Hutchens: Stewart, Newman stronger this year

When he isn't rooting for Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman, it's a good bet Bobby Hutchens is cheering on the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Now the director of competition of Stewart-Haas Racing -- which fields the No. 14 and No. 39 Chevrolets of Stewart and Newman in the Sprint Cup series -- Hutchens is a 1982 graduate of N.C. State with a degree in mechanical engineering. When he was hired by Richard Childress Racing in 1988 for his first job in NASCAR, he was one of the first college-educated engineers to work in the sport. Hutchens talked with NASCAR.COM about Wolfpack football, the unusual haircut received recently by his 12-year-old son Trey, and other subjects.

Question: As a graduate and a big fan, how fired up are you about N.C. State's 4-0 start to the football season?

Hutchens: It's the first time in several years we've had what I would call a competitive team coming out of the blocks. So [quarterback] Russell Wilson and those guys have done a good job so far. We're 4-0 so we're expecting big things for the rest of the year, I hope.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about how your mother more or less forced you to go to N.C. State back in the day?

Hutchens: I was 18. I had graduated from high school and wanted to go racin.' And my mother pretty much impressed upon me that it would be in my best interests to go to N.C. State and study engineering. I guess my mother was pretty right. It's all worked well out for me. I've been fortunate in my career to combine my engineering degree with my love for racing. Without those two things, I probably wouldn't have the life I have.

Q: When you first got into the sport, there weren't a lot of engineers working in it, were there?

Hutchens: I was pretty much the first one. There were some people tinkering in it. But to go full-blown, data acquisition, trying to do some different things at the race shop and at the race track, we were approaching things quite a bit differently than most teams at the time. A lot of that was driven by GM [General Motors].

Q: Stewart-Haas Racing got off to a fast start last year in its inaugural year of operation but has had some trouble matching that success this season. Where do you see the program right now?

Hutchens: Well, I think we're in pretty good shape. I've said all along that I feel both of our teams are stronger than they were last year. Unfortunately, with Ryan's car, we didn't have good finishes at some of the venues where we had good finishes last year -- and that kind of doomed us as far as making the Chase. We didn't run well on a couple of the tracks that we should have run well on.

We still think we have two very good teams, and we're working on hiring some people to help us in some areas I won't say we're weak in, but areas where we need to get stronger. I feel like, keeping things in perspective, we're as strong as anybody in the garage and we need to keep on building on that.

Q: And as for Tony, who now finds himself mired in 10th in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings?

Hutchens: I think we've got to go race these next [eight] races like we've raced all year. We've got a good car. We've just got to capitalize on it.

Q: What happened with your son Trey, who had to get his head shaved after Tony won at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this year?

Hutchens: I guess that goes all the way back to Darlington in the beginning of the year. Tony was always picking on my 12-year-old son about how long his hair was, so Trey said, 'Well, if you guys can win a race, I'll let you shave my hair off in Victory Lane.' It got to be a pretty big bet over the weeks. We got pretty close but didn't win a couple of times; then Ryan won a Modified race up in New Hampshire, but Trey said that didn't count, that it had to be a Cup race.

So when Tony won a few weeks ago in Atlanta, as soon as we got done with our Victory Lane ceremony, they proceeded to pretty much shave Trey's head to his scalp. So he's in the process now of letting his hair grow back out.

Q: Do you still race Modifieds yourself?

Hutchens: Yeah, we still try to run the Modified. Unfortunately I've only run once this year and I ended up on my roof over there at Bowman-Gray Stadium [in Winston-Salem, N.C.]. Trey has started racing quarter-midgets, so in all my spare time -- if I have any away from here -- I spend it trying to help him get ready for his races.

Q: How cool is it for you to know that you, your father and your grandfather all have raced at Bowman-Gray? And do you think your son will get to race there someday to keep the legacy going?

Hutchens: He says he wants to race there one day. That remains to be seen. I won't say I ever have grown up, but I still remember being a kid and spending most of my Saturday nights over there. Going over there and being a participant when I can, it's a venue like no other in the country. It's a lot of fun. It's a family atmosphere, and we've had a lot of fun there over the years.

Q: OK, so what's your final prediction for the Wolfpack for this football season? How far can they take this thing?

Hutchens: I think they'll end up 9-2 or 8-3, something like that, and then win a bowl game. I think that would be a big accomplishment for the program, considering where it's been the last few years. I think [Coach] Tom [O'Brien] will get some more recruits in there because you've got to build that foundation. Really, right now is his first full year with all of his guys -- so let's see how it goes.