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[/media-credit]Friday, May 11, 2012
Bojangles’ Southern 500
Dodge PR
Darlington Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Keys For Success
KEYS FOR SUCCESS: BOJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500
DARLINGTON, S.C. (Friday, May 11) – 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: Darlington Raceway (Race 11 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: Bojangles’ Southern 500 (367 laps / 501.322 miles)
Trivia Question: Who is the most recent Dodge driver to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington? (Answer Below)
HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)
Tire Wear: “They tried to pave (tire wear) out of the racetrack when they did the repave in 2008, but it’s back. It’s the same ol’ Darlington. You look at practice here and “Darlington Stripes” are on every other car and you still have to battle the racetrack, not the other guys. You can go out and run about any lap you want to run on tires. The faster you run, the faster they’re going away. If you don’t get cautions on some kind of regular basis you’ll be in trouble and we’ve seen in the last several years that there’s lots of green flag during this race. You cannot count on cautions. You can’t come for tires unless other people come for tires or you’ll get laps down in a hurry. You’ve got to race the racetrack.”
The Pits: “The pit lane here is odd and it comes up on you fast off that very fast backstretch. Turns 1 and 2 are wider than Turns 3 and 4. Drivers carry a lot more speed through one and two on and on to the backstretch. When they get to the end of the backstretch, you’ve got to dive low on the racetrack, dive on to pit road, so you’ve got a lot of speed built up. You’re going downhill literally into the pits and a lot of drivers really struggle with either speeding, coming into the pits, sliding the tires coming into the pits or turning the car around coming into the pits.”
Follow the Trend: “Well I think that Friday is the only time we’ve got to do that to be sure and that’s why these guys are out here taking advantage of all two hours and 45 minutes of practice. Even though it’s sunny during the day and we’re going to race at night you can still learn things about the car and the trends will be the same direction. If it’s trending toward getting looser on Friday afternoon it’s going to trend toward getting looser during the race on Saturday night.”
Four tires on Every Pit Stop? “I think we’re back to that. There was a brief period after the repave that you might have imagined and guys did try some two-tire pit stops, but I think that the track has enough wear on it now that we’re back to four tires every chance you get.”
Prepare To Take a Hit: “The rule package restricts you a little bit but guys used to puts lots of extra bracing in the right-side of the car so that they could lean against that outside wall and actually not hurt the car. I’m not sure how many guys are trying to sneak some extra bracing in there, if you will (smiles). The driver just needs to be aware that if you beat up the right-side of the car, you’re going to end up with tire rub or you’re going to hurt the aerodynamics here. And remember we’re running 175 mph average laps. This is a fast place.”
Track Conditions – Expect a Change: “I think you’ll chase the track all night because we go from dusk into what’ll be a cool night tomorrow night. The weather forecast for the day is supposed to be moderate, maybe high 70s. By the time we start the race at 7 p.m., it will likely be in the lower 70s and by the time we finish the race it could be in the upper 50s. This is a very long race and it gives the track a long time to cool and if the track is going to have a propensity to change it’s got a long time to do it.”
Trivia Question Answer: Sterling Marlin, who won the 2002 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 by 3.581 seconds over second-place Elliott Sadler.
