pandr
01-22-2011, 04:29 AM
Daytona predictions all over the track
By Brant James - Special to the Observer and ThatsRacin.com
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two-time Daytona 500-winner Michael Waltrip says the 53rd installment of NASCAR’s premier race will be “the greatest in history.”
Martin Truex Jr. says it will “be wild.”
Carl Edwards: “insane.”
Maybe. It will absolutely be different, at the very least. There’s no gaping hole between the first and second turns to consume race cars and two hours of the race, as was the case last February. Instead, the 2.5-mile superspeedway has been swathed in fresh black asphalt, its first new coat since 1979.
On that tacky new surface physics and emotions are likely to whip the Daytona 500 into something new.
“A narrow Talladega,” said 2007-winner Kevin Harvick. “You come in here with all your speed in your car, no handling aspects whatsoever and just play the chess game.”
Whereas success at Daytona had more often been dependent on making a car agile over its aged asphalt moguls, winning at its slightly larger Alabama cousin was about sheer speed and nerve.
Not anymore, said Martin Truex Jr., who was second-fastest (45.971-second lap) during the first day of preseason testing on Thursday. Daytona’s surface is smooth, tacky and fast, which will equalize the field and clump cars in long rolling trains.
“There’s going to be no handling where guys have to start lifting and it gets double file and then it gets single file, the long runs,” Truex Jr. said. “The pack is never going to get spread out. ... So it'll be constant three wide, four wide. There will be no chance to catch your breath and relax at all.”
David Reutimann, Truex Jr.’s teammate at Michael Waltrip Racing, led the speed charts with a best lap of 45.970 seconds (195.780 mph). Defending race-winner Jamie McMurray was ninth (48.937) and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson (49.706) was 54th among 36 drivers.
No- and two-tire stops will likely be the new norm, said Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker, because the 8,000 tires scheduled for use during Speedweeks are not likely to wear excessively on the smooth surface.
Stucker said teams will use the same right side tire scheduled for use at Las Vegas and the left sides typically utilized at Talladega.
“It’s a hybrid, if you will,” Stucker said. “Even with the new pavement, even with the grip, it’s still a little bit more of a handling race track than Talladega is. The corners are tighter and we think that having that little bit extra performance for cornering potential on the right-side tire will be the right way to go.”
C/P Thats Racin
Read more:
http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/01/20/54065/daytona-predictions-all-over-the.html#ixzz1BjdBdr1A
By Brant James - Special to the Observer and ThatsRacin.com
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two-time Daytona 500-winner Michael Waltrip says the 53rd installment of NASCAR’s premier race will be “the greatest in history.”
Martin Truex Jr. says it will “be wild.”
Carl Edwards: “insane.”
Maybe. It will absolutely be different, at the very least. There’s no gaping hole between the first and second turns to consume race cars and two hours of the race, as was the case last February. Instead, the 2.5-mile superspeedway has been swathed in fresh black asphalt, its first new coat since 1979.
On that tacky new surface physics and emotions are likely to whip the Daytona 500 into something new.
“A narrow Talladega,” said 2007-winner Kevin Harvick. “You come in here with all your speed in your car, no handling aspects whatsoever and just play the chess game.”
Whereas success at Daytona had more often been dependent on making a car agile over its aged asphalt moguls, winning at its slightly larger Alabama cousin was about sheer speed and nerve.
Not anymore, said Martin Truex Jr., who was second-fastest (45.971-second lap) during the first day of preseason testing on Thursday. Daytona’s surface is smooth, tacky and fast, which will equalize the field and clump cars in long rolling trains.
“There’s going to be no handling where guys have to start lifting and it gets double file and then it gets single file, the long runs,” Truex Jr. said. “The pack is never going to get spread out. ... So it'll be constant three wide, four wide. There will be no chance to catch your breath and relax at all.”
David Reutimann, Truex Jr.’s teammate at Michael Waltrip Racing, led the speed charts with a best lap of 45.970 seconds (195.780 mph). Defending race-winner Jamie McMurray was ninth (48.937) and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson (49.706) was 54th among 36 drivers.
No- and two-tire stops will likely be the new norm, said Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker, because the 8,000 tires scheduled for use during Speedweeks are not likely to wear excessively on the smooth surface.
Stucker said teams will use the same right side tire scheduled for use at Las Vegas and the left sides typically utilized at Talladega.
“It’s a hybrid, if you will,” Stucker said. “Even with the new pavement, even with the grip, it’s still a little bit more of a handling race track than Talladega is. The corners are tighter and we think that having that little bit extra performance for cornering potential on the right-side tire will be the right way to go.”
C/P Thats Racin
Read more:
http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/01/20/54065/daytona-predictions-all-over-the.html#ixzz1BjdBdr1A