Crew chief Gil Martin says Richard Childress' intensity hasn't wavered in light of his team's recent success. Credit: Autostock

Shop Talk: Gil Martin

Bowyer's crew chief ready to head back to Pocono this weekend

Richard Childress Racing crew chief Gil Martin has been an integral part of the ongoing rebirth of RCR as a competitive entity in the Nextel Cup Series.

Martin, a longtime RCR employee, most recently has worked in both the Busch Series and Nextel Cup with current Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Clint Bowyer -- who is engaged in both series this season.

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Prior to the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Martin sat down to discuss the rookie race, the first half of the season and what it will take to win at Pocono.

Q: Gil, what's been different this year at RCR, or how do you see the way that you guys have three competitive race teams virtually week in and week out?

Martin: I think it's just a natural progression of getting things to where we've always wanted them to be. I think it's just a combination of having a lot of people right now that are trying to work closer together.

So with that being said, you've just got a lot more information that's being shared instead of three individual teams. Richard has put a lot of emphasis on the engine shop this year.

And our fab shop, where we hang all of our bodies, has taken on a completely different complexity this year. Ronnie Hoover is in charge of that deal now and the bodies have gotten so much better, too.

I think the Busch shop last year had such great success with some suspension packages that we were running, that they've been introduced into the Cup shop, too, and with that being said it's just been a lot of little things that have made a difference -- not any one big hitter.

Q: Richard has always been one of the most even-tempered, nicest guys in the Cup garage. But with all the teams running so well, both in Busch and Cup, what's it been like around him this season?

Martin: It's really no different. I mean; his intensity level is going to stay the same -- it's not going to be any different.

It's like anything else, you always focus on the problems that you have because that are going well take of themselves. He still stays on us.

If you're running second, he wants you to win. If you're fifth, he wants you to be fourth, so that's never going to change, right there, and I hope it doesn't, because the day that changes will be the day he's no longer interested.

Q: How would you grade the first half of Clint's season on the Nextel Cup side?

Martin: I think that he's done a good job. I think there's a lot of pressure because of the fact that the rookie class is so good this year, between what Denny [Hamlin] has done and Reed [Sorenson] and Martin [Truex Jr.] and everyone.

It's a really good class of rookies and it's easy to say 'he's not doing good enough.' But with that being said, with the experience level he has and the lack of testing we're able to do and everything that we've got, he's probably done a really good job, from the outside looking in.

Our expectations are greater than that, just because of the fact of that I think we've got a team that is capable of running in the top 10 every week. So if we run outside of the top 10, even with his lack of experience, it's disappointing to us because I know we're all capable of doing it.

I think with the success that we had with the Busch car last year, and the things that he was able to do, with his lack of experience, we're expecting him to sort of step it on up a little more this year.

Q: As close as the rookie of the year race has been, what do you see determining who'll be the Raybestos Rookie of the Year in Nextel Cup this season?

Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers The No. 07 team in 2006 Race St. Fin. Laps Status Daytona 37 6 203 running Fontana 32 14 251 running Las Vegas 20 15 270 running Atlanta 16 27 324 running Bristol 27 29 495 running Martinsville 42 22 496 running Texas 12 19 333 running Phoenix 8 5 312 running Talladega 15 40 16 crash Richmond 20 10 400 running Darlington 3 23 365 running Lowe's 15 19 399 running Dover 22 17 400 running Pocono 42 21 200 running Michigan 9 39 86 running Infineon 28 16 110 running Daytona 30 10 160 running Chicagoland 38 9 270 running NHIS 27 31 307 running

Martin: It's going to be wins. Wins are going to determine everything. Top-fives and top-10s are going to be great and they're going to add points, but wins are going to be the determining factor.

If we want to win that award, we've got to win some races. Obviously, Denny's won one, so we've got to win two. If we want to win the thing, we've got to win more races than them.

If we win one, we're going to have to have some stellar finishes other than that and that's just what it's going to take. It's all about winning.

Q: You went through a hectic month of June with four consecutive weeks where Cup and Busch raced at different venues. What was the biggest benefit, and if there was one, the biggest frustration?

