Musicians know the significance of 2 and 4… The down-beats, the part in the rhythm of a song that sets the tempo for the all important characteristic of movement.
Crew Chiefs in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup know twos and fours also, particularly when it comes to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The corners leading from the short chutes, those being turn two and turn four, are all important. Those corners are where momentum for the long front and back straight-aways are gained… Or lost. There you get the characteristic of movement on the track.. to the front.
Greg Zipadelli says it best, put simply 'it's a tough racetrack'
But first you have to have the car in the right attitude… and with these 3500 pound NASCAR Cup cars… That’s nose down-tail up…. aero is an important question to be answered, working in concert with chassis loads. And tire wear is a monster at the Brickyard.
This week, we'll turn to the expertise of Evernham Motorsports’ Kenny Francis, CGRFS’ Donnie Wingo and Hendrick Motorsports' Darian Grubb
Kasey Kahne had the runner up finish at the 2005 running of the 400 at Indy, coming very close to beating race winner Tony Stewart.
Kenny Francis # 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge Charger and Kasey Kahne: "The first thing you want to have at Indy is a car that's not tight, a little looser is better, tight will kill your corner exit speed then you've killed your momentum for the straights. You want to keep the nose down; this is a flat track so aero plays a very important role here. Keep the nose close to the ground especially coming off the corners. You have to be able to get back to the gas. Indy is smooth track, the driver can adjust his line to the car wants to work at its best. It (the track) gives you options.
The track is incredibly fast, you're coming from about 205 MPH to slowing only to 165 MPH in the corners off the front and backstretch. You're not braking very hard, the short chutes speeds aren't very high, so the driver just lifts and lets the car roll through 2 and 4. There's where you need to be back on the throttle to get the most out of your lap."
Juan Pablo Montoya has won at Indy before, but not with a full bodied car. This weeks' test will be using the car to set up the other guy for the passing zones from the mid-point to the ends of the IMS straights.
Donnie Wingo , Chip Ganassi Racing # 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge Charger , "We're taking an intermediate car, one we ran at Charlotte, strong down force chassis. You have to get through the corners good, carrying good speed all the way through, you'll see most passing happen on the long front stretch and backstretch here, and you'll want to try and set up the other guy by having your car working through 2 and 4, those are the most important corners and they are where your trouble can happen if your car's not right."
The Mears name is virtually synonymous with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Casey Mears wants to right his name in the record books next to his uncle Rick Mears, a four time track champion. Crew Chief Darian Grubb has the knowledge and understanding of the Brickyard track surface and just how tough the track is. To get Mears to victory lane will be a matter of saving the equipment for the end.
Darian Grubb, Hendrick Motorsports # 25 National Guard Chevrolet with Casey Mears gives racing insight into Indy from the tire management strategy perspective. Grubb explains; "Indy is such a unique situation in the fact that the track is always "green" when we get there, no other series is running on it with us and with the newly ground surface tire wear is very heavy. We'll get extra tires during the first practice sessions for that very reason. The first sets will be down to cords in no time flat. As the weekend goes on, you'll see tire wear decrease dramatically, as more rubber gets ground into the track. In general, teams will be less aggressive with camber settings, wanting the tires to run a flatter surface profile so that they will wear more evenly. You don't hurt an outside edge on the rights or the inside edge of the left front, set ups with camber and pressures will be much more conservative.The first couple of tire runs are going to be "pins and needles" until the surface gets rubbered up. The "G" loads are there like a super speedway as you carry so much speed into the corners.
Tire management is important because this race can come down to fuel mileage/ tire management situation."
How's Casey's confidence heading into the second half of the season? "It's very high. The win put us all in a position of gaining confidence in each other. He , with us as team and us with him as a driver. We've got an all new fleet of intermediate cars as we go back to the tracks for the second time, with good wind tunnel numbers and several things we've learned that Casey likes and that suit his driving. We're looking forward to the last seven races before the Chase; we're close enough that with some luck, we could get in."
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