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10 Questions Rick Mast chats about a decade on the track
Posted: Friday February 18, 2000 11:02 AM
1. You've been with three teams in the last three years. Lots of drivers switch every couple of years. Is that difficult? You're darn right it's hard to switch teams. Winston Cup racing is all about continuity, chemistry and experience. That is one of my reasons for switching around. I left the 75 car a couple of years ago because I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel. With the 98 team last year, we had it all. All we needed was a sponsor. 2. Was it hard to switch from a Taurus to a Monte Carlo? By the looks of things right now, I picked the wrong year to go to Chevy. NASCAR will get it straightened out. As far as switching brands go, I don't mind changing except that I have to get to know all the manufacturer guys again. 3. You nearly won the 1989 Daytona 500 in an unsponsored car. Can you describe that experience?
It was like one of those illusions you have in life sometimes. I was an unknown rookie -- I had never been here before. Travis (Carter) lost his sponsor and his driver so we put that deal together. Those two weeks were magical. Nothing ever went wrong. We led a lot of the 500. If we hadn't pitted for gas -- and the gasman will tell you today that we could have made it -- Darrell Waltrip would still be looking for his first 500 at Daytona, because we would have won that race. I didn't realize at the time what it meant. 4. You dip tobacco. When did you start that? When you were sponsored by Skoal? This is that mint stuff. I have been on this trying to get off tobacco. It's like eating dirt. 5. Did you used to smoke? I sure did. Years and years ago. I started when I was a teenager, and I smoked for five or six years. 6. How did you quit? Well, I'll tell you. I was racing at South Boston (Va.) in a Busch race. I had a bad head cold. I got out of the car and I was coughing and gagging. The first thing I did was light a cigarette. I took one drag off that baby and I tossed it away and said, "To heck with this." Been off 'em ever since. 7. Tell us that story about how you traded a cow for your first race car. I traded a Black Angus for a '57 Chevrolet. I sold that cow for 575 bucks. You could get two of them for that much now -- that is how the cow market was back then. I won my sixth race in that car and I used the money from that to pay my first speeding ticket. I went in before the judge and pled guilty. He looked at me over his glasses and said, "Your daddy is not gonna pay for this ticket, you are. Do you work outside of school?" I said, "Yeah, I drive a race car." Boy, that was the wrong thing to say to that judge. 8. You've got young twin girls. What is that like? I have a 16-year-old son too. If the twins had come first, I never would have had any more kids. They keep my wife busy -- they climb the walls. 9. How are you going to pay for their college? I am going to race until I am 60. 10. Why do you wear a hat all the time?
I had a Ray-Ban deal, and that company about went broke trying to keep me in sunglasses. I cannot keep sunglasses -- I always lose 'em. I have trouble with sun in my eyes, so I keep a hat on.
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