Tech Q&A: Michael McSwain

LONG POND, Pa. -- After an arduous season in 2002, which saw him finish the worst in the Winston Cup championship, 16th, that he had managed in eight years, Bobby Labonte has rebounded to the front of the field in 2003.

Remarkably, he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team have done that in the face of two major changes: Moving to the 2003 Chevrolet and working with crew chief Michael McSwain, who joined the team at the end of 2002.

MICHAEL MCSWAIN  •  Crew chief page  •  B. Labonte driver page  •  Joe Gibbs Racing  •  B. Labonte upbeat about strong start to season

Labonte is riding a wave of eight top-five finishes in the season's first 13 races in the No. 18 Monte Carlo. It's carried him to fourth in the championship, 229 points behind leader Matt Kenseth. He won at Atlanta Motor Speedway, one of his favorite venues.

Labonte won the summer race in 2001 at this weekend's track, Pocono Raceway, and McSwain engineered Ricky Rudd's June 2001 Pocono 500 winner while at Robert Yates Racing.

McSwain sat down with NASCAR.com's Dave Rodman to discuss the challenge of setting up a car for the 2.5-mile Pocono triangle's long straightaways and variably banked corners, which are tilted at 14, eight and six degrees, respectively.

Q: How much of a compromise do you have to make with the set-up on the race car to make it work all the way around a lap at Pocono?

Michael McSwain: When we were good there, we were good in every corner. It's really, really hard to do, to tune the car to be that balanced, because every corner is a different banking, a different radius. But when we were our best, we were good in every corner. Obviously, that's what we're striving for. We don't feel like we want to give up anything, anywhere.

Q: With a 2003 race car, can that balance be achieved?

	Credit: Autostock

I think we can manage it. It's going to be a lot harder, because the downforce is a lot different than it was and the tires are a lot different. But I think a lot of it's about driving style and a lot of it's about set-up. So as long as we can get Bobby comfortable, I think we can be good there.

Q: Do the long straightaways at Pocono require you to have a real steamer under the hood or do you need a better handling car to get through the corners and onto the straights?

Other than qualifying, I don't think you necessarily have to have the strongest motor to win the race. You've got to have a good motor, don't get me wrong, but I don't think you have to have the most horsepower. You have to have a good, strong torquey motor in the race. Now, he may not qualify on the pole, but there's so much corner and it's so flat, that a good, torquey motor and a short track set-up to me is a lot better package.

Q: How much of a dynamic does shifting the race car present?

Everybody shifts. Once again, I'm going to say that it's probably more important to get your race car working good everywhere. Some people need to shift twice and some people only shift once. It's all about the balance between the car and the driver.

Q: In terms of passing cars, how much of an issue is aerodynamics at Pocono?

It's huge. Pocono is going to be one of those races where track position is going to be real important. You're going to want to qualify in the top 10 and you're going to want to stay up there all day.

Q: Working the race on the radio with Bobby, is he a talker, and what information does he want you to give him? Does he need a cheerleader every now and then?

	Bobby Labonte Credit: Autostock

He's probably no different than anybody -- and not just drivers, but anybody. There's times when he gets down a little bit and doesn't think we're good. I look at all the data and the (lap) times and I'm like, "we're running real fast here. We just need a little bit of track position." I think everybody needs a little bit of cheerleading at some point in their life, not just drivers, but all people.

Q: This team has made a pretty dramatic turnaround from 2002, when it only had five top-five finishes all season. Even though you weren't here last year, what can you attribute that to?

I think one of the biggest things is that these guys haven't worked any harder than they did last year. They had such a tough year, that everybody wanted to start over, be fresh and try some new ideas. Bobby's trying things in his driving style that he's never done before. The shock guys are trying things they've never done before.

It goes all the way down and you can pick anybody and it's allowed this team -- even though Bobby's a veteran driver -- to step into the train of thought of the younger, rookie-type drivers that say, "Just because we didn't do that four or five years ago, doesn't mean it isn't right." Open mindedness in the whole organization has made this team get to where it's at right now.

Q: Have you heard any more talk about aerodynamic adjustments to the cars and going to softer tires, and how would you feel about that?

I haven't heard anything about it lately and I'm going to say the same thing I've always said about rule changes. As long as everybody's got to do it, I don't really care.