Hut Stricklin on Subway.

Hut Stricklin goes into the Subway 400 this weekend to make his 19th start at the North Carolina Speedway. In that time he's been on pole once, way back in October 1995. This time he enters the race on the back of the success of the Bill Davis Racing win at Daytona last weekend.

"To win the Daytona 500 was a wonderful thing for everyone at Bill Davis Racing, even the No. 23 Hills Bros. Coffee Racing team," said Stricklin. "We are one for all, all for one and I was thrilled that one of our cars won the race there. I know that both teams are capable of winning races and that I why I feel so fortunate to be a part of this organization. Bill and Gail Davis are such wonderful people and I'm happy that they are finally getting to reap the rewards of all the hard work and dedication they have to this race team."

Stricklin gave his take on the blocking that occurred during the Daytona 500: "With the new rules package for superspeedways, you have to drive more aggressive than you had to in the past," said Stricklin. "You have to stay on someone's bumper to stay in the draft. No one wants to back off for fear of losing the draft. So, I wasn't surprised one bit about the amount of blocking that went on. We are talking about the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race we run, so guys are going to do everything they can to win."

The Rock is a different challenge however: 'The Rock' is a driver's track," said Stricklin. "It is very forgiving in the sense that if you're car isn't working in one groove, there are
several lanes to work with. You can move around the track to accommodate how your car is handling. But on the other hand, it is hard to handle because it eats up your tires. It takes a lot of finesse there, like Darlington, because the track is so abrasive."

For the race the team will race under the new one-engine rule. Engine builder, Terry Elledge, spoke about how he prepared for the first race under this new rule: "We've always built the motors to run 500 to 600 miles in the past," said Elledge. "I usually say that I want it to last 501 miles. With the new engine rule, we have to prepare to the motor to run 750 miles. That is a 30% to 50% gain in usage. The major issue is there are only so many components you can test to see if it could run that long. The untestable components, such as crankshaft rods, piston pins and valves, will be all
trial and error at the track. I'll be more nervous about this weekend than any other in the past for sure. The great part is with this weekend being a 400-mile race, it is good place to run that first test."