FONTANA, CA -- When Jason Small goes out for practice on Thursday morning it will be his first laps at the 2-mile California Speedway. He was not able to secure a test date for the track. Although track time is a valuable commodity in the NASCAR Winston West Series, Small feels confident about running well.

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he was headed to a third-place finish. Unfortunately, an alternator belt broke with only 8-laps remaining. The battery on the car was quickly depleted leaving Small in a seventh place finish at Las Vegas. But the team is optimistic that they have the knowledge and team that will once again put their team in a position to win.

RacingWest: What do you like about the California Speedway?
Jason Small: I have never been to California Speedway, this will be my first race at the track.

RW: What do you dislike about the California Speedway?
JS: From what I hear there is nothing to dislike about the track. It is real wide and smooth.

RW: What time do you think it will take to make the show at California Speedway?
JS: If the times hold up like last year I think to be in the field it will take a time of 41.60 or below to be locked in.

RW: Since the Winston West is running the same weekend as the Busch and Cup series, there may be some drivers from those series cross over and run with the Winston West. What is your position on these drivers from other series racing with the Winston West?
JS: If it brings good press to the series I'm all for it. But for every up there is a down, those cars will take the spots of the regular teams of the series and that could hurt the lower budgeted teams running for points.

RW: Fontana is the fastest track on the WW circuit. Do you feel that your team will have the horsepower to run up front?
JS: Our motors have been running really strong this year. We were running third in Las Vegas with 8 laps to go but unfortunately the alternator cable broke and the battery went dead then, we fell back to seventh.

RW: It will probably be quite warm at Fontana what do you do as a driver to prepare your self for the heat and fatigue of running under those kind of conditions?
JS: I have a 250cc motorcycle I ride three or four times a week to stay in shape for the races on the weekend. Also being from Bakersfield, I'm used to the extreme temperatures from the summer day and night races at Mesa Marin.

RW: Does your team have a good down force car ready for Fontana?
JS: Yes, the same car we used in Las Vegas "SM2" will be ready for Fontana. We had a problem getting a test date though so I will have to go May 1 without any seat time.

RW: Has your team been practicing pitstops? If so how is their progress coming?
JS: Yes, the team practices once a week. In Las Vegas I came in 11th and went out 3rd so, I can say they are improving every race.

Source: RacingWest
Posted: 4/27/99