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With Non-Wing
Shoe Greg Porte
Many thanks Greg for allowing me to interview you!
Greg: Thanks for having me Gary.
How long have you been racing?
Greg: 15 years.
You raced Micro-Midgets.....
Greg: Yes, I started racing Micros in 1990 and raced Micros
through 1997 at Lemoore, Hanford and Visalia, Ca. and a few other
Northern California tracks.
Your first year, you earned Rookie Of The Year honors!
Greg: Yes, I won the rookie of the year for the
250cc Micros at Lemoore Midget Raceway.
How did the jump to Sprint Cars come about?
Greg: A friend Gary Mattice and his brother bought a Sprint
Car. His brother Dave was going to drive, but he saw a bad flip at
Kings Speedway in Hanford, and decided it wasn't for him. Then
they offered me to go in as a partner and drive the car.
As a driver what adjustments did you have to make from racing
the Micros to the wicked power of a Sprint Car?
Greg: When I raced Micros we ran wings. I always tried to
drive my car pretty straight. When I switched to the non-wing
Sprint it was really hard to teach myself to pitch the car three
quarters of the way down the straight and back the car in. At
first it always felt like I was going to spin out, until I got
used to it.
You're a pretty good shoe, I feel you would be successful
racing with or without the wing. Any reason why you choose to run
without the wing?
Greg: I've always been a non-wing Sprint fan, and with the
Bandits being a real competitive class and pretty close to home, I
decided that would be the class for me.
You're the 2003 Bandit Sprint Car Champion!
Greg: I have never chased points and I have never been able
to race all of the point shows until '03. I guess my driving style
favors a points racer because I pay my own bills, and if I crash
it, I may not be racing the following weekend. So I guess you
could say I am conservatively aggressive. My good friend Aaron
Altaffer and myself went into the final main event in Santa Maria
Speedway tied for the point lead and I finished one position ahead
of him and won the points Championship.
It says a lot about you, those guys are tough!
Greg: No doubt, and they keep getting tougher every year,
so if you want to run up front you have to keep improving your
program.
You didn't race much last year....
Greg: No, a friend had Tom Reitz build a brand new engine
for me and then Mr. Swindell changed the engine rule a month
before the season, after he told me that it would be legal. I had
to thrash to get my old engine freshened up, and the first night
we broke a exhaust valve and wiped out the heads so I was done for
the year.
Where will we see GMP Motorsports Sprint Car this year?
Greg: I will be splitting time with the Bandits and SCRA
360's.
Hanford is an amazingly fast joint, can you explain the feeling
of backing the car in there......
Greg: I really like Hanford. You carry a lot of speed down
the straights and the corners are pretty dark with no walls. So
when the guy you are passing backs out of the gas, you just drive
in a little further and get on the cushion and get your elbows up.
Santa Maria on the other hand is a joint where you need to get
the elbows up real high and keep them up. No time to fall out of
the saddle there.....
Greg: Yes it is, even though you are going faster top speed
wise at Hanford, Santa Maria feels faster because you are always
busy, and you don't get any time to rest.
Any advice for the aspiring Sprint Car driver?
Greg: Find a good
sponsor or money tree and a very understanding woman!
Is their anyone you would like to thank?
Greg: Definitely all of my sponsors and my crew guy's for
helping out because there is no way I could have all of this fun
without them, and of course all of the great Sprint Car fans for
coming out and supporting all of us racers.
I wish you the best this season, and thanks again for letting
us fans get to know you a little bit better....
Greg: Thank you Gary, stop
by the trailer and visit after the races.
You got it Greg!
To contact Gary sprint_cars_forever2001@yahoo.com
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