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CUP: Saturday Atlanta Notebook
Written by: Ben Blake   http://www.racer.com
10/28/2006
Hampton, Ga.
 
The weather will be bright and sunny when the field takes the green flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, but it will be dark and cold by the time the checkered flag waves. (Photo: Getty Images/Rusty Jarrett) ยป More Photos

Sunday, all clocks in the United States should be back on standard time for the winter -- in other words, clocks are set back an hour, bringing sunrise and sunset an hour earlier. Instead of 6 p.m. for the onset of darkness, we'll see it at 5 p.m.

That could affect race planning as teams head into the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, scheduled to begin sometime after 3 p.m. The race will begin in daylight and end as darkness falls.

Drivers in Saturday's Craftsman Truck race reported that their trucks gained grip, even on older tires, as the track cooled toward the end of the race after sunset. Saturday, the temperature reached the low 60s but under brilliant sun and a cloudless sky. The thermometer quickly dropped toward the 40s after dark. Sunday, the call is for temperature into the 70s by race time under clear sky and bright sun, but crew chiefs expect the track to change dramatically by midway.

"I think a lot," said Gil Martin, crew chief for Clint Bowyer. "It's supposed to be around 70 tomorrow, which is quite a difference from where it was this morning.

"The track's going to rubber up a lot. I'm sure the line is going to move all the way up
to the wall like it always does. The bottom may come back into play as the sun goes down. I hope so, because we're set up for the bottom."

Although the tires are durable and appear to hold speed, especially after dark, just about everyone, based on mid-day practice Saturday, expects to change four tires on every stop.

"There might be a rare instance under green if you're in a bad position and need to do two for track position, but four tires are going to be the answer here," Martin insists.

Tony Stewart isn't joking about the possibility of bringing an IROC race to Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, perhaps as soon as next year. Stewart bought the track, one of his favorites, a couple of years ago from the family of founder and long-time owner Earl Baltes.

Eldora is a half-mile dirt track well-suited for sprint cars and modifieds. Stewart has moved quickly to upgrade the facility and has talked for a while of bringing in major events. This year's four-race series concluded Saturday at Atlanta, with Stewart as champion.

IROC historically has raced on big, NASCAR-type tracks and never on dirt, but Stewart sees no reason why not.

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