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Tuesday, April 17
Lowe's team enjoyed weekend off
By Royce McGee
Special to ESPN.com
The Lowe's Chevrolet team enjoyed having last weekend off and we're refreshed and ready to head down to Talladega. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule has only three weekends off this year -- Easter, Mother's Day and the first Sunday in July. After that July break, we go about 20 straight weeks through the end of the season. Needless to say, we try to enjoy the little time we do have away from the track.
|  | | Mike Skinner's No. 31 Chevrolet has been strong in recent outings at Talladega Superspeedway. |
It's funny to see everyone after an off-weekend because many are just as tired as they would have been if they'd raced that weekend. It's a Catch-22, because although a lot of the guys did things they wanted to do, they're more tired from staying up later than usual and running around all day. It was nice to be away from work for four days and not think about it as much.
I played with my little boy and spent some time with my family members that came up from Florida.
But the off-weekend is over and we're right back in the middle of it again. A lot of the talk heading into Talladega this week is about the aerodynamics rules NASCAR drew up last year for the Winston Cup teams. We're still racing with the aerodynamics package they gave us heading into last October's race at Talladega.
Configuration-wise, the package is still the same, but NASCAR has made a couple of changes here and there in an attempt to make the competition better. These are also the same rules we raced with in the Daytona 500 in February. I really respect NASCAR's intentions with the aerodynamics rules package. They're trying to give the fans a better race, but at the same time they're trying to slow the cars down some. Plus, they're trying to create a situation where, at the end of the day, 43 cars have a shot at winning the race -- not just the three in the front of the pack.
Last October, we watched as Dale Earnhardt went from 20th to first with three laps to go. The guy won the race from the middle of the field with three laps remaining -- that finish said it all for NASCAR. That race definitely showed the level of competition these rules can create.
But in the process of changing the rules and evening out the playing field a bit, they've made the cars so equal that no manufacturer has a great advantage over another. That's why it perplexes me that NASCAR has changed the spoiler rule for the Fords all of a sudden. I think the Fords are going to go down to Talladega and wax our tails and laugh at us as they're walking out Sunday. But we're a Chevy team and wouldn't have it any other way.
At Daytona this year, our Lowe's Chevy was one of the best in the field. Hopefully, we can go to Talladega with just as competitive a car.
Even though the rules package brings a bit more parity to the race track, we've still got to be as careful with the small, finicky details on the Lowe's Chevy as we were before. We've got to pay close attention to all the small and detailed stuff that will help make our car draft a tick better. That precision will pay off at the end of 500 miles, if the Lowe's Chevy is able to maneuver better in the middle of the corner than our opponents. If Mike is running three-wide and wants to turn down toward the bottom of the track and get under another car, he still needs to be able to do that. If we can give Mike that "finesse" capability with the Lowe's Chevy, it will pay off at some point in Sunday's race.
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The thing about Talladega is that you can be running well, minding your own business and waiting for the last 10 laps to make your move -- and then get caught up in someone else's mistake. It can happen to any team, and it could happen to us at Talladega and leave us in 35th.” |
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—McGee |
The Lowe's team believes Talladega owes us a race. We've probably should have won three of the past four races we've had there. We're taking the same car that we raced at Daytona in the Gatorade 125 and the Daytona 500.
In the Daytona 500, the Lowe's Chevy was one of the best cars on the track and Mike was confident he could shuffle through the pack and take the lead at any given time. The Gatorade 125 was a big morale booster for this team. We didn't win it by much, but the record books still say the No. 31 team won a race at Daytona International Speedway. We're really looking forward to going to Talladega, and knowing what we had in Daytona makes us even more upbeat. We're hoping to continue the precedent we set at Daytona.
It's no secret Lowe's Racing has had a slow start to the 2001 season. But we're glad Talladega is the next race because it's usually one of our better tracks. We've got a good shot at turning the season around at Talladega. The thing about Talladega is that you can be running well, minding your own business and waiting for the last 10 laps to make your move -- and then get caught up in someone else's mistake. It can happen to any team, and it could happen to us at Talladega and leave us in 35th.
Yes, that could occur but we've got to head to Talladega thinking we can sit on the pole and win the race. Unfortunately, we've got a little black cloud hanging over us now that has handed us some freak circumstances this year. But any race can turn it around for us. If the Lowe's team can finish in the top-10 the next three races, it will help the morale of everybody -- Mike, the whole team, Richard and Lowe's. Hopefully we can start at Talladega and climb the ladder from there.
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
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