Larry McReynolds / CREWCHIEFCLUB.COM
Posted: 3 hours ago
Darrell Waltrip, Mike Joy and I sit down with a different driver each week. It's not an interview. It's just a chance to chew the rag and talk about stuff. Everything from the family to your house to your friends to your dog to your car.
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Live from Richmond, watch Cup racing on FOX, Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
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Last Saturday, we sat with Jeff Gordon, who was very vocal about not being a fan of the Car of Tomorrow. Even though he's finished in the top three in all three COT races, he still questions whether it's necessary. We needed safer cars, and we needed to fine-tune the existing car. But they could have accomplished those goals with the current car. But it's here, and it's not going away.
Gordon believes that he's adapted so well to it because drivers cannot overdrive the car. It won't turn in the middle of the corner because there's not as much front downforce and grip as there is with the current car. You have to really finesse the car getting into the corner, something Kyle Busch doesn't do, which is why he hates the COT. Gordon has always been successful at road courses and Martinsville because they require finesse.
When he gets to the racetrack, Gordon has to tell himself that it's the Car of Tomorrow Impala or the old Monte Carlo SS because they drive differently. I thought that was a very interesting point. It's not only on the team's shoulders to continue to work through this Car of Tomorrow, the drivers play a big role, too.
Who to Watch
Jeff Gordon: Just like he was the guy to beat in the first three Car of Tomorrow races, Gordon will be the one to beat on Saturday night. He won the Phoenix race and finished 2nd and 3rd in the other two COT races.
Denny Hamlin: With the best Car of Tomorrow at Phoenix, Hamlin couldn't overcome a pit-road speeding penalty. He runs well at Richmond, finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. last year. He has added incentive to win at Richmond because it's home for him. Three or four years ago, he was sitting in the grandstands, watching a 400-lap Nextel Cup race as a fan.
Tony Stewart: Like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, there's no question Stewart will be good.
Kurt Busch: Based on his performance at Phoenix, Busch should probably be one of the better Dodges this weekend, and he's coming off of his best finish of the year, a 3rd-place result at Talladega.
Jamie McMurray: With momentum on his side, McMurray may be a little bit of a sleeper. The No. 26 team just seems like it's running well everywhere. He qualified on the outside of the front row at Phoenix and had some overheating problems that didn't allow him to finish well, but I believe that he'll run awfully well this weekend.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: We can't necessarily look back at the history of Richmond to determine who will run well this weekend because the Car of Tomorrow is the biggest of several variables. But last spring's Richmond winner also ran well at the Phoenix Car of Tomorrow race.
Martin Truex Jr.: Like his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate, Truex ran awfully well at Phoenix only to fall victim to a caution amidst green-flag stops.
What to Watch
Racing perfection: The perfect-size racetrack at 3/4 of a mile, Richmond International Raceway isn't too crowded with 43 cars, and it has enough banking for good side-by-side racing. At 400 laps/300 miles, it's the perfect length for a race. Based on the first three Car of Tomorrow races, we should have another good finish on Saturday night.
Brake on through: Richmond is much harder on brakes than Phoenix. Drivers enter the very tight corners with a tremendous amount of speed, and they don't have near the gear they run at Martinsville to slow down upon acceleration and deceleration. Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, believes Richmond and Loudon will be the two hardest racetracks on brakes for the Car of Tomorrow because teams don't have their cooling configuration exactly right. We're really going to watch the brakes closely.
Explaining the impound: I can't get a clear-cut answer for why the two Richmond races are an impound. I understand and fully support impounds at the restrictor plate races, not including the Daytona 500. Another two racetracks that could host impound races would be Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International. But the only answer I can get and I don't know that I understand it still is simply the track schedule.
Go-or-go-home vs. top 35: It's going to be different than Talladega where guys leaned on engines and other parts just to get raw speed. At Richmond, you've still got to handle well and go around the corner. Even though there will still be guys doing things differently to run fast laps vs. those top 35 teams that are mainly interested in having a good car for 400 laps, the difference won't be quite as magnified as it was at Talladega. Qualifying is about the fastest lap, but a driver can't run around Richmond wide open without lifting like he can at Talladega so handling is more important than horsepower.
