Q: This will provide some incredible drama for folks watching here in person, but for those folks watching at home, how do we (broadcasters) know when, say, Tim Cindric comes to you and says, 'I'm going to withdraw that car.' Is that something that's going to come from you or Tiffany (Hemmer, IRL director of administration), or for us to be able to tell people at home that someone has just withdrawn a car and then for us to watch the drama of
that car being pushed back in line? Will they make an announcement here? What is the protocol to release that?
"The capability of withdrawing a car's time will be able to take place at two locations: at the impound
corral, and at the head of the (qualifying) line, where I will be. If one of them (teams) fills out the form that withdraws that time, we will instantly announce that over our internal radios and we'll make sure the p.a. announcement is made immediately that that happened. We'll make the adjustment on all the scoreboards around the track to tell the fans what's going on."
Q: What signs do you have to tell you that there will be anything left to do on Bump Day, given that, according to my calculations, it looks like we have 32 car-driver combinations right now, maybe a 33rd? And also, if more cars and equipment are available with the new format, do you really sense that teams will really make equipment available?
"The whole format creates a platform for increasing the likelihood of those scenarios developing. They've always existed in the past, but there was so much difficulty in getting people to use cars that are available, and I think the format will make that more likely to happen, to have the same traditional last-weekend deals come in play. As we're sitting here talking, we haven't even come to the first weekend yet, and we've got more car-driver combinations than we've had the last couple years. So I feel very good about the same historical last-minute deals coming in play. These rules make that easier for that to happen."
