Lead Draft Friday: Doing The Texas Two Step
Most of you regular readers are probably done with my North Wilkesboro rant but it has changed a bit for this article. Oh and don't forget my pre-race preditions.
Also, don't forget to check out my new monthly feature called "Track Rants" that debutes today! It is bound to ruffle some feathers for sure!
If you are a long time follower of NASCAR like me, then you what I mean when I say, "Man, I miss North Wilkesboro".
North Wilkesboro Speedway was a short 5/8ths of a mile race track in
which opened for business in 1947 and essentially for intents and purposes closed its doors for good in Sept. 1996. North Carolina
I think the reason I was so fond of North Wilesboro is because it reminded me so musch of our own Cayuga Motor Speedway which is a 5/8th of a mile oval track too.
One thing that was unique about North Wilkeseboro is that it had an uphill backstretch and the downhill frontstretch because the owner and his group ran out of money to level it off before it was paved in the 1950’s.
What happened to North Wilkesboro you ask? When the original owner, Enoch Staley, died in 1995 the track was sold to big-time NASCAR track owners and promoters Bob Bahre and Bruton Smith. Bahre and Smith then moved North Wilkesboro’s two NASCAR Cup dates to other tracks that they owned; one date went to New Hampshire and the other one went to their then newly built facility, Texas Motor Speedway -which is where this weekend’s race is happening. If you want a really good read about the track and its current status then you should read the article written by Mark Aumann called North Wilkesboro Alive and Well, Even Without Racing at nascar.com.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Texas Motor Speedway but man I miss the small track beating and banging of North Wilkesboro.
Bahre and Smith still own North Wilkesboro Speedway by the way and it has essentially sat locked up since that last race in 1996. Word is they are trying to sell it for $12 million but so far there have been no takers.
There is a small group of dedicated fans (www.savethespeedway.net) who are actively seeking the apporpriate funds to purchase the speedway and open it again.
Speaking of unique short tracks, how about last week’s race at Martinsville and the move Jimmie Johnson did on Denny Hamlin to get the lead and eventually win? I would have done the same thing if I were Johnson, that is what the bumper is for is it not? To move the car in front of you out of the way.
I’ve got to give Denny Hamlin credit because when he climbed out of his car with reporter crowded around him hungry for a derrogitory comment all he said was, "I’d do the same thing too."
With no inflamatory statements or get even threats, Hamlin showed a ton of amturity right then and there – more than he has ever shown before – I guess he is taking the ‘team leader’ hat over at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) more seriously now that Tony Stewart is gone and no longer the elder statesman of the drivers at JGR.
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile quad-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the corners. This track is more of an aerodynamic track than anything else meaning you want clean air on the nose of the car to make it stick in the corners so having cars in front of you taking away that down force will make your car slide up the track and make you run slower.
This is why sometimes when you see a car that has run strong all day in the lead and then if it gets shuffled back in the pack because of a bad pit stop or whatever will then appear to run like it has lost some horsepower in the engine.
Another thing that is important to note about
is that over the last decade of racing there the track has become somewhat bumpy in the corners so having a good suspension package that allows the car to take on those bumps without affecting its attitude is a must. Texas
Drivers to watch out for at this track, especially if it turns into a fuel mileage race, are Carl Edwards (99), Jimmie Johnson (48), and Jeff Gordon (24).
Two other drivers that are no slouches here at
are Matt Kenseth (17) and Jeff Burton (31). Texas
The dark horses for this race are Dale Earnhardt Jr (88), The Busch Brothers; Kyle (18) and Kurt (2), Clint Bowyer (33) and my pick for "where did he come from" at the end of the race; Jamie McMurray (26).
Thanks for all of you who entered my free NASCAR Pool, we have over 100 entrants and I’m already losing. You never seem to do well in your own pools. You can keep track of your pool teams, and check out my new feature called ‘Track Rants’ by going to www.4ever3blog.com.
See More:
