April 10, 2016
- Low downforce package gets first night race test: The crumbled and taped nose of the #48 Chevrolet illustrated Jimmie Johnson’s point more than the amount of leaders or passes in the Duck Commander 500 on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. It had to. The downforce-reducing aerodynamics package that NASCAR vetted successfully last season and applied to most of the venues on the 2016 schedule had produced results mostly pleasing to fans and compelling to drivers through five applications so far. The result early Sunday morning felt decidedly less exhilarating with Martin Truex Jr. leading 141 of 334 laps, Carl Edwards 124 and Kyle Busch producing the crucial pass for the eventual win by virtue of a decisive sequence that had more to do with pit strategy and tire wear than aerodynamics. But, Johnson said, this was progress, however subtle.
“I passed a lot of cars tonight in a variety of situations and getting out and looking at the nose of my car, it’s pretty hammered,” said Johnson, whose tribulations en route to a fourth-place finish included a pit road collision, a near-wreck, and being caught a lap down during an inopportune caution. “I think having a beat-up race car and being down a lap and taking the wave-by, a variety of other issues that went on and passing that many cars I think that’s a great sign of where this package is at.”
But in the first night race of the season, amid cool temperatures and on a track that was washed of rubber before the race by rain, there resulted a show that outwardly appeared less dazzling or at least not commensurate with the anticipation level. “Honestly, we’ve got to be real about the things that contribute to creating grip,” Johnson said. “A nice cold evening is going to create grip. The slicker the race track, I think, the more the cars will shine is where we’re at. I think Vegas was cool and crisp ad good grip and not exactly what we wanted. Here was still good but I think once we get in the hot summer months we’ll put on a good show.”(USA Today)(4-10-2016) - Decision not to pit dooms Truex, Jr.: When the yellow flag waved on Lap 289 of 334 Truex’s #78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota was in command of the race. The decision at that time was to pit or not to pit for tires. Truex’s crew chief Cole Pearn opted not to pit while the majority of the cars came down pit road for fresh rubber. Truex continued to lead, but when another caution came out a few laps later the Furniture Row Racing driver got passed on the restart by cars with fresher Goodyears, and he eventually fell back to finish sixth in the Duck Commander 500 Sprint Cup Series race. “I was hoping more cars would have stayed out, but when you have the dominant car that’s the only chance they have to beat you,” said Furniture Row Racing crew chief Cole Pearn. “By staying out and leading, we felt that having clean air would be an equalizer. But in that situation it’s easier to make the call when you’re running second and not first. We’ve seen this happen many times in NASCAR when the race leader is sometimes in a no win situation. It was a bummer to finish where we did tonight.” Truex never ran lower than third before the final restart and at one point of the race had a whopping eight-second lead.(Furniture Row Racing)(4-10-2016)
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