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NASCAR

Fast Texas track could tax NASCAR engines

By SceneDaily.com

Apr 2, 2009

Texas Motor Speedway may be a 1.5-mile track, but it’s difficult to put it into that cookie-cutter category that includes all NASCAR Sprint Cup tracks of this size.

While data from one 1.5-mile track can be utilized at another, Texas is a faster track than most.

Texas features 24-degree banking in the turns. The qualifying record there is 196.235 mph, though it was set by Brian Vickers when the track was resurfaced and speeds have dropped a bit since then. The 2005 race, won by Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards, was run in three hours and 19 minutes, pretty swift for a race of this length.

It’s a track that is wide enough for drivers to complete passes, but with parity growing among the teams, it’s still difficult to do so. It is also tough on equipment, particularly engines. In a season when engines have failed at a rate not seen early in recent years, that could add a level of concern and a new wrinkle to this weekend’s Samsung 500.

Edwards, who swept the 2008 Cup races at the track, says it’s one of those places that requires a total team effort for a driver to succeed. That input has already started at the shops, where teams have worked on setups and engine packages throughout the offseason. The transporters are en route to the Fort Worth, Texas, track - and the drivers are thinking about what has worked before at the track.

“It takes a really, really good race car to win at Texas,” Edwards said. “That’s the bottom line. You have to have a very powerful engine, and you’ve got to have a great aerodynamics package. Your crew chief and engineer have to have the car put together really well, and sometimes you need great fuel mileage on top of that.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch says that he doesn’t head into this weekend‚s Samsung 500 brimming with confidence. Though he won at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season, Busch struggled at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Can he parlay what he learned in those races into success in this weekend’s event?

“I think Texas is going to be a fast place,” Busch said. “It’s going to be a little bit different getting in and coming up off the corners than Atlanta because there isn’t as much banking at Texas getting into the corner. For me, Texas has always been a tricky place. I’ve never really run well there and been confident there.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Jeff Burton has run well there. He has a worst finish of 13th in his last four races there, a string that includes a win there in 2007.

He says that since Goodyear is bringing a new tire to this race, drivers hope to have more grip. That could increase the speeds in this event, which will in turn make track position that much more important in the race.

Burton says that corner speed will be crucial in the race - and finding the right balance through practice will be key to a solid performance.

That could be when teams get a real feel for what Sunday’s race will offer - and how they will shape up against the competition.

“The key to our sport is taking the time that you have to do anything that you are doing and do it efficiently,” Burton said. “If you have an hour practice, you have to use that hour of practice better than your competition. The teams that can do that are the teams that continually have success.

“Being efficient with your time is really important. This style of car requires that because we’re all still learning different things, and without testing, it makes practice that much more important.”