Drivers Get To Shift Again at Pocono
I have the feeling that this weeks Pocono race will be drastically different than what we have seen there from 2005-2010. NASCAR is allowing for teams to be creative again with their gear ratios which turns it more into a road-type of race instead of just a horsepower race. Drivers will now be able to downshift bringing more of their ability to the forefront than we normally see.
With three varied turns, it will be interesting to see the strategies that each team employs and where they are centering those strategies to perform best at.
By putting more emphasis on the driver, while still needing lots of horsepower, I have changed my initial thoughts on believing Denny Hamlin will win. Tony Stewart has averaged better than anyone the last five races there, but when throwing the driver equation into the mix, he stands out even more. He should be able to be just a bit quicker on his entries and exits of turns using it to his advantage better than most.
Even though it’s another flip-flop of rules by NASCAR, I like it and I think the fans will too. There should more passing than what we’ve seen at Pocono the last six seasons with turn 3 being exciting once again.
Fantasy Racing Pros 
Ryan Rantz 5:24 pm on June 8, 2011 Permalink |
I really don’t see it as being that big of a deal. When I look back a few posts to my top five predictions for Pocono every driver is good on road courses including Denny Hamlin.
I think the biggest impact for the new rule might be fuel management. Pocono is usually run backwards (pit strategy wise) and giving drivers more gear options will impact the fuel game.
Ryan Rantz 7:35 pm on June 9, 2011 Permalink |
I started up a YouTube account this week for my site, here’s Biffle talking about it:
Eric McClung 6:22 pm on June 9, 2011 Permalink |
One concern with taking Hamlin (or Kyle Busch, for that matter) are the engine failures at JGR this season. All the shifting is going to result in a lot more RPMs. I already had Montoya as my dark horse for this race so the new rules only help that case.
Micah Roberts 7:37 pm on June 9, 2011 Permalink |
One the same note as Montoya, I have also upgraded Ambrose to a higher plateau for this week as I will look to play him in matchups. It doesn’t hurt that his car for this week finished third at Dover.
Micah Roberts 5:18 pm on June 10, 2011 Permalink |
Denny Hamlin today after practice on shifting:
“I think that we’re really only shifting in one corner — in turn one. It’s tough for me to say. You’re still going to have the guys that typically run good here — looking at the practice speeds, it looked like the typical guys were pretty good. I don’t think it will change a whole lot, but I do think it’s going to be tough on the reliability of these race cars for 500 miles. Shifting takes its toll on engines for sure. Somebody will break one.”
Eric, seems like he has concerns about the engine too, which is why maybe he’s not using it in turn three. But it would seem turn three would have the most value using it to get up and go after such a flat turn heading into the long straight.