Friday, September 7, 2012
Federated Auto Parts 400
Dodge PR
Richmond International Raceway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Keys For Success
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KEYS FOR SUCCESS: Federated Auto Parts 400
RICHMOND, Va. (Friday, September 7) – 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 Saturday’s Sprint Cup race.
Track: Richmond International Raceway (Race 26 of 36 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series)
Race: Federated Auto Parts 400 (400 laps / 300 miles)
Trivia Question: These two drivers gave Dodge back-to-back victories at Richmond in 2004-2005 seasons. Who are they? (Answer Below)
HOWARD COMSTOCK (SRT Motorsports Engineering)
Changing Track Conditions: “I think by the time the race starts the track temperatures will have moderated considerably. That may not be the issue in itself. I think the issue is we practice from 12 until 3:30 on Friday and then have the race start at 7:45 on Saturday night. That’s where the job of the crew chief and the engineers is important, being able to take the information you can gather from practice on a really hot 120 degree racetrack and fold that into a setup that’s going to work on not just a cooler track to start but continues to cool as the race progresses into 10:30 or even 11 o’clock sometimes.”
Run Your Own Race: “If I were a crew chief in the race, I would force myself to run my own race because there’s so many scenarios going on around you; so many teams with different agendas. I think you could get knocked off your game if you don’t race your own race. Make a plan, have alternate plans when the night changes but stick to your race. Don’t let what other people are doing make you change your game plan. I think you’ll be disappointed if you don’t stick to your own race.”
Win Brad Win: “If Brad wins the race, he gets three more bonus points. We saw last year that the top two guys that contended for the championship finished exactly tied in points and they had to go to a tiebreaker to determine the champion. If last year taught us anything, it’s that every point counts. If you can get those three bonus points for winning the race Saturday night, it could be the difference between the championship and not.”
Rear Suspension Manipulation: “My thoughts are that if you were involved in what some of the teams were engaging in and NASCAR took that away from you, it’s a big deal. If you stayed the course and stuck to what you knew was completely within the rules, I think that you’re going to be better off going to Chicago next week because the teams that have been fooling with that stuff now have to go back to what everybody else has been using. They missed the entire last half of the summer in what I’ll call traditional chassis development because they were depending on the trick that they had. Now that NASCAR has once again leveled the playing field, we’ll see who’s got the best stuff.”
Trivia Question Answer: Jeremy Mayfield (2004 fall) and Kasey Kahne (2005 spring), both of whom were driving for team owner Ray Evernham.
