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Despite repaving, drivers expect Darlington to be tough

May 8, 2008

Darlington Raceway, the abrasive track that was tough on cars and drivers, has been repaved since the last NASCAR Sprint Cup race there, making Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 something of a guessing game for the competitors.

The repaving project began in January and concluded the first week of March. Darlington took nearly 15,000 tons of asphalt to complete and replace the 1.366-mile track's surface that was laid in 1994. Construction crews utilized 4 million reference points around the legendary track to ensure that the transitions in the corners and banking stayed true to the track’s original design. The interior walls on the frontstretch and backstretch also have SAFER barriers.

The track's owners worked diligently to make sure the repaving did not alter the racing at the track that has led to so much chaos that the "Darlington stripe" has become a well-known mark on cars that have tagged the wall there.

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon, Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle and Penske Racing's Ryan Newman are the only Cup drivers who have taken laps on the track since the repaving was completed. That trio participated in Goodyear tire test sessions at the facility - and has since been questioned by their fellow competitors about what the surface is like.

Gordon, for his part, has given it rave reviews.

"I am really excited about it. I thought they did a fantastic job with the repave," he said. "The track is smooth and obviously very fast.
Because it was a repave, I thought it was very important for the three teams that went there to test, go back there and make sure we were on the tire we are going to race and really get a good test on them. I thought we did.

"Still, I think it is going to be a little bit too fast this first race, but I think each race you are going to see the pace drop a little bit and the racing continue to get better and better. It should be a really good Darlington race.”

All the Cup teams get a chance to make their own assessment today. NASCAR officials are opening the track a day early since it has been repaved, allowing drivers to log some extra laps on the surface. Cup teams will practice two hours in two separate sessions today. After that, drivers and crew chief will be able to offer more informed opinions.

Most expect Darlington to be the same as ever - difficult.

Now, it's just faster.

“The track is great," Newman said. "It’s super smooth. The transitions are the same. It’s got a ton of grip. It’s really fast. … The track drives the same – other than the fact that you don’t slip the tire.”

He said that teams went about 3 seconds faster per lap than they did on the old track.

That doesn't seem to bother the men who tested there, though.

Still, while they expect Darlington to continue to be tough on nerves and cars, the trio involved in the test sessions says that racing will be as good as ever at the track.

It just might not look quite the same, not with tire wear being less of a factor. Previously, tires were the key to success at Darlington. When a caution came out late in the race, there was no question as to whether a team needed to pit or not. The new tires simply enabled a team to pick up too much speed.

Now, that will be less of a factor, drivers predict.

"Tire wear won’t be nearly as much of a factor as it was before the repaving," Biffle said. "We ran just as fast on lap 30 at the tire test as we did on the first lap out."

Still, while the racing will be different, drivers say that Darlington will continue to be a tough track to tame.

"The new surface will make for an entirely different race there than we’ve ever had before though, so we’ll see how it goes," Biffle said. "We’re going to be running so much faster there than we have in the past. Passing will be difficult, but I think there should still be some good racing.