The Richmond Surface

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HardScrabble

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The trucks are practicing now, started about 10AM.

So far Clay Collier, Matt Crafton, Adam Clarke, Tom Pistone III, Jason Leffler and Carlos Contreras have all spun and/or hit the wall. There is some talk of possible oil on the track from Bob Cofey's blown rear end. However Jason Small says the track is very slick.

Jason Small, #07 Sunbelt Rentals Chevrolet: "The track is in very bad shape. I have been on tracks with sealers on them before, and I have never seen one as bad as this. They say it might get better as the sun goes down, but as bad as it is, I think it might get even worse."
 
That's not what I want to hear to start off the weekend.:( You've gotta wonder why they want to go and mess up a good thing. I just don't get it.
 
Nope it doesn't sound good does it. Hopefully by the time the BGN and trucks finish up today we'll be hearing better things.

Looks like practice is done for the trucks:

With only 10 minutes left in the time allotted for NCTS practice, the crash by Bob Coffey may have brought a premature end to the morning's practice session. (11:50 am ET)



BoCo has crashed. Bob Coffey went into turn three in the middle groove and he lost it, smashing the rear end of his #74 BoCo Performance Chevrolet. The truck is damaged heavily, and with no backup, this may eliminate any hopes Coffey had of making a qualifying run. (11:47 am ET)



Brian Ross has also returned after repairing a loose power steering line. (11:44 am ET)



Bob Coffey has returned to the speedway after changing the rear end. (11:44 am ET)



Jason Leffler has returned to the speedway in his backup truck. The team only needed 40 minutes to unload the backup and install their race motor before returning to the speedway. (11:43 am ET)



With just 20 minutes remaining in practice, the top-20 drivers are as follows:

Musgrave, Hemphill/Hamilton, Leffler, Cook, Bliss

Wood, Compton, Crawford, Schrader, Crafton

Norick, Harvick, Setzer, Stewart, Starr

Kvapil, Gaughan, Dotter, Sockwell, Pressley (11:41 am ET)
 
I don't forsee many cars coming out of this race unscathed. I was at the IRL race there earlier this summer and it was literally a "wreck fest". Up until that race, Helio had finished EVERY lap of EVERY race this season. Out of the blue he went into the wall on the back straightaway on lap 8. Many more were to follow through out the evening. Even the winner, Sam Hornish had marks on his car when he pulled it into victory lane.
 
That's a real shame. I thought last year's race was awesome, and had some hope after reading Tony Stewart's comment that, after the Truck and Busch races, it would become at least a two-groove track again.

Bogus. :(
 
Well boo, hopefully Kevin knows of what he speaks followint the truck race, (which I had no chance to watch).

In his post-race interview, Kevin Harvick said the track has gotten back to the way it used to be, with less grip on the bottom which opens up the middle and upper grooves, which should make for better racing the rest of the weekend. He also stated one of the reasons he started his Truck team was to get additional insight into setups for his Cup team. It worked for him at Loudon, and he expects to start Winston Cup Happy Hour with the same shock package as he used during the truck race tonight. He also expressed a desire to field a full-time Truck program in the future with another driver in the seat.
 
The truck race did have some good racing all over the track. And I believe that it'll be the same tire compound for the Busch and Cup cars. Maybe we'll see one heckuva race on Friday and Saturday night afterall.:)
 
Ricky Rudd weighs in on testing results and indicates the high groove was back. Sounds better!!

Rudd: Richmond track is fine

By RICK MINTER
Cox News Service


Raceway turned a track that nearly every driver loves to race on into a one-groove nightmare in May. But Ricky Rudd says the three-quarter-mile oval is back to its old self again.

That's good news for Rudd and his fellow drivers -- and for the fans watching Saturday night's Monte Carlo 400.

Rudd tested at the track recently with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart and said the surface should once again accommodate side-by-side racing.

"We tested there for Goodyear, and the two grooves are definitely back in the race track," he said. "The track should swing back to the set-ups that were sort of favored here a year ago.

"You're going to see the type of racing that people are used to seeing at Richmond and not like the one we saw that was single-file racing the last time we were there."

Rudd said the main change is the sealer, which appeared to have been applied too liberally, has been worn off, mostly due to other races being run on the track.

Since the Winston Cup Series race on May 4, there have been races for the Indy Racing League and several of its support divisions.

"I guess because of those races running the high groove, the track is now back like it used to be," Rudd said, adding that Goodyear has scrapped plans to develop a special tire to run on top of the sealer. "There is no new tire for the sealer because the sealer is gone."

One thing that seems to indicate Saturday's race will be exciting is that the outside groove was the preferred line in a mock 80-lap race between Rudd, Stewart and Johnson.

"As you got into a run, the outside groove was actually faster that the bottom of the race track, which is very similar to the way it used to be," Rudd said. "So, the track is back."

Stewart, who has three wins in seven career starts at Richmond, agrees.

"I think you'll see two-wide racing for sure this time around," he said, adding that the key to winning is to figure a way to adapt to the changing track conditions that occur when a race starts in the daylight and finishes late at night.

Rudd said he and his fellow drivers gave officials at Richmond a few simple suggestions following the test session.

"When we left there,'' Rudd said, ''our argument was, 'Don't put any sealer on it. Don't paint any stripes on this race track. Just leave it alone, because the track is fine.' ''
 
Good to hear, HS. Thanks!

Looking forward to tonight's and tomorrow night's races even more now. :)
 
Oh my goodness. It looks as if the princess has finally graced us with her presence.:p :)
 
Well of course we're all waiting on you. What else could we possibly do without you here?:satisfied
 
That's true but when we want to have unintelligent, perverted discussions who's going to lead us?;)
 
Why thank you princess.:satisfied I'm honored to hear that from you.
 
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