Orato: How do you think the season is going, and to what do you owe the success your team is having so far?

Shaun Peet: We’re currently sitting at 9th in the standings. It’s hard to say why we’re having such a good season so far. I think the team’s ability to overcome adversity has been huge this year. We spun out in the qualifier for the Daytona 500 and came back to race our way in. We spun again in California and finished 11th.

Maybe we used up all our bad luck last year. We learned some lessons that have helped us. Because Red Bull’s a brand new team, we’re not taking anything for granted. We know any little detail can factor into our performance.

Orato: Is the Sprint Cup an ascertainable goal?

Shaun Peet: The Sprint Cup is the Holy Grail of NASCAR. The top 12 drivers at the end of the year, with 10 races to go, make the chase. You don’t go into a season thinking that you can’t make it. It’s our focus and our ultimate goal, but does anybody else think we have a chance? Absolutely not. Do we know we’re going to have to fight it out tooth and nail to get there? Yeah, absolutely.

Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and all those guys that have been in the chase every year, are out of the chase right now, so to cling to that 9th spot is going to take a whole lot of luck, a whole lot of Providence and some pretty good performances, that’s for sure.

A lot of people write us off because we’ve got young drivers – Brian Vickers and A.J Allmendinger. If you ask anybody if we’ll be in the chase, I don’t know one person outside our company who would pick our car to get there.

Orato: If you don’t make the chase, what other things will define Red Bull Toyota’s success this season?

Shaun Peet: Just the fact that we’re in the Top 35 in points is huge. Last year we were outside the Top 35 and we fought that all year long. We’ve kind of achieved a certain level of success already. Our next goal is to win a race.

Orato: On days where the race is postponed due to rain, how do you guys kill time?

Shaun Peet: Those are just long days, because you sit in your fire suit under the rain tarp. The pit crew isn’t sitting in fancy RVs like the drivers or anything like that. Basically you just B.S. with your buddies up and down pit road and make the most of it. The first rainout of the year isn’t bad, but last year we got rained out in Michigan two days in a row. It was a nightmare, but it’s just part of it. Some years the rain just follows the series around and you just try not to let it bother you too much.

Orato: Are there any standout rivalries that are going on right now?

Shaun Peet: I’m sure, though they would never admit it, that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch have quite a rivalry because Jr. took Busch’s ride. Busch was let go from Hendrix, so he’d want to show Hendrix that they made a mistake in letting him go.

Everyone’s against Hendrix because Hendrix performs so well. They’re the top dog, so everybody wants to knock them off.

The rivalries will develop. Ask me the same question after next week. There will be a lot of pushing and shoving because it’s a half-mile race track and it’s just a mess. Guys will just be pounding the hell out of each other.

As a former hockey player, it doesn’t bother me any. My old crew used to go up to other crews in the Busch Series and say, “If you block us in…You see that guy?” and then point to me and say, “He’s a hockey player. Make sure you don’t mess with him.”

Orato: Does the rivalry extend all the way into the pit crews?

Shaun Peet: Not so much. Guys are mostly buddies on pit road. We’re all in the same thing together, although some guys take things more serious.

Orato: Everyone anticipated improvement with the new Toyota engines, but did you think they would be as good as they are?

Shaun Peet: Absolutely. I knew they’d be fantastic this year. When Toyota signed on with Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the big reasons was because of a guy named Mark Cronquist, who does all the engine building at Joe Gibbs. He’s a genius. It’s hard to explain, but no one knows a motor like he does. The moment I knew he’d be getting his hands on those motors, along with all the engineers at Toyota, I knew it was going to go the way it’s going, as did everyone in the sport.

Orato: How important are the practice sessions?

Shaun Peet: They’re huge. You’re trying to dial your car in. It’s especially important when you’re out of the Top 35. Those practices are paramount. A good practice doesn’t always translate into a good race though.

Orato: What else do you do in your down-time?

Shaun Peet: Essentially you’re a full-time athlete, so you go to the gym, stretch, lift weights, condition…our whole day basically revolves around pitting the race car. We have some smaller duties. For example, I do a lot of recruiting for Red Bull. I go to the big universities in the United States and talk to the guys about continuing their athletic careers in NASCAR.

Orato: If you have a bad day in NASCAR, do you take it home with you?

Shaun Peet: You try not to, but you do. Unfortunately for us, a big part of our money is based on pit stops, so if you perform poorly, you lose a lot of money. Then again, you can perform perfectly and still come out on the bad end of things.

Orato: Do the drivers take out their frustrations on the pit crew?

Shaun Peet: They will on the radio sometimes. They definitely voice their displeasure. Some guys are better at not doing that than others, and some guys are all over the crew.

Orato: Has Brian Vickers changed at all since he joined Red Bull?

Shaun Peet: Brian deserves full credit this year. He knows what he wants
He has really gone after it. Some of the stuff we missed last year was really surprising and I think he’s out to prove some people wrong this year. He’s done a real nice job.

Orato: Has there been one moment so far this year that’s been the highlight for you?

Shaun Peet: Obviously the highlight is just racing our way into the Daytona 500. Not only was that a turning point for the year, but it could have been the turning point for the company.

Orato: How do you guys celebrate, or is it too soon to celebrate?

Shaun Peet: It’s a lot different than winning a big game in hockey. In NASCAR, you have a good day, get on a plane and go home. It’s just not that stick and ball enthusiasm, and celebrations are fewer and further in between, that’s for sure.

It’s always exciting though. NASCAR is an assault on all your senses. I used to think it was just cars going around in a circle, but it’s somethin’ else.

*****

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