Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Tuesday, March 20
Lowe's team's day goes up in smoke
By Royce McGee
Special to ESPN.com
Darlington Raceway, known as the "Lady in Black," handed heartbreak to the Lowe's Racing team again last weekend. Last September, we qualified in the fourth position and Mike Skinner was running for the lead when the motor let go on lap 15. The story was a little different last weekend, but just as disappointing for the No. 31 Lowe's team.
The team's performance history at Darlington hasn't been all that impressive. Heading into Darlington on Sunday, 14th was our previous best finish there. But things were looking up for us last weekend. Our set-up was pretty similar to what we had in the September race last year, but we made a few minor changes.
|  | | Royce McGee is the first-year crew chief for the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Mike Skinner. |
We were fairly pleased with the car during Saturday morning's first practice, but we made some adjustments that afternoon and got it even better. We talked with the No. 29 team and got our set-up pretty close to theirs. It's good to have teammates like Kevin Harvick and crew chief Kevin Hamlin. Those few changes really improved the Lowe's Chevy -- we had a 15th-place car Saturday morning in practice, but we knew we had a top-10 car after Happy Hour.
With 20 laps to go in the race Sunday, we were on our way to setting a new standard for the team at Darlington. We were running eighth when the caution came out and the restart was given with 15 laps to go. I firmly believed we were going to finish in the top-10 and have another good, solid run like we did at Atlanta -- and gain some ground in the points battle, too. Mike had run a strong, clean race, which is hard to do at the "Track Too Tough to Tame." He'd had one minor altercation earlier and slid up into the wall a bit, but that's pretty much the norm at Darlington.
With about 80 laps to go, we finally got the Lowe's Chevrolet to where Mike was really comfortable with it and he drove the stew out of it for us. When the caution came out with 20 to go we called Mike into the pits for one last small adjustment. I thought we had a good chance of finishing in the top-10, if not the top-five, and Mike was feeling good about the car.
But our day was done 13 laps shy of the finish when another guy decided he wanted the same piece of real estate Mike had -- and Lowe's Racing came up on the short end of the stick. I don't think the other driver's spotter informed him very well that the Lowe's Chevy was running outside him. Spotters are vital at Darlington. If another car has you beat on the track, you pretty much let him go and fall in behind him. Spotters give a lot of information to the driver and it's up to that driver to decide whether or not to utilize that information. I'd have to say that both the other driver and his spotter are to blame here.
Mike was in what was probably the best and fastest lane at the time and the other car wanted it, also. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough room and pushed Mike up into the wall and back down the track for a big pile-up.
Sunday was so disappointing for the Lowe's team because we had such a good car and could almost taste a top-10 finish. The guys had great pit stops all day long and we'd assembled a race car that we could easily make adjustments on -- small adjustments. We didn't have to make severe adjustments like we'd done in the past at Darlington. A round or two of wedge made a big difference to Mike. We played with the air pressure a bit -- that's how close our car was at the beginning of the race to where it needed to be. Air pressure adjustments are usually used to fine-tune the car and are nothing major.
It's unfortunate that we finished 37th with an eighth-place car. That deal wasn't anything we could control -- we just got caught up in someone else's mistake. But the record book still says the Lowe's Chevy finished 37th and that really hurt us.
That Winston Cup points hit we took was even more devastating. If we'd just finished 10th, we would've been about 12th in points. Now we're 24th and the spread from first to 24th is getting bigger every day, as is the spread from first to 10th. You can't give five points away, and you can't let someone take it from you like they did to us last week. We've got to buckle down at Bristol this weekend and try again to run in the top-10 like we did Sunday. We'll do the same at Texas, too. We've got good cars that can run up front and a pit crew that can get the job done.
We need solid finishes for at least the next five races to get up back in the points, because before you know it, the season will be half over. Teams can usually judge where they'll be at the end of the season based on what points position they have at midseason. You normally will either climb or fall four or five spots, but it won't be much more than that.
|
“ |
The key to staying on the lead lap and being competitive is getting the Lowe's Chevy to roll around on the bottom of the track. If the car can run on the bottom and it stays pretty consistent for 60 or so laps, Mike will be able to drive it as hard as possible. That's what puts you up front at Bristol.” |
|
|
—McGee |
Bristol can be an interesting factor in the points race because everyone gets bumped and banged on at some point -- it's just a matter of how much and how severe. It's such a small track, and when you put 43 cars on it, at some point everyone is going to be in a shoving match for the same spot on the track. Without fail, someone is going to get spun out or have a fender knocked in or off.
But if that happens, we've got to recover as soon as we can. Mike can't get caught up in being mad at the guy who ran into him, but must stay focused enough to get our car back up front again. If you're caught up in arguing or fighting with the guy you just got in trouble with, then he's got you beat already because your mind isn't where it needs to be. You need to worry about the best finish you can get that day.
Laps are the big thing at Bristol. If you can stay on the lead lap, you're going to finish well. If you stay one lap down, then you may only have to race three or four cars for position. The key to staying on the lead lap and being competitive is getting the Lowe's Chevy to roll around on the bottom of the track. If the car can run on the bottom and it stays pretty consistent for 60 or so laps, Mike will be able to drive it as hard as possible. That's what puts you up front at Bristol.
Quick pit stops are also critical -- we've got to have good pit stops. It doesn't matter if we're at Martinsville or Talladega -- we've got to beat the other guys off pit road.
Another piece of the puzzle at Bristol is qualifying. Qualifying is probably more important at Bristol than anywhere else because it has two pit roads. No one wants to be on the dreaded backstretch pit road, and there are only 21 pit stalls on the frontstretch. Teams choose their pit stalls based on their qualifying positions. It is very hard to win a race from the backstretch pits because they put you at such a disadvantage.
When a caution comes out, all the drivers head down pit road. The guys pitting on the frontstretch stop in their stalls for service while the backstretch guys are still driving down pit road, heading around Turns 1 and 2 and finally into their pits. Meanwhile, the frontstretch guys have already been serviced and are on their way out. The frontstretch pitters outrun the backstretch guys because they're running 50 mph on the track while the teams on the back are running 40 mph on pit road. There's a big difference there. It's just nearly impossible to run well from the backstretch. You need to be in a frontstretch pit, because if you're running badly and you pit on the frontstretch, your day gets better every time you come into the pits.
We're looking to go to Bristol, qualify well and not have to worry about the back pits at all. Hopefully we'll have as strong a run as we did last week at Darlington -- but have a better ending to our day. If the Lowe's Chevy is one piece when the race is over, we'll definitely have a pretty good day.
Royce McGee is the crew chief for Mike Skinner and the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He will be providing a weekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the season. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
