BACK TO SCHOOL.Byline: Steve Ramirez Staff Writer FONTANA - Scott Pruett  This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.You can assist by [ editing it] now. could be described as motor sports' version of a utility player. The Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern native, who has raced professionally since 1984, has driven a GTO GTO Gran Turismo Omologato (Ferrari & Pontiac models) GTO Go To GTO Guanajuato (México) GTO Great Teacher Onizuka (Japanese series) GTO Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit sports car, a SCCA SCCA Sports Car Club of America SCCA Seattle Cancer Care Alliance SCCA Squamous Cell Carcinoma SCCA Southern California Cricket Association SCCA Southern California Contractors Association SCCA Sonoma County Conservation Action Trans Am Trans Am may refer to:
But not even the experience of winning two Trans Am championships, three endurance races at the 24 Hours at Daytona and CART events at Michigan and Australia could prepare him for what awaited him this season in NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Winston Cup. ``I consider myself a fairly smart guy, at least in the racing sense, but overall there have been pieces (to Winston Cup racing) that have made it more difficult than I expected,'' said 11-year CART veteran who is a disappointing 41st in points coming into Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts Auto parts are components of automobiles. They mainly are, in alphabetic order (only car specific articles or articles with car section):
``And unfortunately, a lot of what I learned (driving Indy cars), either doesn't necessarily work, or in some instances is the exact opposite of what needs to be done.'' The results through the first third of the season have reflected that. Pruett, who had 20 top-10 finishes in his last three seasons in CART, has finished no higher then 19th and has failed to qualify his Tide Ford Taurus Not to be confused with Ford Taunus. The Ford Taurus is currently a full-size, front-wheel drive or all wheel drive automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in North America. in three of the first nine races. ``The IROC is the only thing on my resume that has anything similar to this,'' Pruett said. ``The Trans Am car was more on the lines of an Indy car. There's just nothing that applies (to a stock car). It's all new. New tracks, new places, new faces. There just so many things that are foreign to me. I love it, but it's foreign.'' That's provided for a lengthy and disappointing learning curve for Pruett, who has finished no higher then 32nd in four races. Part of that is because of learning the little differences between what makes a stock car go fast compared to an Indy car. ``The biggest thing about a Winston Cup car is that you have to be critical (in the setup),'' Pruett said. ``You have a lot of adjustments, more adjustments then on an Indy car. But you also don't have those things you can Band-Aid (like in an Indy car). `Oh, it's not quite handling right, let's (make a change) to the front wing, or (to) the rear spoiler spoiler: see airplane. 1. spoiler - A remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the article) the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the movie. 2. .' ``You don't get that chance in a Winston Cup car. You really have to be deliberate on the exact setup. You have shocks, track-bar adjustments . . . everything. There's just so many different pieces that I'm learning about and trying to understand. And trying to get all those right, especially at a place like (California Speedway), is tough.'' It hasn't helped that Pruett's PPI Motorsports PPI Motorsports was a race team which competed in the NEXTEL Cup Series and various off-road racing circuits. The team had one of the few remaining single car operations in the NEXTEL Cup series. Early years PPI stood for Precision Preparation, Inc. team is also in its rookie year. ``I knew it was going to be tough - I really did,'' said team owner Cal Wells, a Pomona native. ``But this is the toughest thing I've ever done - no question. It's been the steepest learning curve I've ever been involved in.'' For Pruett, it's almost been like starting over. ``The driver and crew-chief relationship is so important,'' Pruett said. ``The driver has to continue to give feedback on what the car is doing and how to make changes. That's something I'm learning. I just don't have experience to make a pit stop and say, `Hey, we need to make a track-bar change, or we need to change one pound of tire pressure.' Those are things that unfortunately come over time. I'm learning, but it's just going to some time to get a better understanding all those pieces.'' It hasn't been all bad for the Sacramento native. He qualified second at Las Vegas and started third at Texas. He also led 12 laps at Texas before finishing 41st after crashing with third-year driver Steve Park. ``It's getting better,'' Pruett said. ``We've made progress on the track and our taking strides forward. If we continue at this pace when we get to midseason, I think we're going to continue to get better and better.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Veteran driver Scott Pruett has found his introduction to NASCAR Winston Racing a whole new racing experience. David Bundy/Associated Press |
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