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http://www.indystar.com/article/20110709/SPORTS0109/107090328/Kentucky-Speedway-surface-concerns-NASCAR-drivers
Quote:
Racing surface concerns drivers
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway is off to a bumpy start. But depending upon whom you talk to, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
After a decade-long wait replete with lawsuits and an ownership change, the 11/2-mile oval finally joins the Sprint Cup schedule tonight with the Quaker State 400.
But the wear and tear from a decade of use by other series has some drivers complaining about the racing surface.
"It's kind of weird in NASCAR when you go to a new track and it's an old track," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will start 29th tonight behind pole sitter Kyle Busch. "Normally we are going to new tracks and they're new, but this place has got a lot of races on it and the surface is used up pretty good."
Busch got the pole after rain washed out qualifying midway through the session. He would have started at the rear had it been completed because he spun on his qualifying lap.
Starting positions were set based on speed from practice, putting Juan Pablo Montoya on the outside of the front row. Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson complete the top five.
Tony Stewart, who starts ninth, doesn't mind a few bumps on a racetrack -- just enough to make one place different from all the rest. But in Thursday's open test and Friday's practice, he has found more than a few.
"It's an added element that you have every week, but it's more exaggerated here than we've had anywhere else," Stewart said. "I haven't found a spot where there wasn't bumps. You aren't going to go around them. They're everywhere."
But David Ragan, coming off of his first career win last week at Daytona, said he likes a bumpy track because it forces drivers to search out different lanes and that allows for more passing.
"The track here is perfect," he said. "It's different and unique and not like any track we go to. I hope they don't change it."
Johnson agreed. "I think the cars are so equal that we need the tracks to separate the field somehow," he said.
Stewart and Jeff Gordon also voiced concern about the absence of SAFER barriers in several areas around the track.
"Not near enough," Stewart said.
Asked where barriers need to be added, Stewart said, "Anywhere there's a concrete wall."
Gordon immediately noticed a large section of the inside wall that was unprotected. He said he appreciates all the work that has been done to get the track ready for prime time but hopes the exposed walls don't come into play.
"There are definitely some areas out there that could be addressed," he said. "We'll have to get through a race and I'm hoping I'm not the crash-test dummy this weekend."
Kentucky Speedway has had a bumpy history almost from its opening in 2000. Its original owners sued NASCAR over not getting a Sprint Cup date but did well with IndyCar and second-tier NASCAR races until Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the track in 2008. A Cup race soon followed.
Hearing the complaints Friday, Smith vowed to "continue to do things here until we get it right. We'll do whatever is necessary, I promise you that."
In Kurt Busch's mind, there's nothing wrong with the track -- certainly nothing that an entertaining race tonight wouldn't fix.
"I think everybody just has an open feeling of, 'Hey, let's put on a great race,' " he said. "Maybe if it's one of the best races this season, they'll leave the track alone for next year. Who knows?"
Quote:
Racing surface concerns drivers
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway is off to a bumpy start. But depending upon whom you talk to, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
After a decade-long wait replete with lawsuits and an ownership change, the 11/2-mile oval finally joins the Sprint Cup schedule tonight with the Quaker State 400.
But the wear and tear from a decade of use by other series has some drivers complaining about the racing surface.
"It's kind of weird in NASCAR when you go to a new track and it's an old track," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will start 29th tonight behind pole sitter Kyle Busch. "Normally we are going to new tracks and they're new, but this place has got a lot of races on it and the surface is used up pretty good."
Busch got the pole after rain washed out qualifying midway through the session. He would have started at the rear had it been completed because he spun on his qualifying lap.
Starting positions were set based on speed from practice, putting Juan Pablo Montoya on the outside of the front row. Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson complete the top five.
Tony Stewart, who starts ninth, doesn't mind a few bumps on a racetrack -- just enough to make one place different from all the rest. But in Thursday's open test and Friday's practice, he has found more than a few.
"It's an added element that you have every week, but it's more exaggerated here than we've had anywhere else," Stewart said. "I haven't found a spot where there wasn't bumps. You aren't going to go around them. They're everywhere."
But David Ragan, coming off of his first career win last week at Daytona, said he likes a bumpy track because it forces drivers to search out different lanes and that allows for more passing.
"The track here is perfect," he said. "It's different and unique and not like any track we go to. I hope they don't change it."
Johnson agreed. "I think the cars are so equal that we need the tracks to separate the field somehow," he said.
Stewart and Jeff Gordon also voiced concern about the absence of SAFER barriers in several areas around the track.
"Not near enough," Stewart said.
Asked where barriers need to be added, Stewart said, "Anywhere there's a concrete wall."
Gordon immediately noticed a large section of the inside wall that was unprotected. He said he appreciates all the work that has been done to get the track ready for prime time but hopes the exposed walls don't come into play.
"There are definitely some areas out there that could be addressed," he said. "We'll have to get through a race and I'm hoping I'm not the crash-test dummy this weekend."
Kentucky Speedway has had a bumpy history almost from its opening in 2000. Its original owners sued NASCAR over not getting a Sprint Cup date but did well with IndyCar and second-tier NASCAR races until Bruton Smith's Speedway Motorsports Inc. bought the track in 2008. A Cup race soon followed.
Hearing the complaints Friday, Smith vowed to "continue to do things here until we get it right. We'll do whatever is necessary, I promise you that."
In Kurt Busch's mind, there's nothing wrong with the track -- certainly nothing that an entertaining race tonight wouldn't fix.
"I think everybody just has an open feeling of, 'Hey, let's put on a great race,' " he said. "Maybe if it's one of the best races this season, they'll leave the track alone for next year. Who knows?"