Conversation: David Stremme

He's probably the most anonymous Busch Series Rookie of the Year in history. Running just 18 races will take some shine off the award.

But David Stremme has been anything but anonymous in 2004. A featured spot on Speed Channel's NBS 24/7 has helped Stremme become one of the most visible Busch Series regulars.

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But the initial Busch win has been elusive. Braun Racing has shown it can wins races -- it won with Jamie McMurray at Rockingham in February.

But Stremme wants his turn. He nearly won at Milwaukee, where he finished second after winning his first Busch Pole.

Consistency has eluded the No. 32 Dodge outfit, but his eight top-10 finishes ranks alongside Nextel Cup regulars Kasey Kahne and Michael Waltrip.

NASCAR.COM's Ryan Smithson spoke with Stremme, 27, about his sophomore season.

You have had a couple of commercials on TV. That is hard work, isn't it?

Not really. I enjoy it, because I don't really act any different. The one script, I didn't really get and it really didn't played as well as the second one.

You can see more of my personality in it. It's pretty cool for a Busch driver to have a commercial. There are not a lot of other drivers that have that.

How do you like how the NBS 24/7 show has turned out so far?

I ran a part-time season last year, sharing a ride with Jamie McMurray in the 1 car. When you are in the and out of the car, people kind of really don't know who you are.

Even though I won Rookie of the Year, it wasn't really big deal. A lot of the tracks we went to, no one had seen me race or knew who I was.

We start this year with the Trimspa team and everything came together in a short amount of time, and it has helped on my fan side than anything, I think.

Fans relate with the driver and their personality. I have always wanted to remain the same type of person I have grown up to be, and remember where I come from, I still talk to a lot of friends, it has been a little different because we go to the bigger towns on the series we visit, and people go, 'Oh, I like your show and it's cool.'

And that is pretty great. Because I don't even watch it. I look at myself and I pick myself apart more than anybody else.

When the Kevin Harvick incident at Bristol happened, of course, it's really big and they are going to cover it, I don't like how it all went down.

Since then, Neal and a lot of the guys from Speed Channel have worked with me to where that won't happen again.

Again, there is still stuff I see myself doing, or something they will show, and I won't care much for that to be displayed on the TV.

On the other hand, people don't look at it the way I am looking at it. It's been a lot of mixed emotions but it's been pretty cool because I think I have gained a lot of fans from it.

Our season hasn't been too stellar, we have had some decent runs, but an up and down season, I think the fans get to see what type emotions our crew and the team goes though.

The stuff we have to do to get better and how we react when we are running good and how we need to perform and try to win races.

You joked earlier about being single but being single. This is your chance to clear all that up.

I am dating somebody and been seeing her for a couple months now. And it is something that I don't look at myself as being single, but yet, I am legally.

She has helped me out a lot. I have had four or five weeks where I have had real tough times.

My personal life is doing really good but the racing sucks. It's a balancing act. She is able to help me out with it, and that is really important in our jobs.

It's not like we have a 9-to-5 job. Even in the evenings and on the weekends, you still think about the racing, and she is able to kind of relax me where I can clear my mind.

When we meet on Monday or something back at the shop. The whole team will talk about what we need to work on.

You've only had a few dozen Busch starts. You surprised you have not won yet?

Well, I am, but yet - I did an interview on Totally NASCAR about being under a driver development program, and one of the things here at Braun, is the team came together in January.

	Chip Ganassi

We have had a crew chief change, different changes on the crew change positions and roles. It's something that I look our Busch team as a Busch team; it's not really a Cup team in Busch.

And it's frustrating when you're running with guys and their cars have been to the wind tunnel and they got a lot of testing and we have resources though Ganassi Racing, but we still do everything in house, and it's still Todd Braun Racing.

It's not Chip Ganassi Racing. It's tough when we have a limited amount of money that we are working with against teams that have half of a Cup budget.

And when you look at all that, in reality, I am not surprised we have not won, but, it would sure be nice. It does not take away that I am not trying or anything else, we are trying just as hard. When we do win, it will be that much more appreciated.

When the news came out that you would probably be in Nextel Cup in 2006, that is a relief, or that more pressure?

It's not really pressure.

When I re-signed here with Chip Ganassi Racing not too long ago, that is more of a relief than anything, just knowing that an organization is wanting you to stay within their company and be a part of their team, and there are other racing teams talking to me and discussing about my future, it was all during a time when we were running real good at the beginning of the season.

And I had already been working with Ganassi Racing, they really stuck their neck on the line and done a lot of testing with them on this new chassis they have been running this year and I feel that is part of my family there and I am very close to a lot of people there and I feel that we have built a relationship where when I am able to move over to the Cup side, it'll really show.

You look at other drivers' careers in the Busch Series where it hasn't been stellar, then they jump in Cup Series and all of a sudden, they are a whole new driver.

And it's about the people you're around, and that chip is doing right now, just building myself with other characters like Randy Cox, who is crew chief on our car, and there will be another team members who get to play a role later on when we get to run Cup.

I am a little disappointed because I think we could run next year if financial backing was there, but yet, we need to get our Busch program organized. Even when I run Cup, I am going to run Busch.

I feel it makes you a better driver, you're able to stay on top of things. Again, I am still learning a lot about these cars.

That goes back to -- mentally, last year, I was in and out of the car, I was able to relax, when you're in every-week cycle, you have to really stay on top of your game and keep yourself positive, it's a whole other part of the racing program that you don't get to see when you're running in and out.

You're going to do the Jamie McMurray route and not the Brian Vickers route where you stay in the Busch Series?

A lot of that is up to Chip (Ganassi) and Todd Braun. I know right now that we are going to run for Braun Racing next year and we are in negotiations for re-signing Trimspa.

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As far as Cup, we might run probably a few Cup races, I don't really know. A lot of that is really not up to me.

It depends on where they feel I am at, and again, it depends on a sponsor that will run some Cup races or do a full season.

I am very fortunate to have a lot of people who believe in me even though we have had such an up and down season this year.

We feel we can get ourselves in the top 10 in points. Obviously, we can't win a championship - we have put ourselves in too big a hole.

I sit back and look at the stats we have, Jason Keller is sitting sixth in points, same number of top five and top-10 finishes, but when you get outside of the top 10, we have like five DNFs.

And that kills us and that is something we need to work on within our team. I have put myself in a couple situations that I shouldn't of and got caught up in a wreck.

You get that experience and you want to keep gaining so that it does not affect you in the long run and you get better and try to win championships.