Previewing the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway

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May 31, 2013

After a strange and controversial night at Charlotte, NASCAR’s best get ready to take on Dover. With a nickname like “The Monster Mile” and people referring to this place as “Bristol on Steroids,” you don’t have to know much about NASCAR to know that this is one tough track. It’s fast; high banked and is notorious for taking out a good chunk of the field in a matter of seconds. One driver stands above the rest as the favorite every time we visit this venue and his name is Jimmie Johnson. 5-time is a 7-time Dover winner capturing the checkered flag in four of the last eight races. With an average finish of 8.6 and well over 2,300 laps led in his career at Dover, you’d have to be crazy to bet against him. I guess I’m crazy then…

Jimmie is no doubt going to be fast at Dover and will probably lead for a good portion of the event but when the dust settles, he won’t be standing in victory lane. Why would I make such a bold statement? Well, I think he’s going to have some very stiff competition in the form of Matt Kenseth. Matt has been the fastest man on track this year winning three times and having a car capable of reaching victory lane in almost every single event thus far. Matt has two wins at Dover coming in 2006 and 2011 and with how blistering fast he’s been this year, he is my number one pick to keep Johnson out of victory lane for a record setting 8th time. Matt’s not the only driver that may give Jimmie a run for his money though; there are a couple more that drivers that will be contenders on Sunday.

Carl Edwards is another driver that will run well and could be a player at the end of the race. One of his many nicknames is “Concrete Carl” due to how dominant he is when we visit concrete tracks including Dover. He may only have won win in 17 starts at this track but his average finish is the best in the field. (8.3) He has eight top fives and twelve top tens at Dover leading multiple laps in 10 of his 17 starts. He will be strong and so will Kyle Busch. Don’t be surprised if you see Kyle in victory lane three times this weekend as he’s participating in the Truck, Nationwide and Cup race. He dominates at Bristol and Dover is simply a bigger and faster version of that Tennessee short track with a very tricky exit to the corners thrown in. Kyle has won at Dover at least two times in all three national touring divisions. You have to attack this track and throw it off into and out of the corners just trusting that it will stick. That suits Busch’s driving style very well. He’s not a very patient driver and he likes to go after it from the very start which is probably part of the reason why he’s never won the Coca Cola 600 but is so successful at tracks like Dover and Bristol.

Kasey Kahne has been very strong in 2013 and won at Bristol so one may think he would be a contender here but history says otherwise. This is actually one of Kahne’s worst tracks statistically. In 18 starts, he’s never won and only once has he posted a finish inside the top five. Kasey’s only led a handful of laps and with over half his results being 20th or worse, his average finish of 21.4 isn’t very promising. Although his speed in 2013 may tempt you to pick him as a favorite Sunday, I’d advise that you stay away from Kasey just this once. Another driver to stay away from is 2-time Dover winner Tony Stewart. Yes, you read that right; I said stay away from a 2-time Dover winner at Dover. Tony’s two wins came back in 2000 and since 2010, he has had a miserable time at the Monster Mile. In his last five starts, he has failed to finish better than 20th and most of that is due to just a poor handling racecar; not bad luck. Even in his 2011 championship run when he won half the chase races, he finished 25th at Dover which was by far his worst result during the play-offs.

Dover is a very tough track that is unique in more ways than one. You are going up a hill when you drive out of the corner and the banking goes from 28 degrees to 9 with no transition period which launches the car onto the straightaway. It makes the car light and very hard to control which can get you into trouble real fast. When someone spins, it’s nearly impossible to not hit something. When a couple cars crash; the rest of the field usually comes piling in like the “big one” at Talladega. The track gets blocked and there is nowhere to go except for directly into the melee. To win here you have to be physically tough, you can’t let the Monster unnerve you and a driver has to be committed. You have to throw the car off into the corner and just pray that you make it. If you second guess yourself, then Miles the Monster is going to grab you and you’re going for a ride.

Penske Crew Chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon Back on Track

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SM Staff

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May 31, 2013

keselowski_dover_buchanan — Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan

Both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have their crew chiefs back, Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon respectively. And all impacted by the Penske suspension could not be happier to be back on track.

“For me, personally it was tough,” Wolfe, crew chief of the No. 2 Miller Lite for Penske Racing said. “It was tougher to deal with then what I thought it would be.”

