2018 Fontana - Auto Club 400 - Pre Race Thread

TIRE CODES

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:
Cup: 4 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying/start of race and 10 sets for race
Xfinity: 8 sets for the event

Tire Codes:
Left-side -- D-4754
Right-side -- D-4658

Tire Circumference:
Left-side -- 2,227 mm (87.68 in.)
Right-side -- 2,245 mm (88.39 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front -- 19 psi Left Rear -- 19 psi
Right Front -- 45 psi Right Rear -- 42 psi

Storyline - Auto Club puts an emphasis on tire management: Auto Club Speedway has one of the more worn track surfaces on the NASCAR circuit. That puts a premium on grip on the two-mile speedway, which has come even more into play over the past several seasons as NASCAR has reduced the downforce in its aerodynamic package. As teams try to gain grip to counterbalance that, demands are often placed on the left-side tires as teams go below the recommended air pressure of 19 psi on that side of the car. Goodyear has continued its development of a robust left-side tire design, with a compliant sidewall that has become the standard on speedways. In fact, we return to Auto Club for this race with a new left-side tire that lines it up with what is run at other big tracks like Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Auto Club's track surface will generate more than three seconds of fall-off over the course of a run so teams will hope to take tires at every opportunity. That means tire management and pit stops will be important all race long.

"Fontana has become quite a challenge from a tire perspective," said Greg Stucker. "On the one hand, you have a surface that wears tires to the tune of three seconds of fall-off during a run. That means that tire management will be at a premium, and that always adds to the quality of racing by creating more passing. On the second hand, teams always look to find more grip at Fontana, and sometimes they do that by dropping the pressure in their left-side tires. While we have made some adjustments to our left-side over the past several years, low air can cause problems. Air pressure provides strength to a tire, and low air can cause the sidewall to over-deflect early in a run and weaken its structure, causing a problem later."

Notes - Goodyear returns to SoCal with new left-side tire: Teams in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Auto Club Speedway this week . . . this is the same multi-zone tread right-side tire these teams ran at this track last year, but with a brand new left-side tire . . . this right-side, being a multi-zone tread tire, features two distinct tread compounds on the same tire -- one for heat and wear resistance on the inboard two inches of the tread (Endurance Zone) and one for grip on the outboard 10 inches (Traction Zone) . . . compared to the left-side these teams ran at Fontana last year, this year's version features a construction update to bring into line with what is run at other speedways . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Auto Club . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
 
Note: All times are ET

Friday, March 16
2:35-3:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, FS1 (Follow live)
3:35-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, FS1 (Follow live)
5:35-6:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1 (Follow live)
7:15 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, FS1 (Follow live)

Press Pass (Watch live)
1 p.m.: Darrell Wallace Jr.
1:15 p.m.: Kevin Harvick
1:30 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
1:45 p.m.: Kyle Larson
2 p.m.: Christopher Bell, Cole Custer and Ryan Reed
4 p.m.: Kasey Kahne
4:15 p.m.: Erik Jones
4:45 p.m.: Aric Almirola
8:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
 
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It has rained on and off for the past few days. It’s going to rain again tonight.
I’m wondering if we’ll see any track seepage over the weekend.
 
Lord have mercy --- watching the helmet cam going down the back stretch --- like doing moguls on a ski slope. It's ROUGH !
A driver's eyeballs have to be rattling.
Or, for my boating friends -- like taking on rough water in a 16 foot outboard. Been there, and had bruises to prove it. LOL

And there was also a mouse on pit road --- Jeff Gluck reported. Posted a video, but the mouse was just barely visible.
 
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My sister will be mixing up her cheddar and 80/20 ground beef for the burgers. I've been at the food processor today, got 24oz of spicy tuna dip for the tortilla chips (recipe in the Food thread.) Marinating 3lbs of flap meat, made 16oz fresh green topper salsa for the street tacos....


 
TexasRaceLady said:
Lord have mercy --- watching the helmet cam going down the back stretch --- like doing moguls on a ski slope. It's ROUGH !
A driver's eyeballs have to be rattling.

And there was also a mouse on pit road --- Jeff Gluck reported. Posted a video, but the mouse was just barely visible.
Click to expand...
That reminds me of racing on back country dirt roads in the late 60s and 70s.
 
We have 10 seats. I've invited a friend that I've known since 1979, I don't believe he's ever been to a NASCAR race.
@Clutch is in Cali but I haven't seen him yet. Can't wait to see my brother from down under. :)
 
Oh boi:


All four HMS cars are not through. Including, Keselowski, Almirola, Hamlin, Regan, Allmendinger, and others.

EDIT: Brad got through.
 
joe h said:
Punishment for not qualifying needs to be greater, like a green flag drive through penalty.
Click to expand...
I agree, it is basically no penalty as it is now since they will start on new tires. Outside of pit spots, quals pretty much mean zip at these big tracks.
 
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