Press Release

DRIVER-ENGINEER RELATIONSHIP KEY TO RACE-TRACK SUCCESS

Release date: June 19, 2006
Contact: John Griffin, IRL jgriffin@indycar.com
Tom Savage, IRL
tsavage@indycar.com
Sean Dozier
547-7500

The working relationship between driver and engineer is easily the most critical to the success of any IndyCar Series team, but there's no set formula for how long it takes to establish the needed chemistry.

"I think next to my family, my relationship with my engineer is probably my most important single relationship,” said Andretti Green Racing’s Bryan Herta, who has worked with his engineer Martin Pare since 2004. “I have to be able to communicate with him clearly what the car is doing, and he has to understand me to make the right changes and make the car do what I want it to do. When a driver and engineer have a really good relationship, you can use so few words to communicate it. You almost know what each other is thinking."

Wheldon, the defending IndyCar Series champion is re-connecting with his engineer, Brown, who like Wheldon joined Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the offseason. Brown was the lead engineer at Panther Racing in 2002 when Wheldon signed with the team as a development driver.

“I worked with (Andy) at Panther to a lesser extent than I am now,” Wheldon said. “But what I took from that is how hugely talented he is. As far as engineers go, he’s one of the best in business. When you have that much trust and confidence in somebody, it makes you feel good about going into new situation.”

Like Wheldon, Danica Patrick is still forming a bond with her engineer, Ray Leto. Still, the pair has proven to be quick learners, as evidenced by their success last season, including her history-making performance at the Indianapolis 500 in May.

"It takes time to get on the same wave length, but I think I think we clicked early on and the results speak for themselves," said Patrick, who tied the IndyCar Series rookie record for pole positions in 2005. “Our personalities compliment each other, so it wasn’t that long into our relationship when I felt comfortable working with him. We’re getting better at understanding each other, and the more we work together we'll get better and better."

While Patrick and Leto are still a work in progress, Kanaan and Cowdin are practically brothers.

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"When I came to the United States in 1996, I spoke zero English and could only say four things: 'I'm hungry.' 'Where's the bathroom?' 'Oversteer' and 'Understeer,'" laughed Kanaan. "But I began rooming with Eric that year in Miami and I learned English from him, plus plenty about race cars.

"I won my first Indy Lights race with him and we won the Indy Lights championship together. When Morris [Nunn] started his team in CART, he signed Eric and me. Now we're together again in the IRL. I'm godfather to his daughter, and we've just had a great partnership."

Cowdin laughs at the memory of his old roommate's early days.

"Like he said, he only knew four words that Rubens (Barrichello) told him and he studied them on the airplane. He and Helio (Castroneves) lived on my couch and on the a day they got in per diem from Indy Lights.

"Obviously, he's come a long way since then."

Of course every now and then the engineer has a little fun with his driver's feedback.

"It's only happened once with Tony," Cowdin said. "He came in and told me he'd gone full stiff on the rear bar and that had really helped. But the thing wasn't even hooked up."

Still, nothing betters the relationship than experience, and that is gained lap by lap throughout the season. The results are shown on the track. On most tracks, the setup dictates the results. Drivers cannot handle ovals such Milwaukee, Richmond or Nashville or the twists and turns of road courses such as Infineon Raceway or Watkins Glen International without a savvy race engineer.

"If the car is off there is only so much a driver can do. A driver alone can't carry a car," said Patrick. "The difference between an unbeatable car and a car that will keep you awake at night can often be quite small. Our engineer is the person who will help us find the light switch in the dark and when they flip that switch everything comes into focus."

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