Posted: 3 hours ago
Darrell Waltrip, Mike Joy and I sit down with a different driver each week. It's not an interview. It's just a chance to chew the rag and talk about stuff. Everything from the family to your house to your friends to your dog to your car.
Sign up now and create your free fantasy team and league.
Live from Richmond, watch Cup racing on FOX, Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
More NASCAR
Last Saturday, we sat with Jeff Gordon, who was very vocal about not being a fan of the Car of Tomorrow. Even though he's finished in the top three in all three COT races, he still questions whether it's necessary. We needed safer cars, and we needed to fine-tune the existing car. But they could have accomplished those goals with the current car. But it's here, and it's not going away.
Gordon believes that he's adapted so well to it because drivers cannot overdrive the car. It won't turn in the middle of the corner because there's not as much front downforce and grip as there is with the current car. You have to really finesse the car getting into the corner, something Kyle Busch doesn't do, which is why he hates the COT. Gordon has always been successful at road courses and Martinsville because they require finesse.
When he gets to the racetrack, Gordon has to tell himself that it's the Car of Tomorrow Impala or the old Monte Carlo SS because they drive differently. I thought that was a very interesting point. It's not only on the team's shoulders to continue to work through this Car of Tomorrow, the drivers play a big role, too.
Who to Watch
Jeff Gordon: Just like he was the guy to beat in the first three Car of Tomorrow races, Gordon will be the one to beat on Saturday night. He won the Phoenix race and finished 2nd and 3rd in the other two COT races.
Denny Hamlin: With the best Car of Tomorrow at Phoenix, Hamlin couldn't overcome a pit-road speeding penalty. He runs well at Richmond, finishing second to Dale Earnhardt Jr. last year. He has added incentive to win at Richmond because it's home for him. Three or four years ago, he was sitting in the grandstands, watching a 400-lap Nextel Cup race as a fan.
Tony Stewart: Like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, there's no question Stewart will be good.
Kurt Busch: Based on his performance at Phoenix, Busch should probably be one of the better Dodges this weekend, and he's coming off of his best finish of the year, a 3rd-place result at Talladega.
Jamie McMurray: With momentum on his side, McMurray may be a little bit of a sleeper. The No. 26 team just seems like it's running well everywhere. He qualified on the outside of the front row at Phoenix and had some overheating problems that didn't allow him to finish well, but I believe that he'll run awfully well this weekend.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: We can't necessarily look back at the history of Richmond to determine who will run well this weekend because the Car of Tomorrow is the biggest of several variables. But last spring's Richmond winner also ran well at the Phoenix Car of Tomorrow race.
Martin Truex Jr.: Like his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate, Truex ran awfully well at Phoenix only to fall victim to a caution amidst green-flag stops.
What to Watch
Racing perfection: The perfect-size racetrack at 3/4 of a mile, Richmond International Raceway isn't too crowded with 43 cars, and it has enough banking for good side-by-side racing. At 400 laps/300 miles, it's the perfect length for a race. Based on the first three Car of Tomorrow races, we should have another good finish on Saturday night.
Brake on through: Richmond is much harder on brakes than Phoenix. Drivers enter the very tight corners with a tremendous amount of speed, and they don't have near the gear they run at Martinsville to slow down upon acceleration and deceleration. Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, believes Richmond and Loudon will be the two hardest racetracks on brakes for the Car of Tomorrow because teams don't have their cooling configuration exactly right. We're really going to watch the brakes closely.
Explaining the impound: I can't get a clear-cut answer for why the two Richmond races are an impound. I understand and fully support impounds at the restrictor plate races, not including the Daytona 500. Another two racetracks that could host impound races would be Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International. But the only answer I can get and I don't know that I understand it still is simply the track schedule.
Go-or-go-home vs. top 35: It's going to be different than Talladega where guys leaned on engines and other parts just to get raw speed. At Richmond, you've still got to handle well and go around the corner. Even though there will still be guys doing things differently to run fast laps vs. those top 35 teams that are mainly interested in having a good car for 400 laps, the difference won't be quite as magnified as it was at Talladega. Qualifying is about the fastest lap, but a driver can't run around Richmond wide open without lifting like he can at Talladega so handling is more important than horsepower.