Trackside host Jeff Hammond will travel to Finland next week to get a first-hand look at World Rally Championship racing, providing segments to air during the Aug. 8 edition of Trackside on Speed Channel. “I love watching World Rally,” Hammond said. “World Rally demonstrates what we try to show our viewers in NASCAR. What unfolds between the co-driver and driver during the course of competition is the same communication that you see between a NASCAR driver and crew chief only the NASCAR driver doesn’t benefit from riding along. I am anxious to see how the two discuss how the car feels and how much influence the co-driver has on the actual set up. A long time ago, before all the safety issues, I rode with DW at Talladega,” Hammond added. “I sat behind him with only a helmet — no seatbelts — and rode over 200 mph for six to seven laps. I rode with the Thunderbirds and jumped out of an airplane, so I know I am the right guy for this mission.” Early plans call for Hammond to serve as a co-driver in a WRC car, examine activity in the Service Park (the pit area) and hang with race fans. Speed Channel is the only one to “cross breed” between the series that it broadcasts,” Hammond said. “We saw earlier this year the Gordon-Montoya Tradin Paint swap at Indianapolis and now this link from NASCAR to World Rally. I think it is great for the fans.”( Speed Channel )(7-31-2003)
