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Tuesday, July 31
Even slightest blemish can affect car
By Royce McGee
Special to ESPN.com
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Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway showed just what a little bump here and a little bump there can do to a car's performance. These cars have become so aerodynamic-sensitive lately that the slightest bend in the sheet metal can really upset a car's handling. Robby Gordon and the Lowe's Chevrolet team know that all too well.
We struggled with the set-up on the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet on Friday and Saturday, but we kept working on it. Robby had only been to Pocono once before and didn't have much experience on the track. In fact, in the one race he started, his team didn't even complete the first lap before the motor blew up and ended his day. So, I guess it's an understatement to say Pocono is fairly new to him.
Lowe's Racing went through some growing pains throughout the weekend. We fought a tight-handling car in Friday's practice prior to qualifying, but we kept tweaking it and got faster. When Robby took to the track for qualifying, the Lowe's Chevy got a little loose in a couple of spots and he qualified in the 36th position. This was the first weekend NASCAR imposed the one lap, one round qualifying rule, so we only had one shot to post a good lap. If you bobble on that one lap, you don't have the opportunity to make it up on the next one anymore. But we looked at the positive side of things -- we didn't take a provisional and we had another day to work on improving the Lowe's Chevrolet before the race Sunday.
We made some significant gains with the car during Saturday's two practices, but still weren't where we needed to be. We knew the key would be putting enough adjustability into the Lowe's Chevy to be able to make adjustments Robby needed. We knew one reason our lap times weren't as fast as other guys: we used a practice engine during Happy Hour while some teams used qualifying engines. We knew we would pick up some time when we put the race engine in, so we concentrated on making the Lowe's Chevrolet drive better for Robby. By the time Happy Hour ended, Robby was much happier with the handling.
Things looked really good for the Lowe's team when the race started. Robby moved from the 36th to the 29th position in the first two laps. He radioed into us that the Lowe's Chevrolet handled much better than it did during Saturday's practice and that the engine was really awesome. But something happened to the Lowe's Chevy going into Turn 1 on lap seven that probably ruined our entire day. Robby was running three-wide between two other cars and they both squeezed in on the No. 31 machine and smashed in the front fenders on our car. Banged up fenders don't mean too much at places like Bristol, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., but they can make a world of difference at Pocono. Pocono has the longest frontstretch on the circuit, so aerodynamics plays a huge role in how well the car runs down the straightaway. How well you run down the straightaway also plays a part in how well you can get into the corners and pass the other cars.
The handling on the car went downhill after that and it wasn't as fast on the straightaways. Soon after that incident, Robby told us the Lowe's Chevy's handling was very tight, so we made chassis adjustments to loosen up the car and we pulled the fenders out on the first pit stop. We soon realized how much difference those bent fenders made when Robby complained the car was suddenly too loose. Although we left no stone unturned throughout the 500-mile race and kept making changes to the car, nothing seemed to be the magic cure and we struggled with an ill-handling car for most of the day.
We're pretty sure the precious aerodynamic balance on the car was upset during that bump on lap seven. I really wish we could have had the chance to see how the car would have done throughout the race if that hadn't happened -- Robby had picked up seven spots in the first two laps. I'd say we had a pretty decent shot at a top-10 finish at that rate.
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Robby has only run in the Brickyard 400 one time, but his Indy Racing League experience in the Indianapolis 500 brings something to the table for the Lowe's Chevy. He knows the preferred line around the track, which is important because it's really hard to pass at Indy. ” |
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— McGee |
But Robby brought the Lowe's Chevy home in one piece -- that's very important now because it's something we haven't done much lately. We've just had so much bad luck lately and been the victim of circumstance on the track, and Mike Skinner has taken the worst of it.
We're putting the weekend at Pocono behind us now and focusing on the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is one of the biggest races of the season. The Lowe's team and Mike have usually run in the top 10 at Indy and we're anticipating that to hold true with Robby in the car, as well.
We tested at Indy with Robby last Tuesday and Wednesday, but weren't particularly happy with the test. Indianapolis Motor Speedway conducts their Brickyard 400 tests in two sessions -- the No. 31 and the No. 29 teams were part of the last session. Our teammate, Jeff Green and the No. 30 team, took part in the first test the previous week. We basically put the same set-up in the Lowe's Chevy that the No. 30 car used to start out with because we wanted to build on what they had learned during their test. That's the beauty of teammates -- you can learn from and with each other.
But our plan was a bit foiled by the extremely hot weather in Indianapolis. It was nearly 100 degrees those two days and the track was greasy and slick, so the set-up didn't work out well in those conditions because it was cooler when Green tested. The track conditions changed a lot in the two weeks between tests because Indy is probably one of the most weather-sensitive tracks on the circuit. It was hotter and more humid when the Lowe's team tested, and as a result, the lap times were slower than the previous week. There was also a greater margin between lap times during the morning and afternoon sessions. It wouldn't be fair to compare the times from morning to afternoon, nor would it be fair to compare the teams from one week to another.
We struggled to get the Lowe's car to turn well from the center of the corner through the exit off the corner. It was too tight and Robby really likes a loose-handling car. We found that difference between Mike and Robby very quickly. There's probably no driver out there that likes a tight car, but everybody is different and Robby is much happier with a looser car than Mike. That difference between the two drivers and the adjustment we had to make for driver preference didn't help our efforts.
We ran the first day in race trim only and had time to make only one run in qualifying trim on the second day because it rained in the afternoon and cut the test time short. Robby was relatively happy with the car, but we were still a little tight from the center off. That is probably the biggest thing we're fighting now. We're taking a brand-new car to the Brickyard and went to the wind tunnel test this week. It's a sister car to the No. 29 and No. 30 cars Richard Childress Racing took to the Indy test and will race in the Brickyard. Hopefully we'll gain some valuable knowledge about the car and be able to make some positive changes to it before Indy.
Robby has only run in the Brickyard 400 one time, but his Indy Racing League experience in the Indianapolis 500 brings something to the table for the Lowe's Chevy. He knows the preferred line around the track, which is important because it's really hard to pass at Indy. Robby also knows how the track changes based on the time of day and temperature. He'll be on his toes for those changes and know what to expect. But one of the most important things in our favor is how excited Robby is about running the Brickyard 400 with the Lowe's team. Attitude often makes a big difference and sometimes can even make up for a lack of experience.
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
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