FONTANA, CA -- Austin Cameron's biggest day of his young career may be just a stone's throw away. After winning the Bud Pole Award on Friday (4/29/99) he is in a prime position to put his name on a short list of those who have won at California Speedway, real short. The driver who qualified on Cameron's outside is the only other winner at the 2-mile super speedway in NASCAR Winston West Series competition.

Schrader is on top of the list of favorites to win on Sunday, but Cameron is ready to pull the upset and keep the victory with the Winston West Series contingent.

RacingWest: What do you like about the California Speedway?
Austin Cameron: The California Speedway is one of the ultimate tracks to race at. It makes the whole experience well worth it. As far as the actual track, I love it , the high speed brings a lot of intensity to the driver and that is where I think it belongs.

RW: What do you dislike about the California Speedway?
AC: I can't say a bad thing about it. I love every bit of it.

RW: What time do you think it will take to make the show at California Speedway?
AC: Pole position should be right around 40 seconds flat. To make the show I believe a 41.9 will be really close.

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?
AC: I think that it really benefits all of the drivers. The cup drivers make us realize how fast you have to go. My goals are elevated because of the stiff competition, which in turn makes everyone better at what they do.

RW: Fontana is the fastest track on the WW circuit. Do you feel that your team will have the horsepower to run up front?
AC: I know with Bill Maropulos builder our motors we have plenty of power it is just a matter of getting it to the ground. California is a place motors and drivers can strut their stuff.

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?
AC: I drink lots of Gatorade and water. I can sometimes lose up to 6 pounds in perspiration during a race so it is very important to fill up on liquids before the race.

RW: Has your team been practicing pitstops? If so how is their progress coming?
AC: We started out doing 28 second stops and now due to practice we are consistently doing four tire stops at around 22-23 seconds.

Source: RacingWest
Posted: 4/30/99