Martin: I think the frustration is that with these cars, they've changed the tires enough now that these cars aren't as similar as they used to be.

In some cases, where we really wanted to use the Busch car as a benefit -- like, practicing the Busch car first and then get into the Cup car -- it's been in reverse, and we've practiced the Cup car first per the schedule.

So that was a completely different scenario than we imagined. So that's been some of the things that have been a detriment.

The benefit of it is just the longevity of being in the car every day and just driving the track. That's really been one of the best things about the Busch car.

As far as practicing, back and forth, that actually hasn't been a good thing -- it's been a detriment. That hasn't been as good as we expected but the race itself and just passing people and figuring out where you can pass, getting on and off pit road and getting into and out of the pit stalls, that stuff has been the biggest help, from the Busch car, as anything.

Q: How are you going to deal, this week, with going between Pocono and the Busch race in Martinsville?

Martin: The schedule this week is actually going to be pretty good because they've got an open test session at Martinsville on Thursday and Clint's going to be there the whole time for that.

And we'll be at Pocono with the Cup car the whole time. And now that we at least have one race under our belts there, we have a pretty good starting point for where we need to be.

I'm actually looking forward to going back to Pocono, to where I dreaded it the first time, because we hit on something and we ran really well there during the race.

If it hadn't of been for the Jeff Gordon accident throwing mud all over us, and Clint having to pit, we would have had a top-10 finish there. I'm looking forward to going back there and I think he's going to do good.

Q: At Pocono, what did Clint find that he wanted in his racecar, and what do you have to do with the set-up to give it to him?

Martin: I think the biggest thing he was looking for was just the comfort zone of knowing where to be, because that track has got three distinctly different corners and he didn't know where he needed to be.

We sent him up there for a driving school. That obviously didn't help him with where he needed to be on the track with Cup car, but it helped get him familiar with the track itself.

I think now that he knows how far to get into each corner, and where he can pass and where he needs to be passed, I think things like that are going to help him when he gets back there.

Q: From your perspective, how much does the racetrack change from June to July, and can you compensate for that with your setup?

Martin: I'd say it's going to be slicker, obviously. When we raced up there this last time it was very overcast and cooler.

Traditionally, when we go to Pocono in July it's sunnier and a lot slicker. There is typically a lot more fall-off in the cars as you run. So we're really going to have to work on long runs in practice.

The first time we were there, we made a lot of short runs just because we were talking to him and trying to familiarize him with the track.

When we go back, we're going to make a lot of long runs because I'm sure it's going to hot.

Q: Strategically, it's hard to figure what's going to happen, but what needs to happen to give you the best shot to win at Pocono?

Martin: The biggest thing is that in the second half of the season, our engine shop has promised us to have some really good horsepower -- and that's always a big factor at Pocono.

Not that we haven't had good power so far, because we have, but they're continually getting better every week and that's going to be exciting.

I know for the Indy turn we're going to be building a lot more horsepower and that's going to be a major advantage for us there.

Again, I think we've learned a lot with our cars and we're going to have a better downforce package when we go back, so it's going to be good.

Q: At Pocono, do you play it like a road course, count backwards from the end of the race and try to play fuel strategy?

Martin: A lot of guys did that this last time and I think that's based on where you are in the first parts of the race. If you have good track position and you're with the leaders, you can count backwards like a road course, pit early and go for having good track position for that last caution.

But that's all based on where you're running and how many people are on the lead lap and stuff like that. But that is a place where you can play strategy like at Watkins Glen or Sears Point.

Q: How many nightmares do you have at Pocono about running out of fuel or anything like that on a flat track where you can't coast back to the pits?

Martin: Oh yeah -- that's always a concern. Our engineer, Jeremy [Bullins] figures our gas mileage all the time and if we know we can go 40 laps, I'm just about always going to pit at 38.

Because I've run out of gas at Talladega before right at pit road and it's a lot of tongue lashing that goes on when you run out of gas on Turn 4 and have to coast all the way back around.

So we're not going to have that happen, unless it's totally by accident.