Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
AdvoCare 500
Keys for Success
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Dodge PR
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KEYS FOR SUCCESS: AdvoCare 500
HAMPTON, Ga. (Saturday, Sept. 1) – Each race weekend, SRT Motorsports provides insight on the ‘Keys for Success’ for the upcoming race. This week SRT Motorsports engineer Howard Comstock discusses the AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (Race 25 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: AdvoCare 500 (325 laps / 500.5 miles)
Trivia Question: (Answer Below) Dodge has nine Sprint Cup Series wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway including a sweep of the 2009 races. What two Cup Series drivers won the 2009 races at AMS?
HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)
Annual Trek: “There are some great unknowns coming into Atlanta this weekend. A problem that we face with Atlanta now is that we only race here once a year. As technology on the cars changes, you don’t get an opportunity to run the advanced technology until you get to the race track. Teams are searching a little bit because they have new setups and technologies for a track that they only see once a year.
Speed vs. Grip: “Only a few years ago Atlanta was the fastest track in NASCAR and now that’s changed dramatically with some of the repaves that have taken place. How do you approach the highest-speed track on the circuit that’s lost so much grip that speeds are down more than 10 mph? The cars are losing speed because of grip and you can see how challenging a problem it is this weekend with an aging race track. It’s an issue that crew chiefs and engineers are trying to address.”
Slow is Fast: “At some stage of a run slower will be faster. If you try to hustle a car too hard, you’re going to heat the tires causing the car to slip and slide around. When the tires heat up, you’re going wear them out faster. That creates an issue with handling.”
TRIVIA ANSWER: Kurt Busch (spring race) and Kasey Kahne (fall race)
