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| Dillon will be busy |
“We went down through the list and saw who is available and
who had track time, who was doing double duty and was willing to try to work
out a schedule that would work for both sides,” said Zipadelli. “(Austin) has a
strong relationship with Bass Pro Shop, and a big part of how we go through
this is making sure that our partners are happy with what we're doing as far as
who we're putting in the car and who will represent their brands in the way
they want it represented.
“There is a strong relationship
there (and) Austin's done a great job in the past at Michigan. We
kind of felt like it was a good fit for us this week.”
“It's a great opportunity for me,”
admitted Dillon, who will do double-duty in both the Nationwide Series race at
Mid-Ohio Saturday and the Sprint Cup race Sunday. “We're really focused on the
Nationwide Championship, and we're going to give both parties a great
opportunity at a win this weekend. We're going to go out there and
try to run strong.”
Dillon said that while scheduling
will be tricky this weekend, a special Thursday test day at Mid-Ohio should
allow him to get ample seat time in both rides.
“We'll be on doing our best to give an
equal amount of practice time,” he said. “(At) Mid‑Ohio, we have a full
test day there Thursday, so we'll have plenty of time on the
track. We have lots of sets of tires, and we'll be using them
up Thursday.
“Qualifying seems to be the issue
for the Nationwide race,” he added. “That is the only part that will be
tough. We might have to start in the rear. But I think we've done a
good job of trying to work out where each party gets a good amount of practice
on both cars.
Dillon said he will not allow his
double-duty schedule to impact his Nationwide Series title effort. “We're going
to win the Nationwide Series,” he said. “That is our main
goal. We've been fighting for it all year long… so we're going to do
our best to come up with a good strategy for both races. I think
we'll be just fine.”
Zipadelli said he expects more
announcements of this type in coming weeks, as the team assembles a schedule of
replacement drivers for Stewart.
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| Greg Zipadelli |
“It's going to be a weekly
occurrence for a little while,” he admitted. “We'll evaluate each race as it
comes and do the best job we can putting someone in that we feel will do a good
job for Stewart‑Haas and our partners.” He declined to comment specifically on
the length of Stewart’s absence from competition, saying, “We will probably
know more next week. Tony has a doctor's
appointment Wednesday to go over things, and at that point we'll have
a lot better idea of what we're doing. But for right now, it will
probably be a week‑by‑week decision as far as who is in the car."
Zipadelli said he is not anxious to
host a revolving door of drivers in the final 14 weeks of the season. “I think
we'd rather have one or two drivers, if we can work it out,” he said. “I think
that will give us some consistency, (allow us to) build some communication
between the crew and the driver and give us our best chance. We're
working on some of that stuff now and hopefully we'll see it. It may
be more than two, maybe three or four (drivers). If that's the case, we'll
look at each individual racetrack and see who is available that runs good at
that track and make the best choice we can."
And finally, Zipadelli said he is
not concerned about Dillon (a Richard Childress Racing driver), taking any
trade secrets back to his grandfather’s operation.
“We're going to put a blindfold on
him,” he laughed. “And right before he backs out of the garage, we'll take it
off. Then he won't be able to look.
“It will probably be difficult at
times, but I think it's a one‑shot deal right now. We'll see where that
goes (and) we'll see how it all works. We've got to be guarded, and for
him, he's got to come over here and trust that we can put something in the car
that he can drive. At the same time he can come over here and tell us all
the things they're doing too.”
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