Tim Cindric Q&A

"Our success has a lot to do with the people we have and keeping that continuity has been very important to us. Obviously there were a lot of changes at one point in time, but we've built on that momentum and have remained competitive at every race we go to. Since 2000, we've felt like we've had a chance to win. That's all you can ask for - being in position to win. There is nothing worse than showing up at a track knowing you're not going to win. I don't think we've felt that since 2000."



"We just don't want Sam to step in and accept the way we do things and accept our thoughts or ideas. We've encouraged him to come in here and give us an opinion. Sometimes you can get yourselves with blinkers on working with the same people and doing the same things. You think it's right, but someone else can step in with a different perspective and make you better. That's what we've asked him to help us with. We'll do everything we can to give him the best opportunity to win races. But at the same time, we've asked him to help us make ourselves better."



"I think that was true until mid to late 2002. But we sat on the pole at Fontana and Texas in 2003 and led quite a few laps at those places. So toward the end of last year we started to get that programme under control, but previous to that, I would agree with you. I don't think Sam has a weakness. I read that the only race where he hasn't led a lap is the Indy 500. That's an amazing stat, and we hope to change that."



"The biggest difference is that you're not preparing two completely different types of racing cars. The overseas travel was difficult, and here there is just one international trip instead of three. CART never had a disciplined schedule like Formula 1 where you have a break between races. CART could never get the dates scheduled with the various promoters. We'd rather race from February to October, every other weekend. Not just in terms of expense, but quality of living and everything else for the people who do this for a living."



"There are two different discussions with regard to money: The cost to compete and the cost to operate at the ultimate level of everything, whether on-track, off-track, the people that you have, and how you actually do your business. Most race teams are going to spend everything that they have. The good teams will have the good people and they will execute at various levels of budget, but that's not the cost to compete, which is not only the prices of parts and things, but travel and the various ancillary items that come with on-track competition.

"To me, what the League really needs to focus on is the cost to compete and make it easier for someone to make the decision to own a race team. You'll always have one or two of the big business guys like Roger Penske who are in because it's their passion, but a series can't survive on those type of guys. You need to make it attractive to the guy who has the passion and has been successful at various levels of the sport - guys like Derrick Walker, A.J. Foyt and Barry Green."



"The engineer in me says yes. We're well positioned for that, obviously, so from a competitive standpoint, yes. Looking at the overall big picture with the state of the economy and open-wheel racing in general, keeping those things controlled right now is the right thing to do for the series. There is a limited amount of success that you can buy - then it comes down to execution."



"All along I've felt that there is only so much money and sponsorship funding and only so many teams that are funded well enough to compete at the highest level. Having that split obviously doesn't promote the positives. My frustration since 1996 hasn't been what side we're on. It's more the amount of time and effort spent on things we don't have to do on track. That's the passion of why I do this for a living. It's difficult to read negativism from the other side of the fence for what we do.

"If we could put all that energy into talking about or promoting the positives - what we do for a living - we'd be so much further ahead. But I also understand why it is the way it is right now and you can't change that. You just have to look at where we are going from here. That's something that NASCAR has benefited from, just concentrating on how to grow. We need to get to the point where it's not stagnation, where we are growing again."