Rich Hubbs is lead wrench for the No. 88 Chevrolet piloted by rookie Mark McFarland. Credit: Autostock

Shop Talk: Rich Hubbs

Rich Hubbs is trying to catch his breath. After a lifetime of work in the Nextel Cup Series, he is glad to have Sundays away from the track.

He needs every day he can get. As crew chief for JR Motorsports, he is scrambling to get new cars built for this season, but hasn't been easy.

Hubbs and team engineer Derek Jones -- Tubbs' right hand man -- get a slight break this weekend. Driver Mark McFarland will drive the same car Martin Truex drove to victory in the 2005 inaugural Mexico City event.

You guys obviously have to practice backwards pit stops for the road course at Mexico.

Mark McFarland

Yep. Our coach has been doing it for the last week and a half, trying to get them acclimated to it. It is not as big a deal as it used to be. These guys are professionals now and they can adapt.

What does Mark do in the shop?

He installs all of his seats, leg braces, headrests. Any driver safety thing, he takes care of.

You don't make him fabricate?

No.

What did you guys do to prepare Mark for the road course?

We took him to Kershaw [Carolina Motorsports Park] in South Carolina and spent a full day down there; he picked up on it quite nicely.

He actually went to Bondurant first, out in Phoenix. Ran the Corvettes. We went own there for a day and he picked up on it quickly. I was very impressed.

What is the hardest part of being a new team with a rookie driver?

I have worked for the elite in the Cup division, and you just take a lot for granted. It is hard to assemble 20 to 25 guys all that once that are going to meet your standards and so on.

We have done quite well to this point. We have a long way to go and everyone knows that. Keep our chins up and keep digging.

Is it hard to dig through the stack of resumes? How hard was it to staff this team? Was there a group of people banging down the doors to get in?

Actually when I started, there was half of them in place. I had to fill in the voids and I have known enough guys through the years so the guys I hired were decent guys. We will backfill throughout the year with some better help.

What did you do? Call guys you already knew?

No. Most of them called me. I don't go out and solicit people. If they are not happy where they are at and they want to leave and come talk to me, that is fine. I don't steal people.

Can you talk about a Busch Series road course transmission differs from Nextel Cup? Are Nextel Cup rules more lenient?

They are basically the same now in both divisions. You run the biggest ratios you can. Until we get there, I don't know what Mark needs.

Have you watched the Mexico race on tape yet?

No. The first month of the schedule is brutal. Just brutal. I wish they would do something to break it up to where the first three weeks were similar tracks.

Final LapsMartin Truex Jr. survives a wild final 15 laps in Mexico City Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

It is hard for a new team to build a two speedway cars, two intermediate cars and two road course cars right out of the gate. Our biggest goal at the beginning of the year is to make all five races and finish the races and get him some seat time.

That is what we are shooting for. Granted, we know we can do things to go faster in qualifying or put it in race mode, but we have to qualify first.

We need to do whatever we can to get into the field. If we have to short shift for the race, or what have you, we will. We need to finish and and gain points so that when we get to the sixth race, we are not behind the eight ball as far as not being a guaranteed spot.

Just keep it on the asphalt?

No mistakes in qualifying will probably get you in the in field, and staying on course will probably get you to the end of the race, you can't do fancy shifting because the transmission has got to last you until the end of the race.

Initial testing at Kershaw showed me that he is ready to go down there. It is different deal over here tan I am used to, in the Busch Series, but we will adjust.