there’s a positive and a negative about it. You can definitely let this kind of pressure eat at you and it can kind of take a hold on you and it can end up making for a bad weekend. Or, you can take this kind of pressure and use it as a positive. We know we’re in good equipment, we know we have the opportunity to run up front, now all we have to do is go out there and perform and do our best. I try to use that in a positive way, for sure. I think it’s great to just have this opportunity, I can’t thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing and SportClips and all the guys on the 20 team enough — it’s been an amazing experience and it’s definitely something I’ll never forget. Hopefully we’ll get some more.”

MICHAEL McDOWELL, No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What do you think of racing at Iowa Speedway this weekend? “It’s awesome. The 18 car, I don’t know if you guys watch, but pretty much wins like every weekend I think, so definitely some pressure getting in Kyle Busch’s car. I’m excited to do it for Pizza Ranch, this is their home race so they’re going to have 400 or 500 people from their franchises here tomorrow. It’s a big event. Like Drew (Herring) said, Iowa for me is actually one of the tracks I’ve been to the most. I’ve done two ARCA races here and however many Nationwide races we’ve had here. It’s definitely a great place — they always pack the house full with fans. We had a good car here last time, we brought the same car that we finished seventh. We ran better than that most of the day and led some laps, so we’re looking to build on that. Any time that you can come back to a race track it’s beneficial. But, for me in particular, I only get five races with this 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car, so just being able to come back to the same track with the same group of guys when you only have a handful of races is a big help. I’m looking forward to it — it’s going to be fun.”

What’s it like working with crew chief Jason Ratcliff? “It’s been great for me. You know, a lot of my time in the Nationwide Series has been in the back half of the field cars and equipment. Just to see the level of professionalism and everything is thought out — every small detail is thought out. They unload with a game plan and stick to their game plan. I think the biggest thing is confidence built on confidence. Those guys win so often, they know that their plan works so they’re very military-like as far as their procedure goes. They know exactly what they’re going to do, so it gives me a lot of confidence too because all I have to worry about is just driving knowing that you get in a car that runs up front. But also, they have the strategy worked out. They know what they’re doing when it comes to two tires, four tires, no tires because they’re in that position every weekend. So, I don’t have to think about any of those things — I just go out there and drive. It’s been great to work with Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and all those guys — they do such a great job at Joe Gibbs Racing.”

What does it mean to be in a car that has won races and championships? “For me, I have been in this sport, not for a long time, but I’ve done a lot of races and it hasn’t been in quality equipment. I don’t necessarily feel the pressure — I joke about it because it’s fun and Kyle (Busch) does win every weekend, but I don’t feel the pressure from that. Really for me, it’s more about it’s a great opportunity to showcase what I can do. There’s more pressure when you’re in a 25th-place car and you come in and can’t put tires on because they don’t have them or they leave a wheel loose so they put the left sides on the right sides. For me, just knowing that I’m getting fresh tires, good pit stops — I have a car that can win the race. That kind of takes the pressure a little bit off of me because for me it’s not so much the ego, it’s more that I have a great opportunity to run up front and I’m thankful for that and not going to let the pressure get to me. It’s always easy to say that. You get to the end of the race last week and I was like, ‘Man, I lost four or five spots at the very end, we had a good run going.’ In this sport, it’s so tough you have to manage the highs and the lows because you’re going to have both — everybody does. I’m just trying to enjoy this experience knowing that I only have a few races. It’s not always like this. For these guys up here, it’s unbelievable to get in great equipment and I’m very fortunate to do that. It also makes you very appreciative because I’ve been in the other side of equipment side, too. It’s a great opportunity.”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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