Inside the Garage: Reiser (cont'd)

Q: What's the mindset when you go back to Chicagoland Speedway, a track that you've really excelled at?

Reiser: Well, we've had some really good runs there, previously, and I think that everybody gets more pumped up to go back to that type of racetrack and have success. Even though our finishes don't really show it, we've run up front there a lot and the guys are looking forward to going back.

Q: How do you get better for a racetrack like that, and where do you get better; assuming that you don't want to screw around with a setup that's been successful but since no one's standing still, you have to keep up?

Reiser: I think each season has its own twists and turns and obviously, we've got to show back up there with a competitive racecar and to be able to put a whole day together where we can win that race.

We've been so close there so many times and we just haven't been able to finish the deal. I think that this year we've struggled a little bit more with the handling of our racecars than we have in the past. So that'll make it challenging in itself -- and then not making mistakes during the race itself and calling a better race adds into it.

We had a race a couple years ago [2005] that we lost on a two-tire call, when I think Earnhardt [Jr.] took two tires and we took four and we ended up finishing second in that race and we dominated it all day. So I think that will play into it, along with how we study for the racetrack and how we get ready for the race itself is important, also.

Q: With the way the race last year ended, with Jeff Gordon knocking Matt out of the way and going on to win, whatever the fans might think about payback, is that something a professional race team never thinks about?

Reiser: Yeah, that's forgotten 10 minutes after it happens, because you've got to worry about the race that's at end [and that's the next race].

I'm sure if there's a situation -- or if that particular situation comes up again -- I'm sure it will cross people's minds, but those guys have got to go out there and do this week in and week out. We show up at the racetrack with the idea of winning, no matter who we've got to race against or what we've got to do, and that's how that goes.

Q: Jimmy Spencer always used to say he "never forgot." Not speaking of Matt, specifically, but do you think drivers in general have volumes and volumes of experiences they have with different drivers in different circumstances; and they never forget who's raced them clean or done them dirty?

Reiser: No question. You never forget things that happen to you in your lifetime, I don't care if it's at the racetrack or somewhere else. You always put that in the back of your memory and you race that certain way. I wouldn't think anybody else would think any differently than that. I think everybody looks at it the same way -- some things we've got to put away and go about your business. And other things, when it comes back across and you're back in that same situation, it always crosses your mind. You wouldn't be a human being if you said anything different.

Q: Setup-wise, handling-wise, what are you trying to get the car to do the most at Chicagoland, and how do you get it there?

Reiser: I think the biggest thing that we struggle with on the current cars is we're using the aero so much to turn the cars that we've been loose most of the season, all the way around. We've been trying to tighten the cars up and tighten the cars up and tighten the cars up and get them better for Matt. But as soon as you tighten them up, you take away the turn. So more than anything, probably getting a little better balance on what we have for the current cars is what our challenge is.

I think our cars are competitive and we've run good at a lot of those racetracks. We just haven't been able to step it up one notch -- the notch that we need to be a dominator on that style of racetrack with that car.

Q: What's the perfect racecar for Matt?

Reiser: You know, this is going to be a real easy question, because a perfect car for Matt is anywhere you want to take him, if you can get it to handle the way he wants it to handle, you've got an opportunity of winning. I don't care if it's Bristol, California or Daytona -- anywhere you want to go, he's got the ability to run well at every racetrack we go to. It's just what we do as a team, to give him the equipment he wants to go out and get the job done.

He's more than talented enough to win every one of these races; it's just that we, as a team, struggle at times to get him what he needs. (Continued)