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Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray think Daytona, Talladega are completely different
By SceneDaily Staff
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray and Penske Racing's Kurt Busch talk to the media Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.
Jerry Markland
Daytona International Speedway
Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray says that racing at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday and then testing at Daytona International Speedway on Monday certainly highlighted the differences between the two restrictor-plate tracks.
McMurray won at Talladega Sunday and then traveled to Daytona Monday for a two-day Goodyear tire test. He said that drafting on the tracks back to back really showed why the races at the two are so dramatically different even though they’re both similar in length and banking and both mandate the use of restrictor plates to slow the cars.
“It was really incredible to go from Talladega on Sunday to here on Monday because this track [Daytona] is so rough and it's so slick that when people got on your bumper and they pushed you into Turn 3, you were waving your hands inside the car like, 'Get off of me', because you were sideways in the car," he said.
He added that he doesn't think the difference is necessarily a result of changes that have been made as NASCAR moved to the new model Sprint Cup car but rather to the newer pavement at Talladega.
McMurray also says that is part of the reason that the races at the pair of superspeedways play out so differently. And while some have questioned the single-file racing that dominated much of the early portion of Sunday's race at Talladega, McMurray said that he didn't really think the racing was all that much different from what he had experienced, as a driver, in the past.
The crucial element that has changed, he said, is that more drivers have the big picture in mind and understand the need to make it to the end.
"I remember in 2004 and 2005 with the other car, Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. riding around the very top of the race track and everybody following him, I remember it being really similar to that," McMurray said. "More than anything now, I think that the drivers have learned that they have to make it to the end of the race in order to win the race, so maybe they don't take the chances that they did a few years ago. But when everybody got single file, it wasn't like everybody was in the car and we were like, 'Let’s get single file and prove a point or let’s just follow each other.’ It's that you had to be in the outside groove because that's where all the momentum was.
"And then once everybody got up against the wall, unless you could get 10 or 12 cars to go to the bottom - I mean there were guys throughout the whole race that were running 20th or 15th that pulled down to try to make it two wide, and if people didn't go to help them, they went all the way to the back of the line. So I didn't see racing was that much different, and I really don't see any reason that we would need to bump-draft through the corners."
McMurray said that when people first began bump-drafting in the corners at the track, it made the drivers feel fairly out of control in the cars. Then they realized how well that could work because the track had been repaved and the cars had so much grip.
Still, drivers admit they were concerned to see cars leaving the track and flying through the air, as Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman did in this race and others have at the track in the past.
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch, who was also participating in the Goodyear test, says that is something NASCAR definitely needs to look into and try to stop in the future.
"It's [be] careful what you ask for," Busch said. "We wanted bigger greenhouses to protect the drivers, but also what a bigger greenhouse does is create a bigger parachute for the air to grab when a car turns around in reverse. That's why the cars are lifting a little easier.
"Do we need better roof flap systems? That's something we need to look at. Cars are definitely flipping over very too easy."
Mentioned Drivers: Jamie McMurray
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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8 responses to "Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray think Daytona, Talladega are completely different". Post a Comment.
jdxenterprises said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 12:40 PMI can appreciate the drivers comment "Do we need better roof flap systems? That's something we need to look at. Cars are definitely flipping over way too easy." Unfortunately the drivers have no say in the decisions that are made. Those decisions are made by the same group of people who are responsible for the France Family Profits.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdaviclar38 said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 4:15 PMI watched an old video of a restrictor plate race '94 and back then they were going just as fast but the cars didn't have the suck up drafting factor like today. Well someone needs to suck up to France and Helton and get the message across that these drivers don't need to race like this anymore. Because I'm not watching it anymore. I'm tired of wasting my day getting all hiped up for these races then watching what went on Sunday. By the way, the wing on Ryan's car caused him to flip the way he did. The car needs more roof flaps, a couple on the rear deck lid in front of the wing would help. A couple on the hood would be a good idea.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportwmvjr1960 said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 4:36 PMI love it when Nascar officials, or drivers, or whoever, try to tell the fans they don't know what they are looking at...... big mistake. The fans speak with the TV remote control. Nascar is spiraling downward. Apathy is setting in from the fans.... sad. No wonder they get excited about wrecks and fights, it's the only excitement left. The numbers will continue to drop because Nascar is so arrogant.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnascarnutsheeler said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 5:22 PMThere has to be changes soon or Nascar is going to die. What shame.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbthompson133 said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 5:39 PM#2 there is no air under the rear decklid , it's a sealed area. the wing is a proven factor of flipping but nascar won't admit thier mistake( google areodynamics and look at reverse wing effects).
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGrinnie said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 5:44 PMI agree that the roof flaps are key to keeping the cars on the ground, that's why the put them there. I also believe that restrictor plate plays a part in the wrecks at the superspeedways, they keep they faster cars from be able to outrun the rest of he pack, then when a wreck happens everybody is so close, there is no way to avoid being swept away in the mess. I'm not saying I don't like the active racing the restrictor plate has brought to the table, but maybe they should look at removing them. I hope the heads of NASCAR can figure this out, Sunday's race at Talledega, I hope isn't what we have to look forward to at SuperSpeedways.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmasschine said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 10:47 PMWhat they need to do is redesign the mounting of the wing so that when the car goes backwards it flips over and not the car. Let it swivel off the leading edge and rest on pins and a pedestal in the rear. Maybe clips to hold it down until sufficient force from a change in direction unsnaps them.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAndi said:
Nov 4, 2009 at 10:54 PM#5 is correct, Ray Evernham even said that on Nascar Now on ESPN. The when the car turns around that wing works just as a wing and lifts it up and totally defeats the purpose of the roof flaps. BUT even if you do take that wing away, there's no guarantee that no car is gonna go airborne and flip...because there can be a situation where the car hits just right and it will go and flip. But sometimes its all about the circumstance of the wreck and what happens during it. And #6 is right too, I think the restrictor plates play apart too. Its a combination of the both if you ask me.
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