Fukuyama finds Martinsville "slippery"

H

HardScrabble

Guest
Apparently able to keep it on the track and out of the fence.

Tuesday testing: #66-Hideo Fukuyama made a quick discovery at
Martinsville Speedway Tuesday morning, one that didn’t need English to
convey. When asked through an interpreter the most difficult thing he had
experienced during his first couple of hours of testing at Martinsville
Speedway, the Japanese driver furiously pumped his right leg to show the
need for brakes on the half-mile track. “It is very slippery,” Fukuyama said
through his interpreter Yumiko Maeta. “I have never hit the brakes so hard.
A driver need to be really brave here. A driver has to do a lot of work
here.” Fukuyama was one of four drivers testing at Martinsville Speedway
Tuesday, preparing for the Old Dominion 500 NASCAR Winston Cup test on
October 20. Other drivers testing included #30-Jeff Green, #55-Bobby
Hamilton and #40-Mike Bliss, filling in for the injured Sterling Marlin. All
four teams will be back Wednesday for a second round of testing, but Jamey
McMurray will be in Marlin’s #40 Dodge. Fukuyama hopes to make the Old
Dominion 500 field. If he does, it would be his second Winston Cup start in
the Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford. Fukuyama struggled early with the tight
Martinsville turns Tuesday, but had improved dramatically by late in the
day. His best lap speed was around 88.693mph. Bliss and Hamilton ran quick
laps of 90.603 while Green’s best lap was 90.300.
 
Fukuyama needs to take a nascar english class if he wants to improve. He needs to be able to communicate directly with the crew chief and spotter if he has a chance in heck of not getting booted off the track by nascar again.

I guess if he brings a high $ sponsor with him he will get to run the car anyway!
 
He barely made Dover, now he wants to try Martinsville?! I think he will be lucky to get 43rd again.
 
Best guess is that Back Row Joe will once again do just fine considering the equipment and other limitations he is facing.

I applaud him for picking out the tougher tracks to check to see what he's got. The guy has been a racecar driver for decades. To take on nascar's best not only on their turf, but on some of the toughest turf they've got is downright gutsy.

Failure to the culture he comes from is unacceptable. It's not like he can go back home and say "I tried" and everything will be ok. The man has big time cajones.
 
Now he just needs to learn the Big Time English Language
 
Instead of Fukuyama taking English lessons, why not him and the entire crew learn French. Make it equal on all of them, and besides it would screw up the people listening in on thier radio transmissions. Where is it written that you have to speak English in NASCAR (Rule 12-4-bigot)
 
Good Thought #84

Very Interesting idea !

Not good to give away your secrets in nascar. This would be a good way to hide things !
 
I suppose it bears repeating.

When Hideo and His sponsors put the deal together with Travis and informed NASCAR of their intention, NASCAR requested that the team enter races only at tracks of one-mile in length or less. A glance at the schedule indiccates that with Dover as a starting point only Martinsville and Rockingham would fit the bill. The team has announced entry at these races.
 
Fukuyama is getting what us Nascar folks call s'perience. And if he's slow at Martinsville, he'll get even more when someone hits him from behind.
 
I will boldly predict that Fukuyama will not make the field on time.
 
Interestin info Scrabble......didn't know that....

Doesn't make much sense to me but okie dokie......I mean ya got wide open spin-out resistant places like Vegas, California, Chicago, Kansas......hmmmm....
 
Not sure I totally agree with NASCAR on that thought process iether. But I would not say the Kansas is spin out resistant based on this years race there.

As info which is kinda meaningless but available:

Yesterday Hideo best speed was 88.985. For perspective the slowest car in on time this spring at Martinsville was at 92.965. That would require a lap roughly 1 full second quicker by Hideo.

Happy Hour this spring the slowest cars were in the high 90, low 91 MPH range, a lap time difference of around .5 seconds.

Not an insurmountable difference for a guy just feeling his way around the track at this point. But a half second is big on a shortie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom