KEVIN WOODS: I want to welcome everyone. Thank you for calling in today. We also want to thank Mark Martin, Regan Smith and Ricky Carmichael for joining us. And we’ll briefly introduce the three of them, ask them a question. Then we’ll open it up to questions from everybody out there. Of course, Regan will be making his first Cup start this weekend at Bristol in the 01 U. S. Army Chevy. Ricky will be making his stock car debut at Columbia Motorsports Park, Lake City, Florida. And Mark Martin, Nextel Cup points leader, will be staying at home on Sunday to watch the race on television and he’ll be helping with Ricky on Saturday night. So Regan, if you could just comment a little bit about stepping into the car this weekend and how excited you are about your debut.
Regan Smith: I’m excited to be stepping into the U. S. Army Chevrolet this weekend. And it’s an awesome team. Ryan Pemberton, and all the guys have been doing an awesome job all year long. And Mark has had a great year leading the points, turning the reigns over to me, it’s pretty big deal to hop in as a rookie into the car that’s leading the points and driver points. So I am looking forward to it and want to go up and have a strong showing and finish all the laps. And then just try to get lots of experience and move on from there and gain experience to take to Martinsville.
Q. Regan, difficult enough to just jump in a Cup car after the season started like this, but can you talk about what it’s like to be in the point leader’s car?
REGAN SMITH: Obviously it’s an honor and privilege first off to be getting into the point leader’s car and to further that, it’s an honor and privilege to share a seat with Mark Martin. I’ve watched Mark since I was a little kid and I think that’s been well documented all year that it’s somebody I grew up watching and had a lot of respect for just the way he handled himself around the racetrack and on the racetrack and just in general, the respect he’s had for the sport. And it’s a pretty big shoes for me to fill, definitely. And I just want to go out there and do the U. S. Army team proud. And a finish is going to be great for us this weekend especially if we can finish all the laps. If we don’t finish all the laps still finish the race and be clean all day long. That’s going to be an accomplishment.
Q. Do you anticipate being racy or just kind of—you’re not getting paid to ride?
REGAN SMITH: I definitely don’t get paid to ride. I’m a race car driver, I’m a competitor. Any time I’m on that racetrack I’ll be racing I’d love nothing else to be rubbing shoulders with Tony Stewart for the end of the race. But the he same time you’ve got to grow and you’ve got to mature. I’ve never been in a 500-lap race before. This will be the first one for me. So there’s going to be a little bit of a learning process there to where I’ve got to learn how to take care of the car for that long and to pace myself to make sure we’re around at the end and to make sure we’re good at the end. So I’m definitely going to go out there to be racy. I’m not riding, that’s for sure.
Q. Do you take any inspiration maybe from how quickly Montoya has adapted? If he can come in with no stock car experience at least you’ve got a leg up on him from that perspective. Doesn’t seem like the transition phase is as difficult as maybe has been in the past.
REGAN SMITH: I don’t know. He’s a talented race car driver first off. If you take a good race car driver place them in any situation they’ll figure out how to make it work. With that being said, I’ve raced against a lot of these guys for three years now on and off full time last year and full time with the Busch car this year. I know I’ve gone with them and I know I’ve got the talent and ability and we’ve had some good tests and I’m confident in myself, definitely. It’s just a matter of getting through that first race and not doing anything stupid. There’s always little things as a rookie you’re going to have to learn as you go and they’re going to see that stripe on the back of the car and it’s going to remind them it’s not Mark Martin this week, definitely. I was joking with the guys, I was at the shop here earlier today and the stripe on the back of the car is neon yellow. It’s not like even Army yellow it doesn’t fade in with the race car. Stands out pretty big time.
Q. Regan, is there in the quiet moments, has there been a motivational or inspirational conversation you’ve had with Mark that keeps running through your head as you get ready to go up there?
REGAN SMITH: Well, I think for me even today for instance listening in on the conference, the nice things Mark had to say at the beginning, for a young guy myself coming up through it’s special to hear Mark say those comments. As Ricky said earlier Mark is not the kind of guy that’s going to BS you, he’s going to shoot it straight. That means a lot to me and that gives me confidence as a driver. But also at the same time when we’ve been off testing together and stuff like that, the things that Mark’s done to help me at the test and the things that he said at the test to help me get better in the race cars and stock cars, whether it be the Cup cars or Busch cars?
Q. Can you take us inside that a little bit to share some of the things he said to you?
REGAN SMITH: There’s not one thing, just to pinpoint and say exactly. It’s just the little words of encouragement and the little things that he says. Like, for instance, at the Mexico race, Mark was watching the Mexico race. I had a problem at the end of the race there. We had a flat tire didn’t get the finish we deserved. He was watching, and he let me know that. And just to know that he’s watching and that he’s rooting for us still and even though he’s not going to be in Bristol this weekend, I’m sure when I talk to him Monday he’ll know everything that happened throughout the course of the race and that means a lot to me. As I’ve said before I’ve looked up to him since I was four years old when I first started watching races on TV and that’s pretty special?
. Regan, can you comment on having Mark Martin as a mentor and coach in your NASCAR quest?
REGAN SMITH: It’s a huge opportunity for me to have Mark there to be able to talk to him and get knowledge from him. For instance, at the Bristol test, if I thought the car was good and he hopped into it and said, no, you’ll have to be a little bit freer for this for the long runs and for the race, that’s stuff I would have had to go through a race to learn to start with and instead now I’ve got that knowledge up front. And just little things like that. There’s so many other things. I’ve watched Mark. I’ve tried to kind of have the same respect for the sport and other drivers that he’s had throughout my career. And it’s a legend and that’s all I can say about him. He’s awesome.
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