SRT Motorsports - Sprint Cup Keys For Success - Pocono

KEYS FOR SUCCESS: PENNSYLVANIA 400

LONG POND, Pa. (Saturday, August 4) – Each race weekend, SRT Motorsports Engineer Howard Comstock gives his insight on the ‘Keys for Success’ for the upcoming race.  This week’s focus is on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.

Track:  Pocono Raceway (Race 21 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)

Race:  Pennsylvania 400 (160 laps / 400 miles)

Trivia Question: The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held at Pocono on August 4, 1974 – 38 years ago today.  Which driver won the race?  (Answer Below)

HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)

High Speed, No Problem:  “Obviously the headline here in June was the speed.  The speed really wasn’t an issue.  Everybody handles the speed pretty well.  We didn’t see any tire problems.  The extra speed changed the fuel economy statistics but didn’t really change the fuel economy strategy. 

Passing:  “The thing that we struggled with here the first race was passing and it’s something that we see on repaved tracks all the time.  It’s hard to get two grooves worn in so that people can race side-by-side in the corners where all the passing is going to take place.  If you looked at practice yesterday I think you could see that teams are worried about it and they’re worried about it to the point that everybody spent an inordinate amount of time on qualifying because they know that track position is going to be very, very important.  It’s going to be hard to pass enough people if you don’t get a good qualifying here to be in contention.

“At a mile-and-a-half oval you’ve got let’s call 'em four corners where you can make passes.  Really at Pocono there’s only two, even though it’s only a three turn track, you don’t want to be passing a lot of people in the Tunnel Turn.  That’s a fast, scary place and I think most drivers would tell you that if you’re going to do some passing you need to get it done in one or three.  Everybody has good brakes so you can only do so much under braking.  You know everybody is at the limit of wheel-hopping the rear axle and having trouble so you’re not necessarily going to do it under braking because everybody is so even.  You’ve got to be able to turn down under somebody or the case in Turn 3 if you can get that second groove worked in you can get ‘em on the outside.  There are only two real opportunities to pass.  Everybody runs the same speed, everybody’s got the same brakes so it’s going to be about handling, which is fine, but if that second groove is not in you can handle all you want you’re not going to be able to go out there and pass.” 

Obey the Speed Limit:  “You know the teams were suspect of the loops and NASCAR checked everything since June and everything is correct.  Now the configuration has changed from what the teams originally saw here and I put that on the teams.  The teams always try to game the system and they got penalize for it the last time we were here.  Now that they’ve figured out the configuration they might try to game it again but I think you’ll see a lot more people sticking closer to the speed limit on pit road.  Understand that NASCAR gives the teams five miles an hour cushion over what pit road speed limit is supposed to be.  If your more than five miles an hour over you should get penalized.  They try to game the system and it bit ‘em.”

Pit Road:  “It’s nice, it’s smooth, and it’s flat.  It’s laid out nicely.  There’s plenty of room for everybody.  It’s wide enough so that when you come out of your pit stall if there’s a car there he can veer and miss you without running into a wall.  I think they did a nice job here.” 

Brakes:  “Brakes are important enough that you have to use some brake cooling where at a place like Charlotte or Atlanta or Texas you never consider needing much brake cooling.  But you need it here because of the high speeds and sharp turns it takes a lot of braking effort.  The brakes in this series right now are pretty good.”       
 
TRIVIA ANSWER:  Richard Petty, in a 1974 Dodge Charger.  Petty edged Buddy Baker in a race that was shortened to 192 of 200 scheduled laps due to rain.
      
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