pandr
06-11-2012, 05:36 PM
By Jim Utter
Sunday, Jun. 10, 2012
OBSERVATIONS
Typically, recently repaved tracks don't produce the most exciting races, but Pocono Raceway certainly dispelled that theory. Drivers appeared able to run more than one groove when needed and reducing the race length from 500 to 400 miles also added more immediacy to a lot of the pit strategy calls that were made. Restarts were predicted to be wild, but the racing through the field was also good. The fact Joey Logano lost his lead and got it back in the final eight laps highlighted the quality of racing.
Everyone was quick to blame NASCAR when a rash of speeding penalties started popping up on pit road early in the race. While there were a total of 22 speeding penalties called, 11 came from four drivers, with Travis Kvapil leading the way with four. That fact alone tells you it was a team problem. A problem with timing and scoring would have produced haphazard and random problems, not focused on repeat offenders.
The NASCAR Track Repavement Tour continues next weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Michigan also has been repaved and teams will get an extra day of testing on Thursday. The surface of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway will also have changed by the time the series returns in August.
NOTES
Timing and scoring
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said NASCAR's timing and scoring system was not to blame for Sunday's rash of pit road speeding penalties.
A total of 22 speeding penalties were assessed, but four drivers got 11 of them. Some of the drivers caught wanted NASCAR to red-flag the race to determine the problem.
“Pit road speed goes from yellow line to yellow line. This track has undergone a lot of reconfiguration from last year – brand new pit road, brand new (scoring) loops, the positions have changed, sections are smaller than they were,” Pemberton said.
“Every week there are maps printed for the crew chiefs of the timing lines. Some choose to get them, some choose to measure their own lines.”
Pemberton said a gear change this season may also have contributed to some teams being off the mark.
Two streaks end
Two streaks involving Hendrick Motorsports came to an end Sunday. Hendrick drivers had won the past three points races, the past four if you count the all-star race.
Also, Kasey Kahne's wreck late in the race ended his career-best streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes.
“We just got behind on the pit strategy," said Kahne's crew chief, Kenny Francis. "I made a bad call. But (Kahne) just got into (Denny) Hamlin on a late restart and that must have cut the tire a little bit or something because the tire evidently started going down.”
Stewart rebounds well
Tony Stewart never led a lap Sunday but his third-place finish helped snap a string of three consecutive races in which the three-time Cup champion as struggled.
“All in all, for a freshly paved track, it was a pretty good race. It was frustrating the first half of the race until guys got their cars better,” Stewart said.
“You really just kind of got stuck, and then it seemed like the longer the race went, the easier it got to pass toward the end."
3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1. In two days of testing, Joey Logano showed he had one of the fastest cars. Then, he got a jump on the competition by winning the pole for Sunday's race.
2. When all of the lead-lap cars pit for fuel and tires on Lap 126, Logano's No. 20 team got its driver off pit road first, ahead of Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had led the previous 17 laps.
3. Martin passed Logano on the restart on Lap 153, but four laps later Logano passed Martin back for the lead with the help of a little nudge.
TURNING POINT
Even though he was passed by Martin on the restart with eight laps left, Logano never let Martin get to far ahead of him, which allowed him the opportunity to pass him back for the win.
THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF ...
Jimmie Johnson finished fourth after battling back from a pair of speeding penalties on pit road. Without them, who knows how dominant he may have been?
C/P thats racin
Sunday, Jun. 10, 2012
OBSERVATIONS
Typically, recently repaved tracks don't produce the most exciting races, but Pocono Raceway certainly dispelled that theory. Drivers appeared able to run more than one groove when needed and reducing the race length from 500 to 400 miles also added more immediacy to a lot of the pit strategy calls that were made. Restarts were predicted to be wild, but the racing through the field was also good. The fact Joey Logano lost his lead and got it back in the final eight laps highlighted the quality of racing.
Everyone was quick to blame NASCAR when a rash of speeding penalties started popping up on pit road early in the race. While there were a total of 22 speeding penalties called, 11 came from four drivers, with Travis Kvapil leading the way with four. That fact alone tells you it was a team problem. A problem with timing and scoring would have produced haphazard and random problems, not focused on repeat offenders.
The NASCAR Track Repavement Tour continues next weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Michigan also has been repaved and teams will get an extra day of testing on Thursday. The surface of Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway will also have changed by the time the series returns in August.
NOTES
Timing and scoring
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said NASCAR's timing and scoring system was not to blame for Sunday's rash of pit road speeding penalties.
A total of 22 speeding penalties were assessed, but four drivers got 11 of them. Some of the drivers caught wanted NASCAR to red-flag the race to determine the problem.
“Pit road speed goes from yellow line to yellow line. This track has undergone a lot of reconfiguration from last year – brand new pit road, brand new (scoring) loops, the positions have changed, sections are smaller than they were,” Pemberton said.
“Every week there are maps printed for the crew chiefs of the timing lines. Some choose to get them, some choose to measure their own lines.”
Pemberton said a gear change this season may also have contributed to some teams being off the mark.
Two streaks end
Two streaks involving Hendrick Motorsports came to an end Sunday. Hendrick drivers had won the past three points races, the past four if you count the all-star race.
Also, Kasey Kahne's wreck late in the race ended his career-best streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes.
“We just got behind on the pit strategy," said Kahne's crew chief, Kenny Francis. "I made a bad call. But (Kahne) just got into (Denny) Hamlin on a late restart and that must have cut the tire a little bit or something because the tire evidently started going down.”
Stewart rebounds well
Tony Stewart never led a lap Sunday but his third-place finish helped snap a string of three consecutive races in which the three-time Cup champion as struggled.
“All in all, for a freshly paved track, it was a pretty good race. It was frustrating the first half of the race until guys got their cars better,” Stewart said.
“You really just kind of got stuck, and then it seemed like the longer the race went, the easier it got to pass toward the end."
3 KEYS TO VICTORY
1. In two days of testing, Joey Logano showed he had one of the fastest cars. Then, he got a jump on the competition by winning the pole for Sunday's race.
2. When all of the lead-lap cars pit for fuel and tires on Lap 126, Logano's No. 20 team got its driver off pit road first, ahead of Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had led the previous 17 laps.
3. Martin passed Logano on the restart on Lap 153, but four laps later Logano passed Martin back for the lead with the help of a little nudge.
TURNING POINT
Even though he was passed by Martin on the restart with eight laps left, Logano never let Martin get to far ahead of him, which allowed him the opportunity to pass him back for the win.
THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF ...
Jimmie Johnson finished fourth after battling back from a pair of speeding penalties on pit road. Without them, who knows how dominant he may have been?
C/P thats racin