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Car of Tomorrow back on track this weekend

via Motor Sports News.Net(work)

We get to see how NASCAR’s new racecar handles flat-track racing this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. The Car of Tomorrow (COT) will be used again this weekend after having a weekend at Texas in the old-style racing machine.

There still hasn’t been a great outpouring of affection for the COT and I don’t expect the reaction to change much this week. Phoenix might just be the first track where the new NASCAR racing machine has a chance to dodge some of the harsh words from drivers.

The one-mile speedway has only nine to 11-degree banking in the turns and only three-degree banking on the frontstraight. That kind of racing surface could be the middle ground crew chiefs and drivers have been looking for to help them figure out how to work the setup of the new cars.

The original Arizona speedway was opened in 1964, but NASCAR’s top series did not begin racing at the facility until 1988. NASCAR’s parent company, International Speedway Corp. (Or is it the other way around?), purchased the track in 1997. There was only one trip each year to Phoenix then, but in 2005 NASCAR awarded a second yearly race date to their track.

Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton are the only active drivers with more than a single win at Phoenix. Harvick won both races at PIR last year. Dale Jr. won his events in 2004 and 2003. Jeff Burton’s wins were while he was driving for Jack Roush in 2001 and 2000.

The one-time winners list at Phoenix includes Kyle Busch (2005), Kurt Busch (2005), Matt Kenseth (2002), Tony Stewart (1999), Dale Jarrett (1997) and Mark Martin (1993).

Phoenix is one of three speedways left on the NASCAR schedule where Jeff Gordon has not won. Gordon has run 16 races at Phoenix scoring seven top-five and 13 top-ten finishes.

This will be Mark Martin’s first experience in race conditions with the Car of Tomorrow. Mark has the most top-five (8) and top-ten (14) finishes at Phoenix International Raceway. Martin is only racing in selected events this year.

The top-five finishers of the April 2006 race at Phoenix were Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer. Eleven drivers traded the lead 20 times.

Greg Biffle, who finished 15th, collected the bonus points for leading the most laps. His No. 16 was scored first for 151 of the 312 laps. Race winner Kevin Harvick led only the last ten laps of the event.

The other drivers leading more than one lap in the race were Mark Martin (111), Clint Bowyer (21), Kyle Busch (7), Tony Stewart (6) and Dave Blaney (2).

There were seven caution flags and the race took just under two hours and 55 minutes to complete.

Kyle Busch was the Bud Pole Award winner with a qualifying speed of 133.744 miles-an-hour. Busch crashed before the middle of the event and finished 36th.

Be on alert that pre-race proceedings begin early this weekend. Times trials for the Saturday night race are scheduled Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. Speed Channel will broadcast the qualifying session. ESPN2 handles the Phoenix Busch Series race Friday night at 9:30 p.m.

The Nextel Cup green flag at Phoenix is scheduled to drop shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. The Nextel Cup drivers run next Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and then it will be three Saturday Nextel Cup races in a row.

The top NASCAR division goes to Richmond, Darlington and then Charlotte for Saturday events for the first three weekends in May.

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Burton wins in Texas

It’s amazing that Sunday’s race winner led just one lap, and that’s what I love about our sport. You’ve got guys that lead a lot of laps and guys that run up front. But these two friends and former teammates — Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth — put on a show at the end. We didn’t talk a lot about them until the end of the day, and there they were.

Jeff Burton had to be thinking, “How many times am I going to find myself in this position?” At Bristol, he drove a clean race against Kyle Busch, and he did the same thing at Texas. The race was reminiscent of Dover last fall when he beat Kenseth for his last Nextel Cup win. The Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame honored Burton with its Sportsmanship Award on Wednesday, and he deserves it.

It’s good for driver’s wives — like Burton’s wife, Kim — to be involved in races. It keeps them from sitting in the motorcoach and worrying themselves to death. She’s got a headset on, and she knows what’s going on. Both Burtons ought to be absolutely elated. Meanwhile, I needed some Prilosec in the booth.

Burton’s teammates had a terrible day, but the No. 31 was able to win the race. You never want to contend with Burton at the end of a 500-mile race. When he’s on the racetrack, he’s still got a chance to win. On the last lap, he got side by side on the inside, passing Kenseth off of Turn 2 when the No. 17 got a little too high off of Turn 2.

Kenseth was in the same battle on Saturday with Denny Hamlin when Kenseth made the pass on the outside to win the Busch race. But he had to go to the inside to block. He ended up finishing on the outside because Hamlin couldn’t make the pass on the inside. On Sunday, Burton was so quick through the center of the corner, that he was able to make an inside pass.

The second-place finisher had a right rear tire going down on Saturday. It eventually blew out. He spun and almost hit the wall. They run so much right rear spring in these cars to make them turn that it makes that right rear tire feel like it’s going away sometimes. Kenseth may have felt things that weren’t there, but it kept him from his second sweep of the year.

  • 3) Mark Martin: With his third top-five finish of the season, Martin earned valuable points for Ginn Racing because Bobby Ginn is now fourth in owner points. A really big race fan, Martin just likes to watch a lot of it out of his windshield.
  • 4) Jeff Gordon: Leading late in the race, Gordon scraped up the whole right side of the No. 24 car. Cars just won’t turn off of the corner in Turn 4. It gets slick, and you lose grip all at once off of the corner. It was a pretty hard lick, which affected the right front fender. Plus, he more than likely bent the toe the car because it didn’t drive like he wanted at the end.
  • 5) Jamie McMurray: Staying right behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get the free pass during the fifth caution with about 100 laps to go, McMurray was fast, keeping up with the No. 8 car.
  • 6) Greg Biffle: Four of the five Roush Fenway teams finished in the top 12. Biffle won this race in 2005 with crew chief Doug Richert, who was able to notch his second top-15 finish of the season with Brian Vickers.
  • 7) Martin Truex Jr.: Late in the race, Truex was kind to Montoya and gave the rookie a lot of room as he and Paul Menard had top-15 finishes for Dale Earnhardt Inc. After he crashed out, Dale Jr. was a cheeleader. He was up, keeping his team up after their third DNF of the season.
  • 8) Juan Pablo Montoya: It was a good call by the No. 42 car to put on four tires late in the race because he needed that maneuverability. He was driving his car hard all over the racetrack, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. He went high and low, but he got a lot out of that thing. When he was about to get lapped by leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., Montoya took off.
  • 9) Denny Hamlin: The No. 11 was fast with the new Chevrolet engine as he carried the banner for Joe Gibbs Racing after J.J. Yeley and Tony Stewart were involved in on-track crashes.

  • 10) David Stremme: The Ganassi cars continue to be impressive. Think about the kind of year David Stremme had last season. His job was in jeopardy. They made a couple of changes, and Steven Lane became his crew chief. They got something going. He’s got a great relationship with Montoya, and this kid is on it.
  • 11) Kurt Busch: A tip of the hat to Busch’s No. 2 crew and his brother Kyle’s No. 5 crew because those backup cars were fast off of the trailers. When Kurt rolled the car out of the garage, it was fast. It wasn’t like they had to work on it. He had his best run since February. His team owner, Roger Penske, ran first and second in the American Le Mans Series in Long Beach.

    Darrell Waltrip on Allwaltrip.com

     

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