Conversation: Ryan Moore

LOUDON, N.H. -- Dale Earnhardt Incorporated felt like it used a successful mold recently when it signed 21-year-old Ryan Moore to a driver development contract that takes effect in 2005.

Moore's family-oriented career path is similar to that of Martin Truex Jr.'s, another northeast native with whom DEI began its development program two years ago.

Ryan Moore Credit: ryanmoore.com

Both second-generation racers got their starts in family-owned equipment. While Martin Truex ended his driving career to give his son a better opportunity, Kelly Moore continued to fight Ryan for wins and the Busch North championship.

Ryan Moore has been an extremely quick study, according to his father, who had a close relationship with Dale Earnhardt. Kelly Moore owns many Busch North career records, including most victories and pole positions.

Since getting into stock cars in his mid-teen years, Ryan Moore became the youngest driver to win Late Model races and rookie of the year titles at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, and the American Canadian Tour.

The younger Moore, from Scarborough, Maine, won the 2003 Busch North Series Rookie of the Year Award and finished 11th in the points, and in 2004 has been a fixture in the top-five while threatening for his first win on virtually a race-to-race basis.

DEI director of motorsports Richie Gilmore, another graduate of the tough Northeast short tracks, signed the organization's third standout from the area, following Steve Park and Truex Jr., to a driver development deal that includes testing and a limited Busch Series schedule for the 2005 season.

While preparing for the recent Busch North Sylvania 125 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Ryan Moore took a break from building shock absorbers to sit down with NASCAR.COM senior writer Dave Rodman to talk about his hands-on career development, what he does away from racing and what driving for DEI means to him and his family.

Talk about what it means to get the opportunity with an organization like Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

Moore: It's taken work and sacrifices to get to this point, but that's what you have to do to get to this step. It's certainly a relief for my family, especially my father and grandfather (because) they've put a lot of time, money and effort into my racing program.

VIDEO Conversation: Ryan Moore

Once I get settled in with DEI, it will be easier for them. My dad has put a ton of work into my racing career since I was 13 years old. We've been working hard for eight years to get a deal like this.

DEI is the best organization in auto racing and I couldn't be in a better position than I am right now.

In terms of your own career goals, is this happening sooner than you expected, and is it beyond your wildest imagination that it would be with an organization this good?

Moore: It probably is. Obviously, in my wildest goals and dreams I had kinda shopped for trying to get with an organization like DEI.

I had really shopped for something like that, but like I said it was a pretty wild dream and a wild goal, but it's a great opportunity that I've stepped on board, and I'm really excited to work with those people.

I'm really excited to wait and see what happens, running with them.

Talk about growing up as a racer's son and how that influenced your growth in the sport. Was there ever anything else you wanted to do, or being around dad, with his success, was racing the only option for you?

Moore: Racing was something I was always around as a little guy. I grew up around it and grew up in the shop, hanging out and, like you said, dad always had a lot of success with it and it always seemed like a lot of fun.

Ryan Moore Credit: ryanmoore.com

I started racing go-karts when I was 12 years old and just really liked it. I liked going fast and I liked all the competition, so I'm just really excited to maybe start a career out of it and keep going with it.

Is there a real comfort level with you, getting with an organization that has so many connections to home; with guys like Richie Gilmore, Slugger Labbe, Bono Manion and Martin all having histories in Busch North and who you literally grew up with?

Moore: Yeah, that makes it a lot more comfortable for me, like you said. Guys like Pete Rondeau -- There's a lot of guys -- a long list of people that I'm just really excited and really happy to have the opportunity to work for, and it's just a dream come true, really.

You've been real successful at every level you've raced, even starting at a young age, from karts, to Oxford Plains Speedway, the American Canadian Tour and right into Busch North. What do you feel has been the key to that?

Moore: It's been a lot of hard work, for sure, and I've always had good people around me. My family always made sure we had good people working around me.

I just had a lot of good notes and a lot of good people to ask questions of. I've just been really focused on it. It's been nothing but 100 percent focused on this deal and trying to make it happen.

Now, all that hard work has kind of finally paid off and I'm just really happy for that.

People come to the races and think, 'this is a really neat show,' but they overlook all the work that goes into it -- but also, from the racers' perspective, how much fun it is. Have you managed to maintain that fun quotient, do you think?

