Mac Track: New Darlington even tougher
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Program of the week
Saturday, 5/10 on FOX 7 p.m. ET: Dodge Challenger 500 This week on SPEED Saturday, 5/10 3:30 p.m. ET: Tradin' Paint 4 p.m. ET: NASCAR Performance 4:30 p.m. ET: NASCAR in a hurry 5 p.m. ET: NASCAR Raceday Sunday, 5/11 8 p.m. ET: NASCAR Victory Lane | ||
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The folks at the 1.366-mile venue did what they had to do because the place had to be resurfaced, and they did a phenomenal job on this project. The track is so smooth and has so much grip, I have heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone about this new surface.
One warning, though: The place is going to be fast — very fast. The thing over the years that has made this such a great track and race is that the track had deteriorated and, shortly into a run on fresh tires, you start slipping and sliding around. The better handling race cars would prevail.
But now I think with so much grip, everyone's car is going to handle well. It's going to be interesting. But again, this place is going to be fast — well beyond the speeds that folks want to see at a racetrack like Darlington.
You are nervous when you know that the speeds are probably faster than they should be. Things are going to be happening on the track so fast. I feel comfortable with what Goodyear did in the tire test. They took three different drivers with three different makes and three different driving styles down there. They tested and gathered information. They went back and created a tire package and then they brought those same three drivers back to Darlington and tested again.
Until we get down there and these guys start racing each other and the stopwatch, I am sure that's the one apprehension the drivers and teams have — are we going to be ok with that tire? I feel like Goodyear has dotted their I's and crossed their T's, and I know they feel good about it too.
View from the Pit Box
In the past, sitting up on the box in the pits, it was easy to call a race in Darlington. It didn't matter whether you only had four laps on your tires when the caution came out — you had your driver come to pit road and get four new tires because the old surface just chewed them up.
Now this new surface won't be chewing up tires like the old surface did, so you probably aren't going to have to pit until you need fuel. When we get down to the last 50, 60 laps, it's going to be a cat-and-mouse chess game. Do I pit? Do I get fuel only or just get right side tires? The whole mindset of how a crew chief calls this race has to change from the past.
Darlington is still Darlington with its unique configuration. So I think you need to take a look at who normally runs well there to see who your favorites might be Saturday night. The new car has gone through a lot of changes itself since it was run at Darlington a year ago.
| Speed Mail Larry McReynolds |
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Picking favorites
Like I seem to say almost every week now, I think those three Gibbs cars will run well. Denny Hamlin has always run well there. Kyle Busch should be fun to watch there. Tony Stewart should run well there. Additionally, I think Jeff Burton will be a factor. Jeff always runs well there.
Watch for Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and others from the Dodge camp to run well. Clint Bowyer, who sat on the pole there a year ago, will run well. Another guy you might want to put your money on is Carl Edwards. He has shown already this year he likes the high speed race tracks. And since Greg Biffle was part of the Goodyear tire test I mentioned earlier, watch for him to be a factor too.
When you look at the continued struggles at the three champions I mentioned earlier in the week — Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth — you would have to wonder how they will do this weekend. They have all run really well at Darlington in the past, but the past is the past, and I am just not sure how they will do. If I was doing my fantasy racing league this week, those would probably be three guys I would stay away from. I don't know that anyone could have anticipated it being this way.
FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.
"How to Become a Winning Crew Chief" is on bookstore shelves, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.
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