Brian Frisselle - Ford interview 2008-08-19

This Week in Ford Racing

Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins, co-drivers of the No. 61 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype, will attempt to win their third Grand-Am Rolex Series race in a row this weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Frisselle and Wilkins came away from Infineon with a ninth-place finish last season.

Brian Frisselle - No. 61 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype

YOU AND MARK HAVE WON TWO CONSECUTIVE RACES AND YOU'LL BE GOING FOR A THIRD THIS WEEKEND. "It's definitely been a hot streak - even going back to Daytona when Mark got the first team pole. We're on a hot streak and the team's just clicking on all cylinders. It's not as if we're unloading off of the trailer faster than everybody at every track, but we get there every time. It's just really cool and both Mark and I are extremely focused to try and do three in a row because we'd be the first car to do that all year. We'd love to have that as one of our things that we've accomplished this year."

HAVE YOU EVER WON THREE RACES IN A ROW AT ANY LEVEL? "I actually have. It's funny, the last time that I did it was in the Skip Barber National Series, and once I won my first one I won the last three. Maybe we could do that here again in Grand-Am. Once we learned how to win just keep it rolling. I've actually done it before and almost in the exact same situation that I'm in now so I'm very motivated to go do it again.

WAS THERE ONE CERTAIN THING THAT YOUR TEAM MADE AN ADJUSTMENT TO IN ORDER TO GET ON THIS STREAK? "Not really. We've really been kind of hot all year but it really didn't show until these last four races or so. At Mexico City, we probably would have been a contender to win there had we not had the gearbox leak. All year I feel like we've been setting the pace. What the magic was to finally break it, I don't know. The team was so devastated after Barber and we all thought that we had a curse. I actually went and saw a doctor who specializes in curses and I don't know if it worked or not, but all I do know is that after I saw him we won two in a row, so I guess I'm a believer."

TALK ABOUT INFINEON AND HOW IT FITS YOU AS A DRIVER. "Overall, I absolutely love to drive the track. I think it fits my driving-style to a T. It's one of those tracks that you really gotta hustle. It's high-speed, flowing, blind corners and elevation changes. It's pretty technical and I really enjoy it. Last year we didn't have the best car throughout the weekend but we got a pretty good car in the race. But this year is a completely different year. I mean we were terrible last year at Barber and this year we should have won the race. So I fully expect us to be a front-running car like we've been all year and compete for the win.

WITH YOUR SWITCH OVER TO FORD POWER, HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY DIFFERENCES FROM TRACK TO TRACK IN HOW THE CAR HANDLES? HOW COULD THAT POTENTIALLY AFFECT THIS WEEKEND'S RACE AT A TRACK LIKE INFINEON? "I think having the Ford package is a bonus pretty much anywhere we go, but especially at tracks where you load up on downforce and there's elevation changes. You need torque to power through that and one thing the Ford motor has is great torque. I think that's a positive because there's some highly-loaded corners at Infineon where you are loaded up 100 percent and any bit of extra torque will help to power out. I think it's a bonus to have the Ford package there."

-credit: ford racing