Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011
Texas Motor Speedway
Dodge Motorsports PR
AAA Texas 500
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Keys for Success AAA Texas 500
FORT WORTH (Nov. 4, 2011) – Each race weekend, selected Dodge Motorsports engineers, Penske Racing crew chiefs, engineers, drivers or engine specialists give their insight on the ‘Keys for Success’ for the upcoming race. This week, the green flag drops at Texas Motor Speedway and the AAA Texas 500.
Track: Texas Motor Speedway (Race 34 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: AAA Texas 500
Track Length: 1.5-mile (334 laps/501 miles)
Trivia Question: (Answer below) Kurt Busch led 89 of 334 laps at his 2009 Sprint Cup win at Texas Motor Speedway. At what track did Busch also lead 89 laps en route to a NSCS win?
HOWARD COMSTOCK – Dodge Motorsports Engineering
Handle it: “To me, Texas is handling, handling, handling. This is a really big, wide open, fast race track. The leader is going to set a very fast pace. When the leader sets a fast pace and you’re off on your setup just a little bit during a long green flag run, you can be in trouble, lose a lap. You have to stay on top of the chassis setup because you never know when those long green flag runs are going to happen. The leader will set a fast pace in clean air. You have to keep up so that eventually you can make a pit stop, make the necessary adjustments on your car so you can contend in the next segment. There’s going to be cautions, so crew chiefs will get the opportunity to work on their cars. But you always see a couple of long green flag runs here. If you’re caught with a chassis that’s not good during a long green flag segment, you’ll be in jeopardy of losing a lap.”
Answer to trivia question: Busch led 89 of 500 laps en route to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at the 2002 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