The three week suspension was also tough for Todd Gordon, crew chief for the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford.

“It was difficult,” Gordon said. “It was tough to sit there and not see it.”

“There was definitely a disconnect,” Gordon continued. “That is why NASCAR implements the penalties they do, to make sure there is a penalty to it.”

Both crew chiefs described the biggest challenge as being unable to use their sensory input to help the cars and drivers, in addition to all the other data collected.

“I am a hands on kind of guy and for me to be able to watch the car in practice and see how it runs around other cars is important for me,” Wolfe said. “Visually, to see that and to make decisions on what changes to make is important.”

“It obviously was not the same.”

Gordon echoed Wolfe’s sentiments, describing how important physically being at the track really is for a crew chief.

“I would say the biggest thing is being able to actually touch it, feel it, smell it and see it,” Gordon said. “All the sensory stuff you don’t get from pictures and radios as you are listening to scanners and things like that.”

“You can’t see the splitter and how hard you are wearing on it and what the wear pattern looks like,” Gordon continued. “You can’t see tires.”

“There is so much of that information that I have lost the last three weeks that it will be good to be back and get that info.”

The Penske teams, however, have had very different experiences at track without their crew chiefs. The Blue Deuce has struggled without crew chief Wolfe while Logano and company have done quite well even with Gordon away from the top of the box.

“Absolutely, it has been hard to watch the team struggle,” Wolfe said. “We have lost a lot of points over the last month and it started a little earlier than before I was gone.”

“We had some issues at Richmond with some engine issues and lost points there,” Wolfe continued. “At Darlington, we felt like we had a competitive car but we had issues there with a loose wheel and getting caught up in a wreck.”

Gordon, on the other hand, has witnessed his team perform well in spite of the suspension.

“I think it is just a testament that everybody here steps up when they need to,” Gordon said. “It has gone well.”

“We had good plans going into the race weekends and we implemented them well.”

The two crew chiefs also got to play armchair quarterbacks and reflect on what they would have been differently if they had been at the track and in charge.

“I can’t say there was anything I would have done different,” Wolfe said. “Obviously I guided a lot of the changes and what we did.”

“Maybe I would have made different decision if I was there than what I did from being afar,” Wolfe continued. “Overall, it wasn’t like these guys went on their own agenda and did things that we wouldn’t have done.”

“It was guided by me.”

“Obviously you are still connected,” Gordon said. “You are still involved with how the race call goes and everything else.”

“There were a couple things that I look back and say I wish I had more information quicker and could have piped in more to what was going on,” Gordon continued. “The guys we brought in did well and I would say for what we had I think guys did a phenomenal job.”

The two crew chiefs also agreed that their drivers not only did a good job surviving the penalty period but are both in good places in spite of it all.

“Brad and I spoke for awhile last night and he seems to be strong and in a good place right now,” Keselowski’s crew chief Wolfe said. “Obviously he seemed a little frustrated last weekend with that car and rightfully so.”

“But he is in a good spot and is motivated.”

“I think the greatest thing is Joey’s ability to stay focused, get involved, and stay working,” Logano’s crew chief Gordon said. “He hasn’t gotten frustrated with situations and has always continued to give good feedback and give good effort.”

“It is easy to give up when things are frustrating but I think Joey’s mental endurance has been spot on.”

While both crew chiefs accepted being in the penalty box and away from the track, they are especially grateful that the penalties were reduced.

“I think we had a fair appeal process,” Wolfe said. “Our penalties were reduced some and we feel good about that.”

“I don’t think they were necessarily picking on us,” Wolfe continued. “They just happened to find where we were working and didn’t agree with it.”

Needless to say, Wolfe and Gordon are most looking forward to putting the whole penalty situation behind them, taking whatever lessons learned from the penalty, and moving on to some tough racing at the Monster Mile.

“We are putting it in the rear-view mirror and taking it as a learning experience,” Wolfe said. “It isn’t a situation you want to be in but me personally, and I think as a company in general, we learned from that and we are looking forward.”

“I definitely that this will make us stronger,” Gordon said. “I think it has allowed some people to see the different jobs of what has to happen.”

“Everybody stepped up and it allowed everyone to be a little stronger player in the program,” Gordon continued. “It will be a good thing for us in the long run.”

“You have to take bad situations and find the good in them.”