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Darlington 101by Mike Wells ~ May 8th, 2008. Filed under: Water From The Well(s). |
This week the NASCAR teams are racing at Darlington.
Let’s begin with testing this year. Seven-time winner Jeff Gordon, two-time winner Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman had good things to say about their testing and the new track surface.
“The basic transitions, the banking and the walls haven’t changed,” said seven-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon. “The bumps are gone, the grip level is high and it’s awesome, they did a great job.”
“I’m happy with the new surface, they have done a nice job, said two-time Darlington winner Greg Biffle. “There are no bumps or dips anywhere that we have noticed; I was pretty impressed with how smooth it was. The car was really stable and I was happy with the first few laps.”
“They really didn’t change anything,” said Gordon.” One of the neat things I heard from them was that they wanted to keep the history, keep the shape, the banking and everything the same as it has been throughout this track’s history and I think they did a great job with that.”
“Darlington has always been my favorite track because you are always adjusting,” said 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman. “You adjust to the tires, the bumps, the character of the track, the fact that you are running right next to the wall is challenging. It’s the most challenging track that we have and that is why I enjoy it the most.”
Monday’s test marked the first time that race cars had returned to the track since off-season capital improvement projects that included a new racing surface, new infield access tunnel and the addition of safer barrier walls on the interior walls down the frontstretch and backstretch.
New surface note;
It took 15,000 tons of asphalt to re-surFACE the track!
Track Specs:
Opened: 1950
Track/Race Length: 1.366 egg-shaped oval, 367 laps, 501.322 miles
Banking: Turns 1/2 - 25 degrees, width 79 ft; Turns 3/4 - 23 degrees, width 62 ft; Front - 3 degrees, Back - 2 degrees.
Frontstretch 1,229 ft long, 90 ft wide;
Backstretch - 1,229 ft long, 90 ft wide
Pit Road: Length: 2,025 feet, Width: 46 feet
Speed Limits: Pace Car - 50 mph, Pit Road - 45 mph
Track Repaved in early 2008
Grandstand Seating: 68,000
Track Notes;
David Pearson went one on one against Carl Eadwards on the newly paved surface. Who won? Read on.
Pearson strapped into the 1971 Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Purolator Mercury he made famous in the 70’s and Edwards settled into his No. 99 Claritin Ford Fusion.
Pearson posted 105 career victories in his 27 year career including a record 10 victories at Darlington Raceway.
As the gree-flag waived both cars shot around the 1.366-mile egg-shaped and just like old days, but Pearson was leading the way.
After several laps the checkered flag waived. The drivers returned to pit-road, both eager to see who would be declared the winner.
It was Pearson, by a nose, over Carl Edwards.
“It was great to get back out on the track at Darlington Raceway and get my 11th win here,” joked Pearson. “I have been looking forward to this day for a long time and I am honored to have been invited to this event.”
“Darlington is definitely my favorite track,” said Edwards. “A win at Darlington would be so cool because of all of the history at this track.
Something Old but New
Nascar fans will not only see some of the most exciting racing of the 2008 season, they will also see a special one-time-only throwback paint scheme on the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard entry driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kicking off Mountain Dew’s “Old School New School” promotion,Jr will drive the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet with a throwback paint scheme modeled after the 1981-82 entry driven by Darrell Waltrip.
“I’m so excited about this paint scheme. To run a paint scheme like the Mountain Dew one is a tribute to the history of the sport and the heritage at Darlington,” said Jr. “I can’t wait to see how the car looks on the track because it looks awesome on paper.”
“I am honored our track was chosen as the venue for this special one-time-only paint scheme,” said Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning. “I know our fans will be just as excited as I am to see the famous Mountain Dew colors back at Darlington Raceway with the sports most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., behind the wheel.”
Other scheduled paint schemes at Darlington;
#10 Patrick Carpentier Lifelock
#11 DennyHamlin FedEx Ground
#17 Matt Kenseth Dewalt NANO
#18 Kyle Busch Indiana Jones M&M’s
#19 Elliot Sadler McDonalds
#28 Travis Kvapil Lafayette Ford
#42 Juan Pablo Montoya Wrigley’s Big Red Gum
#45 Kyle Petty Marathon American Spirit Oil
#99 Carl Edwards Claritin
Stewart’s Stumper; CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR!
