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[/media-credit]Saturday, March 21, 2012
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Keys For Success
Kansas Speedway
STP 400
Dodge PR
KEYS FOR SUCCESS: STP 400
KANSAS CITY, Kan., (Saturday, April 21, 2012) – 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: Kansas Speedway (Race 8 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: STP 400 (267 laps / 400.5 miles)
Trivia Question: There have been 40 cautions in seven NSCS races this season. Which race was slowed by the most cautions? (Answer Below)
HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)
Pound the Pavement: “We know on Monday that the speedway is going to tear the current track surface up and begin the repaving project. That being said, Sunday’s race will be on the roughest, most coarse surface that we will race on here at Kansas for many years. We saw in practice the lap times fall off dramatically as tire wear goes up. So there may be some strategy on Sunday – short pitting for fresh tires will trump trying to play the fuel economy game.”
Caution Trends: “There have been some strange races with rain and delayed events that have skewed the number of cautions that we’ve seen so far this year. At this point last year, there had been 61 cautions, there’s only been 40 this year. That’s a dramatic change. The trend has been fewer cautions, which means you’re going to try and run longer on tires and fuel. With the track’s surface being so rough, managing tires will certainly trump fuel management issues.”
Stay Cool: “The ambient temperature will be at least 20 degrees cooler for Sunday’s race as compared to last June’s race. The cooler conditions have made for faster speeds. Faster speeds mean worse fuel economy, so everybody will have to take that into consideration for tomorrow’s race. We have no history here with fuel injection; there are a lot of factors playing into the crew chief’s choice of when we’re going to see pit stops. Pit strategy will certainly be a key.”
Trivia Question Answer: Daytona 500 (10)
