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[/media-credit]Friday, April 27, 2012
Capital City 400
Dodge PR
Richmond International Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Keys For Success
KEYS FOR SUCCESS: CAPITAL CITY 400
RICHMOND, Va. (Friday, April 27) – Each race weekend, selected SRT Motorsports Engineers, Penske Racing engineers and crew chiefs, drivers or engine specialists give their insight on the ‘Keys for Success’ for the upcoming race. This week, Howard Comstock, SRT Motorsports Engineering, provides the keys for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.
Track: Martinsville Speedway (Race 9 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: Capital City 400 (400 laps / 300 miles)
Trivia Question: What driver scored the first victory for Dodge at Richmond? (Answer Below)
HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)
The Track: “It’s funny, but it used to be every time you came to Richmond in the spring the track would have been sealed over the winter and that’s not the case this year. So you see that gray surface with the tire strips in between the cracks; there’s been a little repair here and there. It’s really back to more of an original Richmond. We’re practicing in the day today for a race tomorrow night. By the race tomorrow, we’re going to have run the Nationwide race and a lot of Cup practice on the track. It’s going to be a different racetrack. The drivers are already talking about the effects that they’re going to have to deal with when the track rubbers in. As the race progresses, it’s going to get tighter and tighter in the corners. I think the teams are going to struggle more and more with being able to free the car up enough to get ‘em through the center.”
Lack of Cautions: “We collected evidence all last year and we saw fewer and fewer cautions. The trend looks to continue this spring, although I will make note that when we raced here last fall there were a record number of 15 cautions in that race. Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, you come to some place like Richmond and it’s all new business. People know that a lower number of cautions are a possibility, but I’m not going to be surprised, especially with the track surface the way it is, if we get back to old Richmond. I think that’ll make a good show for the fans.”
Brakes: “You cannot go flat out for 400 laps. You’ll run out of brakes, so the drivers have to conserve and manage their braking during the race in order to get to lap 400 and still have brakes on the car.”
Handling: “When the car won’t turn, the driver uses the brakes to get it to turn. He’ll get on the brake harder going into that corner to get the back end freed up a little bit so he can get the car to rotate. The drivers, without even knowing it, will end up using the brakes too much. The crew chief will have to advise the driver lap after lap, time after time, to go easy on those brakes.”
Two Tire Stops: “It depends on how many laps you’ve run and how the tires are wearing. I don’t think we’ll see tire wear issues. I think you’ll see guys try it, but if they try it and you get a long green flag run, you may end up losing more than you’ve gained by taking the two tires.”
Trivia Question Answer: Lee Petty scored the first victory for Dodge at Richmond, winning the first NASCAR race at the track in 1953. Dodge has 17 Sprint Cup wins at Richmond including three since the manufacturer returned to NASCAR’s premier series in 2001.
