Q&A: Jason Keller and Keith Barnwell.

The 2002 NASCAR Busch season marks Jason Keller's fourth full season driving for ppc Racing, and as the highest returning points finisher from last year, expectations are high for the No. 57 Albertsons team.

Besides a new engine supplier, Keller is also teamed with rookie Scott Riggs, who takes over the driving duties on the Nesquik Ford.

Keller and ppc Racing General Manager Keith Barnwell spoke about the organisation's expectations for 2002, and despite the many changes they have faced in the past two seasons, how the team remains a constant in the battle for the championship.

Q:
Jason Keller - You expressed some disappointment after the open test session at Daytona two weeks ago, but you were optimistic about an upcoming test at Darlington. What's the consensus from pre-season testing?

Jason Keller:
We're definitely disappointed with the way that we tested at Daytona as far as the speed was concerned. It's going to be extremely hard to compete for the win, and I think our backs are going to be against the wall, but you can't do a whole lot of complaining. You can complain to the right people, and if they decide to help you out, then they will. Our other testing had been going great; it's been fantastic. I couldn't ask for it to be any better, but we just have to get through Daytona. That's the main thing and our focus right now.

Q:
You enter the 2002 season with a new engine supplier [Yates], but virtually every other aspect of your team remains the same. You've now tested at Daytona and Darlington, how close are your notes from last year?

JK:
Pretty close. We tested Darlington last week and it was phenomenal. For me, going to Darlington is extremely important because I'm from South Carolina and you always want to run well in front of the hometown fans. We put a lot of emphasis on Darlington for that reason, and to test the way we did, it helps to add some excitement to this team, maybe where the Daytona test didn't. It was great to go there and get a jolt in the arm and test good, and a lot of things were the same even with the new engine we're running. The car reacted the same and that's what I was hoping. We knew the gear combinations might not be exact, but we were hoping that the car would react the same. Now I'm looking forward to going to Daytona. Sure our back might be against the wall, but Daytona is Daytona, and no matter how you are, you get excited about going down there. Hopefully we can get the year started on a good note. Rockingham is the very next week, followed by Vegas and Darlington, and those are all good race tracks for me. I think we might have to exercise a little patience and get to the race tracks that we know we're going to be strong at.

Q:
When your focus is on winning the championship, how important are the first four races to set the tone for the entire season?

JK:
Those are the ones that you focus on the most. You kinda look at the first four or fives races as the first part of the season because it's extremely important. That's going to set the tone if I'm going to be a contender or not, and that's going to set the tone of who the competition is going to be. Usually after those races, it kinda sorts out the really strong race teams from the not-so-strong race teams, and we want to put ourselves in the position to be one of the strong race teams, and I know we can. We know that the first race may be the toughest, but weird things can happen, so we need to be as strong as we can be.

Q:
Consistency is one of your greatest attributes. You completed the most laps of any driver on the circuit last year, so where are you looking to make up ground in the points battle?

JK:
We've got to be hungry for wins. The consistency part is something that's extremely important, don't get me wrong, but we have to win more races. We need to take those top-fives and move them into wins. You're not going to win the championship by winning only one race; you've got to win five or six races. Now to take us from where we were to doing that, I don't think we're far off. I don't think it's a lot. It's not like we were finishing 25th and saying we need to win races. We were already finishing close to the front, and now we need to win races. Maybe we played it a little too safe in some situations and didn't want to beat ourselves last year. We need to change that mentality a little bit this year, but that's probably one of the easiest adjustments you can make.

Q:
PPC Racing has been contending for the Busch championship for each of the last three seaons, and last year even with a manufacturer change and new engine package, the organization managed to make the transition look easy. What is the formula for success?

JK:
It's just the whole backbone of the team here, and the thing that makes us stronger and stronger all the time is the communication between the crew chiefs. My communication with Scott (Riggs), I think, is going to be very easy, very quick, but it goes further than that. It goes to the crew chiefs and the people working in the shop more than it does with the relationship between Scott and myself. I'm looking forward to working with Scott because he's extremely eager and hungry. I'm going to miss Jeff (Green), and I'm not going to deny that. Jeff was a big asset to me, but you have to move forward, and I think we picked the right driver for us to do that.

Q:
There were a lot of crew chief changes in the off-season, but you and Steve Addington are teaming up for a 10th season together. How has his input the past three seasons helped you make the jump to a perennial contender?

