Backstretch Motorsports

“In recognition of Danica’s talents, she did a good job. She passed me fair and square. I didn’t have enough fuel, even if I wanted to, to fight with her, and today I guess it’s part of history again. Last race in this car, and now she wins the race.
She was very competitive. Any driver that comes with a good package and a good organization, they can put a good job and they’ll be competitive.” ~~ Helio Castroneves on Danica Patrick’s win at the Japan 300.

A huge part of auto-racing is strategy. One of three key elements , equipment, personel and execution of plan. Any crew chief or race strategist will tell you that end of a race is a chess game, thinking backward from the checkered flag to the final pit stop. Knowing how and when you could and should make your move for the best possible finish position.

It is being in the right place at the right second. Taking full advantage of everything you have at the moment of truth. Anything else that falls into your lap is pure blind luck.

But you have to capitalize.

And sometimes its just a matter of all the cosmic tumblers falling into place.. a sheer gamble.

Kyle Moyer, race strategist for the No. 7 Motorola car from AGR saw it all unfold Twin Ring Motegi and the Honda Japan 300.

Perfectly.

“This is great” Moyer said in post race interview. “We put the tools there and we decided to gamble, and Danica was able to get the fuel mileage. She did a great job today.”

The tools were not only the equipment , but a stint-by-stint process that was key focus, adjustable enough to take the next step as needed.

Just as adjustable as the race car.

Taking the checkered flag first being the ultimate goal.

Patrick won by focusing on the plan and it worked.

“I knew halfway through” said Patrick, keying in on when she was confident she had the winning chance. “I kind of knew from the start if we had enough fuel that I was going to have a chance because I was saving fuel from the first lap and nobody else looked like they were. So I knew at that point there was a chance to finish much higher.”

“But it wasn’t until halfway through the stint that I had heard it was Helio and myself, I was either going to be second with the rate that the fuel was going, and it wasn’t until I actually passed Helio that I knew — I was pretty sure that I was going to win. But there was always that worry that the yellow flag would come out or that I wouldn’t be able to catch Helio. But I maintained pretty good speed for how much fuel I was saving.”

Patrick raced smart, Sometimes you have to slow-down to be fast.

Ask Clint Bowyer about his win at New Hampshire, ask Jimmie Johnson about his win at Phoenix last week.

In her assessment of her and her team’s Japan performance, she broke it down.

“I think that the first stint of the race, that wasn’t a big concern because we knew that there was going to be more fuel for what the tire life would be and there would be plenty of new sets of tires, so we really weren’t worried about it on the first stint.

On the next one, again, it wasn’t such a big deal, but we were starting to think about it. I know that the last two stints were the ones that I was concerned about, obviously the last one being the most important. But the one before, before they told me to save fuel, even I was starting to turn the fuel mixture down and save and do some other little techniques that help saving fuel. So I was starting to do that.

Again, I wasn’t super-fast doing that. I was losing a little bit of ground, and somebody caught me so I went back to fuel position 1 and tried to keep my position. Track position is also very important, especially in the beginning and midway through the race. So it was the last two stints that I was saving fuel.

You know, basically the team tells me a fuel number that they want me to meet, because that’s the way that they calculate how much I’ll be using until the end, and that’s what I used as my benchmark to save some. It took about two laps to get me to the exact right number because it’s always a little bit hard to go slow. But having the big picture in mind was the important part.”

That is the mark of a well- prepared driver. Mental confidence. Racing maturity.

Calling this a strategy win isn’t a bad thing. Fuel mileage wins races.

There are those that seem to think they have a crystal ball and Danica will be a one-hit wonder.

I doubt that.

Now that she knows how to win, she’ll be hungrier than ever for it.

Stay Tuned.