Howard sees developmental benefits
By Dave Lewandowski - indycar.com
Friday, February 1, 2008

New teammates Jay Howard and Marty Roth are on the track before climbing into their Roth Racing machines, using high-performance karts as the tools to improve skills that correlate to the IndyCar Series' five road/street circuits.

"It is kind of weird, help coach my boss, but we have a really good relationship that's grown our friendship," said Howard, who along with his father, Paul, runs the Screaming Talent karting team based in Miami.

Roth, the first Indy Pro Series team owner to move to the IndyCar Series, has competed in five road/street course events in a combined 42 Indy Pro Series and IndyCar Series starts.

"We're pretty heavily involved in karting and where a lot of my passion still is," said Howard, the 2006 Indy Pro Series champion who will be an IndyCar Series rookie. "Marty has just discovered that passion as well. He purchased a couple of karts and I went down and tested with him. I think he was pretty happy with how fast I was.

"He's going to continue close that gap to me and I hope I can help him. It was pretty cool to be working together."

IndyCar Series Ceramic Mug. Roth Racing expanded to a two-car team for 2008, becoming the first to take advantage of the series' TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) program, which is designed to provide a financial foundation ($1.2 million minimum per car) for teams committed to running the entire IndyCar Series schedule.

The team has scheduled a testing day at Sebring International Raceway before the Open Tests on the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval Feb. 27-28 and on the Sebring road course March 3-6 to get acclimated to the cars and work out kinks.

"As a team, we know the private day for ourselves is necessary for things like you don't know until you get in the seat whether it's going to pinch you in places or be too loose in places," said Howard, who turns 27 on Feb. 16. "You set the steering and pedals and you say, 'I don't actually like it there, I'd like it like this.' We probably won't do much in the way of developing the car; really just get comfortable and get ready for Homestead."

Howard has been preparing mentally and physically for the season opener March 29 under the lights at Homestead-Miami Speedway since signing with Roth Racing in the fall. Frankly, he's been preparing for this opportunity a great deal longer.

"I'm in the gym every day and pretty pumped and fired up for the season," said Howard, who had two victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 14 Indy Pro Series starts. "This is a team effort and (Roth) was saying to me, 'I want you to qualify on pole at St. Pete and I'll be right there with you.' We're setting our sights high and I believe we're going to fulfill them. I couldn't ask for a better place to be right now."

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