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Ganassi Racing's Stremme turns heads in 2nd year on circuit
Even with the turnaround, Stremme expects more from himself and his No. 40 team at Chip Ganassi's shop. "The season as a whole is definitely better than where we were last year, but it's not where I want to be," he said. Like every other driver on the circuit, he wants to be able to win, but there are several steps he must take before he's weekly contender for victory. Still, his confidence is high, and it's showing. "It's more of how I walk around the garage, and have people listen to me over the radio or through interviews," he said. "I feel a lot better about myself. Guys on the team feel better about themselves. "When you're running bad, you start second-guessing yourself, but if you can pull out of and start succeeding and getting better, it will help you through the tough times." He said a good example is how his team rebounded from disappointing run at Martinsville, where he finished 35th, to be among the top 20 in testing Richmond three days later. "A lot of it was just not knowing the Car of Tomorrow," he said. "We weren't familiar with a lot of the stuff going on. After the Richmond test, we're a lot more knowledgeable about it. It takes different tuning compared to normal cars." It helps that he has two teammates, Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya, with whom he can share knowledge and exchange ideas. "Last year my team wasn't up to par, and it was bringing down the company," Stremme said. "Now my team's up there. "Reed and I always run close set-ups and can relay information back and forth. ... Juan has more of a championship outlook on things, and I think that's helping me and Reed. There are some little things that he helps us out with. "As far as the whole team, we all get along well, and the company is stronger as a whole compared to where we were last year." Stremme believes that will show this weekend at Texas, where the conventional car will be used instead of the Car of Tomorrow, which was run the past two races. "I look forward to going back to Texas with normal cars because we have a lot more understanding as far as how to tune them," he said. "Hopefully we can get back up there in the top 10 in points."
David Stremme proudly displays a banner after winning the pole at last week's Busch race at Nashville. Stremme is 13th in the Nextel Cup standings.
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