Josh Wise describes restrictor-plate racing in the famous words of movie character Forrest Gump: “You never know what you’re going to get.” Nonetheless, he says that unpredictability is what makes racing at places like Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway so exciting.
Wise will climb into the No. 35 MDS Transport Ford for Sunday’s 499 for his second restrictor-plate race of the 2013 season. He had a fast car at Daytona International Speedway in February and expects his Front Row Motorsports team to bring a similarly fast Ford Fusion to this weekend’s event. He also hopes for a better finish than the February result, when he was knocked out of the race in an accordion-style wreck that also took out teammates David Ragan and David Gilliland.
Sunday’s race will be Wise’s third Sprint Cup start at the 2.66-mile tri-oval.
Comments from MDS Transport team driver Josh Wise heading to Talladega:
“Daytona didn’t end as we had hoped it would, obviously. But I feel like there were a lot of positives about Daytona. I feel like we brought really great race cars that had good speed. And all three of us (Front Row Motorsports drivers) were running in the top 25 and were very competitive for that race. So I’m excited for this week. I think we’ll have cars with good speed at Talladega.
“I learned a lot at Daytona, although Talladega is going to be a little different. But speedway racing is always going to be exciting because you never know what you’re going to get. You try to position yourself and do the best you can, but a lot of it is just how the cards fall around you.
“At least we’re not depending on another driver like it had been before, when everybody paired off with a partner. They made some rules changes to get away from that last year, and now this year with the new cars it really has gotten pretty obsolete because these cars just don’t suck up together like the old cars did. So even though there’s still a lot of stuff that’s out of your control, you’re at least driving your own race and not dependent on another car.”
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