JK:
It's been huge. I really thought that I might lose Steve in the off-season with some of those opportunities that became available. He felt strongly about my ability and this race team's ability, so he decided to stay, which is extremely important to me. Steve and I have been together for a while, we split up for about a year, but he's been a constant. I think Steve and I have the hunger more now than we ever have because we know the opportunities that we've had in the off-season, and we don't know how many more opportunities we will have to get a championship together. He knows that some opportunities may take him away from me, and I know that some of my opportunities may take me away from him. I think we see the sense of urgency and feel the sense of urgency to get it done now.

Q:
Harold Holly attended both the open test sessions at Daytona and has taken an expanded role in the organisation by becoming Director of Race Operations in addition to continuing his role as the crew chief of the No. 10 Ford. How does that affect your team in particular?

JK:
What we're trying to get everyone to understand is that we want both teams to be successful and strong. If the 10 race team is strong, it only makes my race team stronger, and that's the way we operate. Harold is an extreme talent and he has become another set of educated and skilled eyes to look over the race car. The more you can get that and the more you work together, the stronger you're going to be. It's not like the 57 keeps anything away from the 10, and likewise, the 10 doesn't keep anything away from the 57. In order for us to both be strong, we want to be strong. That to me is the way a two-car team should work. When people justify having a two-car team, the added knowledge is the biggest asset they give for having it. I don't know what goes on in other shops, but we practice that and that's maybe one of our biggest reasons for the success we've have the last four years.

Q:
Keith Barnwell - General Manger - ppc Racing - As an organisation, you made some drastic changes before the start of the 2001 season. How were you able to make that kind of change and remain at the same level of competition?

Keith Barnwell:
People. That's the biggest thing. At the time, we had Jason (Keller) and Jeff (Green) and they worked good together. It was still an adjustment period for us, though. We had a new engine component in the 12:1 motors and we had a new car manufacturer. Everything changed from the championship year to last year. Now, going into the following year, which starts next week, things are better. We do have some new components with Yates motors, and we're finding out that's a little different. All the gearing changes because you're dealing with a new engine package, and we have a new driver in Scott (Riggs). I don't know of a team in racing, even those that have made two driver changes, there's not a team out there that has made more changes than us in the last two years. And, all of the success goes to the people. We have good mechanics, we've got good body hangers, we've got good management personnel with Steve (Addington) and Harold (Holly), and the biggest credit out there goes to Greg Pollex for giving us the opportunity to do this.

Q:
You have a veteran teamed with a true rookie for the first time in your organisation's history. What are your expectations this season?

KB:
I think that if you ask that to Scott, he'll probably tell you he wants to win a championship. Realistic expectations for Scott, as far as we're concerned, is to be consistent, get ourselves in a position to win races, and we have to battle Ricky Hendrick for rookie of the year. We've got our hands full right there. Hendrick Motorsports has a great organization, and I really doubt that they will leave any stone unturned with Ricky Hendrick. We have a real battle shaping up, an uphill battle because we see them as having not jus two Busch teams, but the resources of a six-car operation.

Q:
You have a rookie with lofty goals, and the highest returning points finisher from last season. Have there been any meetings to bring the two teams together to get some common goals?

KB:
We've had some very productive meetings since the off-season began. It's refreshing to have Scott Riggs say, 'I'm going to do everything in my power to help Jason win races and win and a championship.' And the good thing is Jason Keller feels the same way about Scott. We were one and two in points in 2000, we were two and three last year, and our goal is to get back to one and two. You have to be realistic about it, and we have some realistic goals. If everything falls the right way, we'll have a terrific season, but if we get caught up in wrecks and have mental breakdowns, we're not going to win the championship. We've got to race smart and we have to race aggressive to win the championship. We have all of the right pieces, and a lot of the same pieces when we won the championship in 2000, it comes down to execution.

Q:
How difficult was it to find the right driver to put in the Nesquik Ford?

KB:
We looked long and hard at it, and we're extremely excited to have Scott driving the Nesquik Ford. We think he's going to be a great teammate for Jason and we think he's a terrific team player for ppc Racing, and we look forward to building that relationship. Jeff Green is one awesome race-car driver. He had a great opportunity and moved on, but that's a championship team, and that doesn't happen with driver skill alone. Scott Riggs is our driver, and when we tested at Darlington and used the computer, we learned that Scott and Jason's styles are tremendously closer than Jason and Jeff's were. Jeff manhandles the race car and uses a ton of brake to slow it down in the corners, where Scott and Jason roll through the corners and use very little brake. We compared Jeff and Jason for years, and we thought Jason used very little brake, but Scott uses even less. That's just driving styles, but maybe there will be more information transfer with drivers having a similar style. Not to say one is right or wrong, but when they're similar it may help to shorten the learning curve.