New Busch Series director Joe Balash has a word with NASCAR president Mike Helton. Credit: NASCAR

Conversation: Joe Balash

Joe Balash was named the NASCAR Busch Series Director just prior to the first race at New Hampshire International Speedway in July. The 41-year-old from Hobart, Ind. came to NASCAR from the American Speed Association, where he oversaw that organization's switch from race-specific carbureted V-6 engines to production-based, fuel-injected V-8s.

Joe Balash

He left ASA earlier this year to become the Technical Director for the Regional Touring series, based in Concord, N.C., and became Busch Series Director when Brian DeHart resigned.

Balash joins John Darby (Nextel Cup) and Wayne Auton (Craftsman Truck Series) as series directors, and he reports directly to NASCAR President Mike Helton.

Q: How did you handle the switch?

Balash: It came very quickly. It was quite a surprise when I was offered the position. It wasn't anything we had discussed in previous conversations in coming to NASCAR. I was pretty honored to be asked to take over that position.

Q: What are the biggest challenges for you facing your first full season as Busch Series director?

Balash: Some of the biggest challenges have been learning and meeting all the people in the garage. That's kind of multi-faceted, with the inspectors, the crew chiefs, the owners and the drivers.

We had a process that was already put in place and I didn't want to come in and upset the apple cart. I wanted to come in, meet everyone and get an understanding of what is happening in the garage and find out the direction the series was heading. I just wanted to survey the landscape and get a feel for everything."

Q: The Busch Series has its own unique challenges in being the No. 2 series. How do you view your series in the overall NASCAR world?

Balash: We're very happy that we are the No. 2 form of motorsports in the United States. We always look to try and see if it can have its own unique position. There is, and rightly so, a great emphasis on the Nextel Cup and the importance we have this year with the new format and the Chase.

The Busch Series has a great fit within NASCAR, it has a lot of excitement, it has great attendance and the television numbers are very good. It has a great mix of drivers and talent, but we are always going to look to see how we are going to position the Busch Series to continue to grow.

Q: What do you see as the biggest challenge for the series in the future?

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Balash: First and foremost, we want to make sure we focus on safety, as we do in any form of racing, but cost containment in the series is very important to me. That is something I have been concentrating on for a number of months now, along with many others in the NASCAR organization, to pull some costs out of what it takes to run a full season.

Q: What changes are ahead of the Busch Series in terms of cost containment?

Balash: We're going to parallel the tire rule that is used in the Truck Series. The current Busch rule is you can only change spots per during the event and you cannot reinstall a set of tires. The way the Truck rule works, you get a limited number of tires for the event and you can use them for practice, qualifying and the race. You can put a set back on in the Truck Series if you need to do that.

It should save teams about a set of tires per event, which is $1,620 per event for 34 races (a total of $55,080 for the season). We also look to impound the cars at more events next year. After the cars qualify, they'll go directly into an impound area and stay there until an hour before the race.

There are a minimum number of things that can be adjusted, like one round of wedge in or out, those types of things, but no major work. We've done it twice since I've been here and it's been very well received. There's a huge expense between a qualifying setup and a race setup.

If you're only developing one setup, it saves in everything. It saves a set of tires for happy hour, it saves radiators, qualifying fluids, spring setups, shock packages and the list goes on."

Q: Given your experience in other forms of motorsports, what has been the biggest change for you in joining NASCAR?

Balash: First of all, I would have to say the amount of support that is in the NASCAR system. Since the day I started here in the NASCAR Touring Division and when I became the Busch Series director, everyone from John Darby and Wayne Auton and Mike Helton and now that Robin Pemberton is here, everyone has said, 'what can I do to help you?'

It's not just a passing thing either. They are really there to offer support. That's been one of the big things that I've seen. I don't think I've ever been more welcome into an organization than I have here. The officials have really stepped up and done a super job in pulling together and making sure that things go off without a hitch.

Going into that first race, there wasn't a lot of control that I had over changing things or making things work properly. They really stepped up and did a great job making sure they did the right things.

Second, I would say there's been a big learning curve for me over an event weekend about the number of assets that you manage in any one given facet. The number of officials at an event, the number of safety vehicles that are available, multiple jet dryers really weren't available in the past.

You have a little more to manage. At the end of the day, the competitors are still competitors, and they are always out there looking to make sure that they're doing the best for their team and their driver.

Q: Gary Nelson said that a series director's job is to be the bearer of bad news, or at least part of his job is bearing bad news. What is your reaction to that statement?

Balash: From time to time that's true. If there's a penalty to be given, I don't have a problem standing up and letting someone know that this is the direction we're going in.

The key is that you treat everyone fair, and you manage the technical process the same way for everyone whether they are first in the points or 30th in the points. With that, there are no surprises.

Sometimes you have to take a tough stand when things get out of shape and say, "this is the direction we're going and this is why." Some people say that's bad news and others say, "we applaud what you're doing because it's going to be fair for everybody."