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Sprint Cup
CUP: Under The Hood - Concrete Challenges
Dover International Speedway is known as “The Monster Mile”...
“Under The Hood Presented by Quaker State” is a series of behind-the-scenes articles about Hendrick Motorsports.
Editor’s Note: “Under The Hood Presented by Quaker State” is a series of behind-the-scenes looks at what Hendrick Motrosports does to remain at the front of the hyper-competitive world of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. This week’s topic is racing on concrete.
This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway, the one-mile, high-banked oval track known appropriately enough as the “Monster Mile.”
Collectively, the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers — Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin — have won 14 Sprint Cup races at the Monster Mile, with each driver winning at least one race there.
Still, the Monster Mile is one of the toughest tracks to race on in the entire Sprint Cup circuit. The track is one mile in length, with corners that are steeply banked at 24 degrees. And the racing surface is not asphalt, as it is at most tracks, but concrete, which makes for a different set of challenges for drivers and crew chiefs alike.
For the racers, the concrete racing surface is a good news/bad news deal: On one hand, concrete is much more consistent a surface to race on than asphalt. It isn’t as heat sensitive or as temperature sensitive as asphalt is. On the other hand, the Dover track is worn and abrasive, with some pronounced dips and bumps. And when rubber accumulates as the race goes on, the surface gets slipperier and slipperier.
“I think with anything the concrete brings some stability to the setup where it doesn't change as much with track temperature,” says Lance McGrew, crew chief for Earnhardt’s No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet. “We really struggled with the tire rubber buildup earlier this year. It seemed to be because of the tire compound that Goodyear brought, and it was more of an issue than we realized at the time. You worry about the rubber buildup on the track more than anything else, and it's not anything you can control in the setup. You just have to position your car on the racetrack to where it least affects you.”
“It’s very different from the asphalt we are used to racing on,” says Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet and a four-time winner at the Monster Mile. “Concrete doesn’t react to heat or the sun like asphalt does. They’re incredibly different. I will say that when you lose your grip on a concrete track, the car will just snap incredibly loose. This is a track that takes all of your energy, all of your manpower. You have to manhandle that race car for 400 laps. It’s a good time but you have to be ready for it.”
One of the other critical issues at Dover is pit road, which is tight and difficult to slow down and enter properly. Last year, the track reconfigured pit road, enlarging the pit boxes from 28 feet in length each to 32 feet and adding apron space between Turns 3 and 4 to facilitate pit entry. Still, it’s a treacherous and congested space.
Qualifying becomes especially critical at Dover, because pit stall selection is based on qualifying position — the pole winner gets his choice of pit stalls, the second qualifying picks second, etc.
“It's nice if you get a decent qualifying effort there because there are a couple of really good pit boxes that give you an advantage — literally it's only about two or three,” says McGrew. “Pit road there is so narrow. We've gotten damage getting out the pit box or been sandwiched between two guys. As treacherous as the track is and how easy it is to get in trouble, I'd say it's even easier on pit road.”
Despite the challenges, look for another big weekend from the Hendrick Motorsports squad this time out.
“Dover is a track that I just love driving. It’s a really fast track with a lot of banking,” says Johnson, who leads active drivers with five Dover victories. “The transitions from the straightaway to the corners are pretty crazy and actually a lot of fun to drive. It’s like a grown up Bristol in a way where the intensity needed to drive the car is just like Bristol, but on a larger scale. Really demanding on the equipment, the driver and when something goes wrong there, you’re not going to save it, you’re going to hit something. It’s a track where you have to take a lot of risks to run fast and that can come back and bite you.”
Read more... “Under The Hood Presented by Quaker State”
This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway, the one-mile, high-banked oval track known appropriately enough as the “Monster Mile.”
Collectively, the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers — Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin — have won 14 Sprint Cup races at the Monster Mile, with each driver winning at least one race there.
Still, the Monster Mile is one of the toughest tracks to race on in the entire Sprint Cup circuit. The track is one mile in length, with corners that are steeply banked at 24 degrees. And the racing surface is not asphalt, as it is at most tracks, but concrete, which makes for a different set of challenges for drivers and crew chiefs alike.
For the racers, the concrete racing surface is a good news/bad news deal: On one hand, concrete is much more consistent a surface to race on than asphalt. It isn’t as heat sensitive or as temperature sensitive as asphalt is. On the other hand, the Dover track is worn and abrasive, with some pronounced dips and bumps. And when rubber accumulates as the race goes on, the surface gets slipperier and slipperier.
“I think with anything the concrete brings some stability to the setup where it doesn't change as much with track temperature,” says Lance McGrew, crew chief for Earnhardt’s No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet. “We really struggled with the tire rubber buildup earlier this year. It seemed to be because of the tire compound that Goodyear brought, and it was more of an issue than we realized at the time. You worry about the rubber buildup on the track more than anything else, and it's not anything you can control in the setup. You just have to position your car on the racetrack to where it least affects you.”
“It’s very different from the asphalt we are used to racing on,” says Mark Martin, driver of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet and a four-time winner at the Monster Mile. “Concrete doesn’t react to heat or the sun like asphalt does. They’re incredibly different. I will say that when you lose your grip on a concrete track, the car will just snap incredibly loose. This is a track that takes all of your energy, all of your manpower. You have to manhandle that race car for 400 laps. It’s a good time but you have to be ready for it.”
One of the other critical issues at Dover is pit road, which is tight and difficult to slow down and enter properly. Last year, the track reconfigured pit road, enlarging the pit boxes from 28 feet in length each to 32 feet and adding apron space between Turns 3 and 4 to facilitate pit entry. Still, it’s a treacherous and congested space.
Qualifying becomes especially critical at Dover, because pit stall selection is based on qualifying position — the pole winner gets his choice of pit stalls, the second qualifying picks second, etc.
“It's nice if you get a decent qualifying effort there because there are a couple of really good pit boxes that give you an advantage — literally it's only about two or three,” says McGrew. “Pit road there is so narrow. We've gotten damage getting out the pit box or been sandwiched between two guys. As treacherous as the track is and how easy it is to get in trouble, I'd say it's even easier on pit road.”
Despite the challenges, look for another big weekend from the Hendrick Motorsports squad this time out.
“Dover is a track that I just love driving. It’s a really fast track with a lot of banking,” says Johnson, who leads active drivers with five Dover victories. “The transitions from the straightaway to the corners are pretty crazy and actually a lot of fun to drive. It’s like a grown up Bristol in a way where the intensity needed to drive the car is just like Bristol, but on a larger scale. Really demanding on the equipment, the driver and when something goes wrong there, you’re not going to save it, you’re going to hit something. It’s a track where you have to take a lot of risks to run fast and that can come back and bite you.”
Read more... “Under The Hood Presented by Quaker State”
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