Press Releases - Canadian Rookie Silences Wheeler in Brazil

Canadian Rookie Silences Wheeler in Brazil

After what's been a busy week in front of reporters, American Rookie Nick Wheeler's attempt at a 3rd consecutive sweep of a Rookie Series stage fell short by just over a second in Brazil. Wheeler was the pole sitter at the start of the race, but lost the lead after a late safety car.

Reporters flocked to the visibly frustrated Wheeler after the race waiting for yet another juicy sound bite. Reporters jumped in as he still sat in his machine, head in hands.

Reporter: "What happened at the end there?"

Wheeler: "We got beat. Frazier just flat out beat us."

Reporter: "You had a huge lead prior to the safety car, did something happen on the restart?"

Wheeler: "I haven't had a look at the data yet, but if I had to guess, they ran a better tire strategy. I'm not sure if it was Road or Rusty that drew the safety car, but it was the worst thing that could have happened to us. It's part of racing, I know, but we had the race won if we had just been able to run the last 12 laps uninterrupted. Frazier was hovering at 7-8 seconds back the whole race. Once he was in my slipstream, his tires were clearly better and there was nothing I could do."

Reporter: "Why was Frazier so much faster in close quarters?"

Wheeler: "Again, I haven't seen the data. But both times he overtook me coming out of the last turn [Turn 11] into the straight. I don't think he was faster, I think I was slower. The rain started to pick up a bit during the safety car. With the wetness increasing, if his tires were even 5% better than ours, there was no way I was going to accelerate with him off that turn."

Reporter: "You were able to stay with him for a couple laps and gain back the position after he initially took the lead. What finally got him away?"

Wheeler: "Well we were both sliding all over the track. I honestly never glanced in my mirrors to see if anyone else was there, but I'm sure everyone was sliding. I got him back driving into 11. Like I said, it was coming out of turns and spinning on the standing water that gave me problems. The lap after I got him driving into 11, he got me back coming out of 11. That lap, I held his line, the car was great, the tires just wouldn't hold through 1 and I slid wide and lost out on some time through the 2 and 3 S-curve. Once he got that second on me, I just couldn't exit the corners with enough speed to gain it back."

Reporter: "I'm gonna be that guy. What do you plan to say to all the critics that will obviously comment on losing this race after your comments about the U.S.?"

Wheeler: "I would say three things. One, Frazier isn't from the U.S. Two, the U.S. drivers that were in the race finished behind me. Three, I've not won a single race since those comments and I've driven in at least a dozen. Losing this race has no bearing on my stance on U.S. racing. If anything it reinforces it, using this team as an example of an American team that overlooked the detail of late weather changes - myself to take most of the blame there.

Also, my manager said something on the radio about Hilton finishing 8th and Brett Bennett crashing out in Italy, so that should place us as the top American team in the series. The difference being, they've had 6 more chances to build up points than we have."

Reporter: "So how do you see Race #2 going?"

Wheeler: "I haven't thought about it. I haven't even undone my harnesses yet, never mind thinking about 2 days and 5-6 races from now. I imagine we'll run a similar pit strategy to what's been working in the Spanish Custom Series and without any weather to throw us off, we should be able to drive away from Frazier early. He's got to work through 4 drivers just to get to us. On dry tarmac, it will be a different story."

So there it is. Wheeler taking responsibility for an error in tire strategy, but continuing to maintain his stance on U.S. racing, citing himself as an example. Not quite as juicy as reporters may have hoped for, but always entertaining.