1on1: Ford Racing's expert on simulation Pat DiMarco (cont'd)

Q: Sometimes when race fans hear about simulation, they think of drivers sitting in one of those race simulators -- but you really get most of your usable information from data generated by assets like the seven-post shaker, right?

DiMarco: The seven-post is equivalent to the simulation in that the seven-poster will simulate the car on the race track with the physical components that you're going to run. Simulation uses theoretical and made-up parts that we put into the simulation. We use 'em side-by-side. We rely heavily on the simulation for things that are tried and true. The seven-poster we rely on prototype parts and innovative ideas that we come up with that we can't really run in simulation until we prove them out on the seven-post.

Q: So are you doing now what you envisioned you would be doing in racing back in college, or as a kid?

DiMarco: Every year when I walk into the Brickyard, I walk out to the frontstretch and look up to the seats where I used to sit as a little kid. And then I say to myself, 'You know, I'm very lucky to be here. I'm doing what I wanted to do.' I used to sit up there and look down at all the guys working along pit road and say, 'Man, those guys have the best job in the world.'

And it is the best job in the world if you love what you're doing. If you don't love it, it's not the life for you. It's a lot of travel. I have twin daughters at home who are 5, so that's tough sometimes. But then they get to do some other things when I'm back home that maybe they wouldn't get to do otherwise.

Q: How do you feel about the Ford teams' chances the rest of this season?

DiMarco: Historically, the Ford teams run better as the season goes on. If you go back and look at the number of wins we've had in recent years, we're definitely a second-half-of-the-year type team. When we race once at a track in a season, we learn from what we did wrong and really put ourselves in position for success the second time around at the same tracks. I think we learn from our failures.

Q: So were you a big Ohio State football fan when you were in school?

DiMarco: Yep. I went to every game when I was there.

Q: What years were you there?

DiMarco: I left high school in 1989, so '89 through '95.

Q: Ouch. Those were when John Cooper was coach of the football team, right?

DiMarco: All John Cooper. But he had some good teams. He had a couple of years where he came into Michigan undefeated or close to it, only to have all of us walk out of that game with our heads down.

Q: Now you live in Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the dreaded University of Michigan? Do you ever go to OSU-Michigan games there and wear your Ohio State gear?

DiMarco: Oh yeah. I've done that.

Q: How did that work out?

DiMarco: Not so well. We lost. I walked out early. But I live in Ann Arbor and put out my Ohio State flag proudly every Saturday. It's fun walking around, going to the YMCA and wearing your Ohio State stuff -- and having people stare at you. Well, it's fun doing it now. I wouldn't have done it when Cooper was the coach.

Q: What about the irony of you living in Ann Arbor now? Woody Hayes wouldn't even stop in the state of Michigan for gas in the old days, would he?

DiMarco: Nope. But it works both ways. In fact, one of the guys who used to drive our tech trailer was a die-hard Michigan fan. He wouldn't stop in Ohio for gas or cigarettes or nothing.

Q: So you've got some pretty intense in-house rivalries going on at Ford during the football season?

DiMarco: My boss is a U of M grad and so is his boss, so it's really in-house. It's a good time to be on the Ohio State side in that deal, though.