Grand-Am

Mark Wilkins - Ford interview 2008-08-05

This Week in Ford Racing MARK WILKINS - No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype TALK ABOUT GETTING THE WIN, ESPECIALLY AFTER BEING SO CLOSE AT BARBER A FEW WEEKS AGO. "It feels great. We've been working so hard the last ...

Published: Aug 6, 2008, 12:49 AM

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This Week in Ford Racing

MARK WILKINS - No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype

TALK ABOUT GETTING THE WIN, ESPECIALLY AFTER BEING SO CLOSE AT BARBER A FEW WEEKS AGO. "It feels great. We've been working so hard the last year-and-a- half to get a win. That's why we went into the Grand-Am series, because we felt like we could really compete and beat some of these big-name teams. For our team, AIM Autosport, and for Roush Yates and Ford it's great. We've just absolutely enjoyed this season and working with John Maddox has been fantastic. It was great, especially after Barber, to get the job done in Montreal."

SO MANY CARS DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE AFTER RUNNING OUT OF FUEL ON THE FINAL LAP. WERE YOU GUYS RIGHT ON THE EDGE, TOO? OR COULD YOU HAVE GONE A LITTLE BIT LONGER? "We were right on the edge. We had about two pounds of fuel left, which, I think, equates to 0.4 gallons or about 1.4 liters or something like that. It was very, very little fuel. I think we probably could have done maybe another lap and that would have definitely been it. We were right on the end and that really played into our strategy. We ran the fuel conservation map early in my stint and we saved fuel. We played it smart. We knew we were going to be very close. We knew everyone was going to be close and we kind of accounted for that a little more than the other guys. We stuck at about fourth position for awhile and were not really threatening until the end when we went back to our race map and we knew we had saved some fuel. But it was still going to be tight. We just played it smart and that's racing. We knew that everyone was going to be super close."

MONTREAL AND THIS WEEKEND AT WATKINS GLEN ARE COMPANIONED WITH NASCAR RACES. IS THE RACE WEEKEND VERY DIFFERENT WHEN THE ROLEX SERIES COMPANIONS WITH NASCAR? "It's great, more from a fan-base. I think we pick up more fans every time that we have a race. In Montreal we had a huge fan base. I think at The Glen there's going to be a lot of NASCAR supporters down there. I think that the more opportunities that those fans have to see our kind of racing, I think we pick up more and more fans every time. Especially with the close races that the series has had this season."

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE FINAL FOUR RACES OF THE SEASON? "We have a lot of work to do in the championship. Daytona and Barber hurt us in the points, so we're kind of working our way back up. Our goal for the end of this season is to win as many of the remaining races as possible. We've been there at Barber and Daytona and we were right up at the front in Mexico and a bunch of the races this year. We know that we're going to be competitive at The Glen and for the rest of the season, so our goal is to keep trying to win each race."

-credit: ford racing

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