One of the two ‘Superstar’ team co-owners at Hall of Fame Racing, former NFL quarterback Troy Aikman says he is excited about his new role in the Nextel Cup Series but is realistic about how he wants his #96 team to perform this year.
TROY AIKMAN
“We are excited about being in the
Daytona 500. As most people know, we have been looking for a sponsor to get involved in NASCAR for a couple of years. Six months ago we wrapped up the agreement with Texas Instruments and DLP Technology. To make as much progress as we have been able to do in six months time is exciting. Now to come to the realisation that we are going to be racing this weekend and already have this weekend and already have been this week is pretty amazing and everyone is pretty excited about it.”
Q
TALK ABOUT YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU RECEIVED THE CALL THAT THE QUALIFYING TIME HAD BEEN DISALLOWED AND DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW ALL OF THAT WORKS IN SPORT?
TROY AIKMAN
“I do understand how all of this works in this sport and I got a real education on it all again this week due to that. Obviously we were disappointed. We understand why it happened, and why NASCAR had to do what they did. I think most people, if not everybody, in the garage and within the sport recognise the mistake that was made and that it wasn't an attempt on anyone's part to try to give us an unfair advantage on the race track.”
Q
YOU GET YOUR EQUIPMENT FROM GIBBS, WILL YOU CHANGE ANY INTERNAL TEAM POLICIES TO MONITOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
TROY AIKMAN
“No, we will not to answer your question. We are very happy with our relationship with Gibbs and we recognise that if it weren't for that relationship we wouldn't be where we are at right now. We certainly wouldn't be racing on Sunday in the Daytona 500. We couldn't be happier with everything the Joe Gibbs Racing organisation has done for us and we will continue with that. We don't anticipate any further problems.”
Q
WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON AND HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WILL TAKE TO BE COMPETITIVE OR LIKE YOUR ROOKIE SEASON IN THE NFL?
TROY AIKMAN
“That is a good question. I don't know exactly how to answer that. I know how difficult my rookie year in the NFL was and I know how competitive this sport is. I have talked to a lot of people about it. I don't think our expectations are unrealistic going into this year.
