Tech Q&A: Todd Berrier

LONG POND, Pa. -- Richard Childress Racing crew chief Todd Berrier is living the dream as Kevin Harvick's crew chief.

Berrier not only serves as part of RCR's brain trust in the direction of Harvick's team, along with Childress, Bobby Hutchens and Gil Martin; but he's able to keep his hands on the cars as a working crew chief.

It's paid off to the tune of Harvick being lodged in the top-10 in the standings since March 28 in the critical Chase for the Nextel Cup -- the inaugural season ending 10-race championship shootout.

Berrier took a break from his preparation for the Pocono 500 to chat with NASCAR.com senior writer Dave Rodman about dealing with Harvick's busy schedule, what it takes to succeed at Michigan and racing within the new championship format.

You had a pretty decent car at Michigan last year, with two top-10 qualifying runs and your best finish, second, in August. With the new aerodynamic and tire combination you're dealing with this season, is that all out the window?

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Todd Berrier: I don't think it's as simple as being out the window. As history goes, Kevin and RCR have all ran really well at Michigan. The engine combinations fit well there.

There are going to be changes, with less rear spoiler and soft tires and all that. We're just going to have to apply all the things we've learned thus far in the season to that.

But so far we've seen some trends with what we're working with at these tracks, and we'll just have to add to that at Michigan and move forward.

From your perspective, how beneficial is it if a driver really likes a racetrack?

Todd Berrier: It makes the biggest difference in the world. You can take a car that's not the best car and he's going to make a bigger difference with the thing.

You've got to like the racetrack, and Kevin really likes Michigan so that's going to help us a lot.

Have you guys, or anyone else in the RCR organization tested for Michigan?

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Todd Berrier: Robby Gordon's 31 car tested up there before California and those places are very similar. We're not testing there because we're electing to save some tests for the latter 10 races of the season.

The organization has tested there, though and we've seen some changes we need to apply. I think we're in good shape as far as knowing what we need to do.

Last year for this race, you got a mismatched set of tires at the end of the race that knocked you back at the finish. Is Michigan the kind of place where it's tough to recover if that happens?

Todd Berrier: Absolutely, it does. Michigan is typically a gas mileage deal with long (green flag) runs and we've seen more tire differences this year than we have in previous years.

Maybe with the softer tire it just multiplies the little differences that they have. When you do get a (mismatched) set of tires you're planning to run to the end you can't do anything about it because you can't stop because you'll get lapped.

You just have to suffer the consequences and that's part of racing.

Cup drivers have busy schedules anyways, but have you noticed any difference in Kevin this year with his full-time truck schedule, of course he's still racing in Busch and he's doing the TV show?

Todd Berrier: (laughing) There's not really been any change in himself, personally. But we do see that typically he doesn't have as much time to be around the shop and mingle with the guys.

He's not able to do the things that he typically has done in the past. I don't think that hinders our performance a lot, but yeah, being around the guys more does help pump the guys up and you get more out of them.

So there's been some changes with that but that's all part of growing up and having a good career to build on and to have all these things.

He's fortunate to have them all and yet he realizes that the 29 car has got a lot of that stuff happening so he's definitely not going to let that go by the wayside.

What's been your take in general this season on the aero and tire package and what's it going to mean at Michigan?

Todd Berrier: it hasn't been a whole lot different, other than you're typically not going to see a Ryan Newman stay out for 100 laps and get better gas mileage than the rest.

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Typically, everybody stops now all of the time (to change tires). You're still going to have to get good fuel mileage and it's still going to come down to that, but if you get a caution in the last 20 or 30 laps you know everybody is going to put tires on.

So, in turn that does play into a little bit of a difference in what you do. The softer tires do seem to fall off a little more and you just have to turn the engines a little harder at the start, but they don't turn as much at the end of a run as they did last year.

It's going to be a little harder on engines and that's about it. You'll see the guys running in the top-10 in points being a little more conservative because they are there. And then you're going to see the guys lingering around eighth to 10th to 13th pushing the button to make sure they stay in there pretty solid.

Michigan's still going to be Michigan, but I feel like you're going to have a few more hard chargers from outside the top-10 in the points, and probably a few more engines failures -- not due to the aero changes or tire changes as much as the point system.

From up on top of the pit box, because of the fuel and caution situation, is Michigan one of the tougher races to call, strategy-wise?

Todd Berrier: Well, yes and no. I guess you've really got to sharpen the pencil, you know? You know as it plays out that there's 12 to 15 guys that are going to go for it at the end -- or know that they're going to make it

And you're sitting there floundering around thinking you're a lap short, or not. Sometimes you'll talk yourself into doing things that you typically wouldn't do when it comes down to gas mileage.

But still, enough is enough and if you've got it, you've got it and if you don't, you run out and that's just kinda how it works.

How do you feel about NASCAR's latest moves to cut the length of cautions?

Todd Berrier: I think it's something they have to do. I mean, things like went on at Dover, where we're running 27 laps of caution to figure out where you need to go on the track, and things like that (doesn't work).

Even if we have to stop to figure it out, I think that will be better than just letting us ride around out there. That's pretty aggravating to do that and I hope they keep making changes to make that process a lot shorter.

We're here to race and to be under green, not under yellow.

When you talk about Kevin's busy schedule -- that doesn't put aside that you guys are busy, too. What do you do for fun at Michigan, and are you even able to get away from the track?

Todd Berrier: They're all pretty much similar, when you're talking about venues. We have to be at the track at 6 o'clock in the morning and we leave at 6 o'clock at night by the time you get a shower and get something to eat, you're really pretty well done for the day, to get ready to go on to the next day.

I mean, it's a nice place and it's typically pretty cool weather and not hot; but they're all about the same to us, as a crew.