Lehdistötiedotteet - Wheeler Makes Emergency Conference Call with MRC Reporters

Wheeler Makes Emergency Conference Call with MRC Reporters

Early reports after yesterday's article outlining American Rookie Nick Wheeler's post-series press conference have USA teams fuming.

Wheeler and his PR Manager, Onterio Moulton held a conference call this morning with MRC reporters after news broke of American owner John Stone and driver Ray Harroun firing back at Wheeler's camp for his comments.

Moulton kicked things off with a statement before handing the call to reporters.

"Let me first start by thanking you all for getting on this call so early with us. First of all, our team wants to assure everyone in MRC that we have the utmost respect for our fellow countrymen, especially our country's top drivers, namely Ryan Hunt, Eddie Cheever, Arnold Justasarni, and Tim Richmond. As Nick stated in the press conference, he was not claiming to be the top driver in the country, or marking himself as better than any of these other drivers. He was simply noting that as a country we have work to do to run alongside the strength of the Italian, French, and other drivers. That said, I'll open the call to questions and Nick will take it from here. Thank you."

MRC reporters dove right in on the first question.

Reporter: "Mr. Wheeler. What did you think of the comments from John [Stone] and Ray [Harroun] in this morning's paper?"

Wheeler: "They're entitled to their opinion, for sure. John did a great job with Cooter when he was still racing. It's a shame we lost him. He was a consistent driver for us. As far as Harroun, I honestly didn't know who he was until I read the paper this morning and looked him up on the MRC website. I haven't had the pleasure of running with him. He doesn't run in very many Single Races and didn't rerun the Vuelta this season, so I haven't seen him in person."

Reporter: "Harroun is currently USA's #47 driver. Did you come across him in your research prior to your press conference?"

Wheeler: "I hadn't. He didn't stand out to me as a big gainer or big loser so I didn't really notice him in the middle of the pack. Again, credit to John, he's consistent."

Reporter: "Do you think Stone and Harroun's reaction is representative of your country as a whole?"

Wheeler: "I sure as heck hope so. There's something to be said about passion. Stone is obviously passionate about his driver, and Harroun about his driving. Responses like these are when the motivated drivers surface and you get a glimpse of what the future is going to be like in this community.

Americans want to make me a marked man? Fine. Richmond is the only American that's beaten me head to head when I haven't been involved in a wreck in my 60+ races. So come beat me. I've been running top 10 all season in Single Racing and Custom Series racing with the big guns so as long as you're beating me, you're improving our standing as a nation.

Oh, and I just want to address the 'run more talk less' comment. I've run plenty. My wins have all come in Rookie Series racing, but I have 30 top-10 finishes between F3, P1, and Moto racing outside of Rookie Series. Most of those in F3. I've run just fine in my first year."

Reporter: "So knowing that there are Americans gunning for you, will you still run F3 America?"

Wheeler: "Like I said in the press conference the other day, we'll see when we get to series selections. I'm preparing with a couple UK drivers who have turned into great marks on course and in qualifying. If we decide to go with F3 America, I'll be ready. If we decide to run another season in Rookie, I'll be ready."

Reporter: "Which UK drivers are you preparing with"

Wheeler: "There's no formal agreement or anything, but I've been running a lot of races this season with Drummond Bennett and Brandon Knight. A lot of which have been in Single Racing on the F3 America tracks. We've had some back and forth strategy talk here and there and we run similar styles. Those guys will definitely be running competitively in F3 America Season 10. Honestly I think Drummond is probably one of the favorites for an overall podium. If he's not, he probably should be, because he's been fast this season."

Moulton: "Thank you all. That's all the time we have for questions today. I'm sure we'll be in touch soon, but we've got to get out the track for Nick's Week 7 Rookie Series qualification runs."

Credit to Wheeler's camp for a fast response, but was the response really what American racing teams were looking for, or is Wheeler still on thin ice in the eyes of the big American teams?