NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Under The Hood - Tackling The Intermediates
There are four 1.5-mile tracks left on the NASCAR schedule...
SPEED Staff  |  Posted September 29, 2010   Charlotte, NC
“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 intermediate tracks.

Four tracks, four races.

So similar, yet at the same time so very different.

Over the final eight races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, four will be contested on 1.5-mile tracks, starting with Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup will also visit three other mile-and-a-half facilities: Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 16, Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 7 and Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 21.

In all probability, the driver who fares the best on these tracks will capture the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship or at least finish very high up in points. Yet with all the similarities in the tracks, they are very different:

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY - The fastest track left on the circuit, Brian Vickers holds the pole record at 196.235 miles per hour, set in 2006 when he was driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. The banking at Texas is 24 degrees in the corners and 5 percent on the straightaways. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets have won five Sprint Cup races here.

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY - The oldest of the 1.5-mile tracks, Charlotte Motor Speedway was founded half a century ago in 1960 by a then-young Bruton Smith. Its banking is identical to Texas, but drivers say the feel of the two tracks is very different. Hendrick drivers have 16 Cup victories here, including six by Jimmie Johnson. The track record is 193.216 mph, set by Elliott Sadler in 2005.

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY - This track was reconfigured a few years ago to have variable banking, which goes from 18 degrees at the bottom of the track to 20 at the top. With somewhat flatter banking, the fall-off in speeds compared with Charlotte and Texas is dramatic. Jamie McMurray set the track record at 181.111 mph in 2003.

KANSAS SPEEDWAY - Not surprisingly, the flattest of the 1.5-mile tracks is also the slowest: Just 15 degrees of banking here, with a track record in qualifying of 180.56 mph set by Matt Kenseth in 2001. Hendrick Chevrolets have won three of the nine Cup races run at this track, including last year when Johnson was victorious.
Alan Gustafson, crew chief for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, says the car has to carry a lot of speed through the center of the corner to be fast at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

And while Kansas is the slowest of the 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule, that doesn’t mean it’s easy or simple. Far from it.

“It's similar to Chicagoland (Speedway), but the lack of banking changes Kansas a little bit,” says Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet driven by Mark Martin. “There are multiple grooves there now which makes it a cool race. The car has to be able to move around and run the top and the bottom to win. Nobody will be good enough to be in one spot, especially over long green-flag runs, which are pretty common at Kansas.”

So for crew chief Gustafson, Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 will be another afternoon of dealing with challenging — and ever-changing — track conditions.

“To be good at Kansas, it's a lot like other tracks,” says Gustafson. “The car has to carry a lot of speed through the center of the corner and exiting the corner well. Turn 2 is difficult because you can be tight or loose. Our car has been both at Kansas. Usually with the new car you're loose on exit, so we'll battle that. In turns 3 and 4, the car has to get through the center well. Exiting Turn 4 is difficult with the way the wall is and the way the track loads.”

Read more... “Under The Hood Presented by Quaker State”
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