Moore: Yeah, we've really tried to. This year has probably been the hardest, because of all the talk and all the rumors going around. It made it, not, not fun, but there was a lot of pressure around it.

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But now that that's all off and I've signed with (DEI), I just feel a lot more comfortable knowing that I have the help of them and all their knowledge.

I feel like I can go to them with anything that I need and they're going to help me with it, so it's just a big load off my shoulders and I feel a lot more comfortable about it.

Do you feel like with some of the "hometown connections" you have at DEI, that that will help to ease some of the pressure and expectations, and help to maintain that critical "fun" aspect?

Moore: Yeah, they're all really good people. They don't put pressure on you. Obviously, they expect you to perform, but if you don't, they're not going to hold anything against you.

All day yesterday, they gave me a hand and said 'just do your own thing -- don't do anything you wouldn't normally do.' They didn't say I had to go out there and get the pole.

They're just really laid back people and where I'm from the north, they really like the northerners down there and it's just real comfortable to work for them. So we'll see what happens with it.

You've got a pretty good program laid out for next year, with testing as well as some Busch Series races; but do you plan on working some Busch North races in there, as well?

Moore: Yeah, that's the plan right now. We're definitely going to do, hopefully as many southern shows as we can without ruining (my) rookie status, depending on their sponsorship deal and all that.

Then, we're going to do as many Busch North races as their sponsor is willing to do, but we'll be trying to do as much seat time as we can do and then try to do something (in the Busch Series) full-time in 2006.

So people can learn a little bit about Ryan Moore, outside of the race car, outside of racing, what do you enjoy doing when you're not racing?

Moore: Just hanging out -- kind of just chilling out and forgetting about everything. I just hang out with my friends and play video games and do whatever, play computer games.

Lately, I've just been at the shop all the time, but other than that, it's just hanging out and trying to take it easy and have fun with life.

I'm still pretty young, so sometimes you've got to be real serious, but sometimes you've got to tell yourself that everyone's here just to have a good time, and you've got to make sure that happens.

What's your relocation plans as far as going down south, and do you think that will be much of an adjustment?

Moore: I really like it down there. I spent a good three months of the winter down there, building a new car and working and stuff, so I really like it down there and I'm excited to move down there.

That's what will happen, eventually, is that I'll move everything -- not everything, but I'll move myself down there and relocate and start something down there.

I'm just real excited to see what will happen in the future.

Again, outside of the racing aspect, it's going to help to have that support net of people that you know that are there already, to tell you everything from where the hardware store is, to anything else, I bet?

Moore: They are all more than willing to help with anything you need. The more I've talked to them the last couple weeks, the more I feel like telling everybody how great they are.

They're just 110 percent supportive on everything. You couldn't ask them to be any more supportive. Every time you see them, they're asking 'is there anything you need?'

I'm just really honored to be associated with that name. To wear a shirt with (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) on it is really special to me.

Dale Earnhardt was always somebody I really looked up to when I was watching him race, so to be able to put on a uniform with that name on it and to walk into that shop and just know everybody, and be part of that organization is really a special deal.

Dale Earnhardt had a relationship with your dad that went back a lot of years as well, so does that make it even more special, as well, that they were close and now you're racing for Dale's organization?

Moore: Yeah, it really does. I mean, I just looked up to his name so much and he was such an awesome driver that he was just a huge hero in my eyes.

I always looked at his operation, you know, and kind of fantasized about it, and now all of a sudden it's not a fantasy -- it's a real life deal; so it's going to be pretty fun.

As I came into the truck, you're building shocks; so have you worked on cars for a long time, and do you feel like in terms of your driver development, that it's critical to have that knowledge and ability?

Moore: I have worked on them ever since I was a little kid, and that was one of the deals when I got my first go-kart to race: I had to take it all apart and put it back together before I could race it.

I've always been really involved in working on the cars and getting them prepared to race and setting them up. I've even done a lot of that on my own, racing in ACT and stuff, (where) I set up my own cars.

I think that it was really hard to do and it probably hurt my performance a little bit, at the time, trying to do so much. But now that I look back at it I think it made me that much better.

Because as a driver, I know what the car is asking for -- maybe not always, but sometimes I have an idea and I can relate to the crew a little bit maybe a little better than some people that might not have any idea what's going on.

So I think that it helps a lot.