Darlington is one of four tracks that Stewart has not won at. He is 0 for 15. Other tracks are Las Vegas, Talladega and California.
California 0 for 14 (Best finish 4th)
Las Vegas 0 for 10 (Best finish 2nd)
Talladega 0 for 15 (Best finish 2nd) 6 times
Darlinton 0 for 15 (Best finish 4th)
200? You read right, 200 MPH!
What a difference a paving makes: 200 miles per hour. That’s how fast the Sprint Cup Series cars ran during Goodyear tire tests earlier this week at Darlington Raceway. Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman were all clocked unofficially at 200 mph at the end of this old track’s smooth, newly re-paved backstretch. Darlington Raceway President Chris Browning almost couldn’t believe it himself. “We had some of the telemetry numbers from the teams and I couldn’t believe it when they told me they were hitting 200 mph at the end of the backstretch,” said Browning. “That’s incredible!” Jeff Gordon, a seven-time winner on the tricky, treacherous, 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval, said the track was fast and smooth. “The old humps and bumps are gone,” said Gordon. “It’s still Darlington. It’s just a lot smoother and a lot faster.”
Darlinton (Past 5) Winner Rewind;
2004 Jimmie Johnson
2004 Jimmie Johnson
2005 Greg Biffle
2006 Greg Biffle
2007 Jeff Gordon
Darlinton 2007 Rewind;
The race was post-poned due to rain.
Dale Jr’s team was forced to replace its mounts for the rear wing on the car. There mounts were deemed inappropriate when inspected on the Saturday before the race. Jr kept his 21st starting position.
Gilliland and Blaney blow engines and several others complain about engine temps and some showed signs of severe smoking. This is one tough track.
Jeff Gordon took the checkered after his car was overheating for many of the last laps. Denny Hamlin led the most laps but missed his chance getting the win due to a poor pit stop.
By The Numbers;
’07 Pole Sitter: Clint Bowyer (Finished 9th)
’07 Race Winner : Jeff Gordon (Started 10th)
Track Race Record : Dale Earnhardt (1993 – 139.958)
Most Wins : Jeff Gordon (Active) 7
Most Wins : David Pearson (All-time) 10
Most Poles : Bill Elliot (Active) 5
Most Poles : David Pearson (All-time) 12
Most owner wins : Hendrick 12
Most top 5’s : Richard Petty 25
Most top 10’s : Bill Elliot 35
Oldest Winner : Harry Grant (51 years old) in 1991
Youngest Winner : Terry Labonte (23 years old) in 1980
Most leaders : 20
Fewest leaders : 2
Most lead changes : 41
Fewest lead changes : 4
Most laps led (351) Johnny Mantz 1950
Most laps led (281) Richard Petty 1966
Most Cautions : 15 (1995)
Most Caution laps : 101 (1974)
Fewest Cautions : 0 (1963)
Most finishing on lead lap : 23 (2002)
Fewest finishing on lead lap : 1 (most recent 1979)
Most Manufacturer Wins : 37 (Chevy)
44 drivers have won poles at Darlington and 42 have won cup races.
19 races have been won from the 1st starting position.
16 have been won from 2nd.
13 have been won from 3rd.
8 have been won from 4th.
11 have been won from 5th.
3 have been won from 6th and 7th.
4 have been won from 8th.
8 have been won from 9th.
6 have been won from 10th.
Fantasy Stats
64.4% have been won from the top 5 starting position.
87.5% have been won from the top 10 starting position.
95.2% have been won from the top 15 starting position.
ONLY 12.5% have won outside the top 10. That’s only 13 of 104 races.
Look for warm brakes, overheating engines, side-by-side bumping, tempers flaring and even some blown engines. This is a tough track, not only on the drivers, but also on the engines. 15,000 tons of asphalt later, lets see if the chance of 200 mph speeds make a difference, or will we see more engine failure? Tune in Saturday night under the lights!
