NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: CMS Changeable From Spring To Fall
Charlotte one of several 1.5-mile tracks to challenge Chasers…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted October 09, 2012   Charlotte, NC
The Sprint Cup Series is back at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
With the Chase for the Sprint Cup almost to its halfway point, drivers in the race for the championship will test the first of four remaining 1.5-mile tracks Saturday night in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The good news for those in the Chase is that eight of the top 10 finish positions in the May Coca-Cola 600 at CMS were filled by Chase drivers, with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne taking the win in front of Denny Hamlin. The only non-Chase drivers in the top 10 were Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Dampening the fact that Chase teams obviously were dialed into the CMS surface in May is the fact that the track usually is a quite different place in the cooler temperatures of the night-time fall race.

"The main difference is the temperature change,” said Kevin Harvick, now tied for ninth in the Chase. “Once night falls during the October race, Charlotte becomes completely different than what we practice on during the day. You can bet on the fact that the track will be really fast as the temperature drops, and we'll gain a lot of grip."

The CMS surface remains changeable since it was repaved in 2005.

“The October race at Charlotte Motor Speedway last year was so fast that it became a one-groove race track,” Jeff Burton said. “The temperatures were so cold and the tires made so much grip that you couldn't run anywhere except for the bottom groove. That, to me, was a real surprise, and we didn't see it in either of the May races.

“Sometimes you go to Charlotte and have tons of grip, and sometimes you don't. To me, it hasn't become as racy as it was before the repave. It is getting closer, but it still hasn't come back yet."

Cup drivers will have afternoon and evening practices this week. Sessions are scheduled at 3:30 p.m. ET Thursday and at 3 p.m. and 5:50 p.m. Friday.

Qualifying is scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The top three drivers in the Chase have wildly different performance records at CMS.

Leader Brad Keselowski is winless in six Cup races at the track, with one top-five showing.

Second-place Jimmie Johnson is the king of this era at CMS, with six victories and 14 top 10s in 22 runs.

Denny Hamlin, in third in points, is winless at CMS in 14 races, with only two top 10s.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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