Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Tuesday, June 12
Car improved as race went on
By Royce McGee
Special to ESPN.com
Mike Skinner and the No. 31 Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse team are coming off of what traditionally has been one of the tougher weekends of the year for us and heading into what has usually been one of our better ones. We raced in the Kmart 400 at Michigan International Speedway last weekend and fared pretty well. Next up this weekend is Pocono Raceway, a completely different track with three equally unique corners.
The Lowe's team historically has struggled at Michigan and never quite hit on the right setup, but things were looking up last Friday when Mike qualified in the third position. A lot of people don't realize what a difficult track Michigan can be.
|  | | Royce McGee is the first-year crew chief for the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet driven by Mike Skinner. |
At first glance, it's just a big, wide, flat, two-mile track but we know it's a lot more than that. The driver has to run a few laps around Michigan and determine what groove his car works best in. Michigan is a big track so there are several driving lines to choose from. The driver can change his line and gain three- or four-tenths of a second on the lap time chart.
Once Mike got a feel for the track and determined where the Lowe's Chevy ran best, we were able to adjust the car and make it good going into and coming off of the corners. We put a set of new tires on the Lowe's machine and got some good practice laps in before qualifying. We made a couple of last-minute changes to tighten it up just a bit before Mike took to the track.
It all paid off and he did an excellent job on his qualifying run. The first lap was so good Mike opted not to take the second lap and risk hurting the Lowe's Chevrolet. There's no reason to take a second lap if the first one is strong, and several teams made that same call.
Although the qualifying session was a success for Lowe's Racing, we struggled in race trim Saturday and Sunday. There's a big difference in qualifying and race setup on these Winston Cup cars. We spend all of our time Friday preparing to run one or two laps in qualifying. One lap isn't too difficult for the drivers -- they can always "hold their breath," so to speak, for one or two laps and make it around the track.
But when we're in race trim, the car has to be good for several consecutive laps and be consistent during that time. The Lowe's Chevy wasn't consistent or strong on long runs in Saturday's morning practice or the late-morning Happy Hour session. The was always a little too loose getting into the corners and extremely tight coming off the corners. We made some extreme changes to the car to correct that problem.
To make circumstances more difficult, we had to change our engine between the first practice session that morning and the final practice an hour later. Richard asked us to swap the motor because he wanted to try a new style of motor in the race. We lost a bit of valuable practice time in the final Happy Hour session because of that and didn't get to capitalize on all the track time. But you've always got to try new things in this industry or you'll get left behind.
The race trim saga continued on into the race Sunday. Michigan usually doesn't lend itself to many cautions, but we had several early in the race and I'm glad we did. We pitted every time the caution flag waved near the beginning because we needed to make chassis adjustments to the Lowe's Chevrolet. I don't think the No. 31 Chevy would have been as good as it was had it not been for those early yellow flags.
Mike said the car was too loose getting into the corner and too tight getting out of the corners, so we made some pretty aggressive chassis adjustments from the very beginning. We changed air pressures, added wedge and put in spring rubbers. The team kept working diligently and patiently and the guys didn't give up until we got it right. About halfway through the race, we were pretty good. Mike didn't realize how fast he was running until we kept reading him his lap times over the radio.
Because of all the pit stops we made, we dropped as low as 38th early in the race. When you drive back from 38th to 15th, you've obviously made your car a lot better. That's what we kept trying to convey to Mike -- we were better than he thought we were.
Fuel mileage wasn't as big a deal Sunday as we thought it would be because there were so many cautions. Everyone was going to be about 20 laps short of making it all the way on fuel, so we opted to pit early. We wanted to get fresher tires before the leader did in order to make up some ground on the track.
Unfortunately, we pitted earlier than we should have and the caution flag came out three laps later and bit us hard. That left the Lowe's Chevy one lap down to the leader. Not only did it bite us, it also bit 12 other cars. There were 20 cars on the lead lap before the caution came out and there were only 15 cars on the lead lap when the race ended.
About five of the cars got their lap back because they were in front of us on the restart. In reality, we and several other teams were on the tail-end of the lead lap when the restart was given, so we lined up in front of the leader to take the green flag. The No. 40 car was leading and we were right in front of him -- the other cars were in front of us.
|
“ |
The team kept working diligently and patiently and the guys didn't give up until we got it right. About halfway through the race, we were pretty good. Mike didn't realize how fast he was running until we kept reading him his lap times over the radio.
” |
|
|
— McGee |
So, when the restart was given, the Lowe's Chevy was the first car the leader could get to and pass. He passed a few of the other cars and officially put them a lap down but he didn't have time to catch the five cars in the very front of the line. So, as it played out, bad racing luck kept us from a top-15 or top-10 finish. But at least we have the assurance that the Lowe's car was strong at the end and all our work paid off. We'll have some good notes to go back to Michigan with in August.
We're taking the same car to Pocono this weekend that we raced at Lowe's Motor Speedway last month and logged a good finish with. We've run this car several times and have been pleased with it. Mike finished in the top-10 both times at Pocono in this chassis last year. It's got a slightly different body on it this trip to Pocono because we changed it for Lowe's Motor Speedway -- but those changes improved it. I wanted to take this car to Michigan last weekend but it was slightly damaged from the Coca-Cola 600 at LMS and needed some work.
Pocono has three unique turns and it's almost impossible to be good in all three turns. You've either got to be really good in Turn 1 or really good through Turn 2, which we refer to as the tunnel turn, and strong on into Turn 3. The cars can give up a little more in Turn 1 but have got to get through the tunnel turn and Turn 3 well in order to make it down the long front straightaway.
Pocono's front stretch is the longest straightaway on the circuit, so it's really important to be strong through it. That's where you can really see whose car has good power. If you can't get off (Turn) 3 well, it will destroy your chances of finishing well. The car that gets off Turn 3 the best can blow the field away on the straightaway. Even if you don't have the best motor, you can make up some ground on the other cars out of Turn 3 if your car is handling well.
Mike's done well at Pocono in the past -- he finished in the top-10 both times last season. I think the biggest reason is that he can shift gears well. Shifting well at Pocono requires some skill and adaptation, but some of the drivers don't like doing it. Some guys aren't too fond of running down into the corner at 190 mph and having to downshift their cars. But Mike has always been good at it and he puts on a good show at Pocono -- we're planning on that again this weekend.
This Lowe's team has really pulled together the past few weeks and begun to show that old spark again. Pocono is a good place for us to keep the momentum going.
Royce McGee is the crew chief for Mike Skinner and the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He is providing a weekly diary to ESPN.com throughout the season. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
