Turn 4 Transitions
Friday, April 9, 2010
By Natalie Anthony
Subway
Fresh Fit 600
April 10, 2010 (Saturday) 1:00 pm – Fox
Mark Martin - 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Winner!
In the 2009
NASCAR season, Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) hosted races that were 500 kilometers,
which equated to about 312 laps in length.
Now, in the 2010 season we are seeing an extra 100 kilometers added (about
63 laps) to the Spring race. Is the extra 100 kilometers a mass marketing
mess-up? What does the excess in oval
turns mean? Since the adoption of the
new time change rule altering the start time of NASCAR races to 1:00 pm, 3:00
pm and 7:30 pm EST, track officials have thrown in their red flag and demanded
a change to the race formula at Phoenix.
The officials gripped that the majority of the race would be set in the
day due to the extra 45 minutes that was added to the new earlier start time
and that would ultimately change the amount of time the race would be underway
during the changeover to night since sunset in Arizona occurs around 7:00 pm MST. To appease the men and women in black and
white, NASCAR added the extra kilometers to the PIR race and so NASCAR Nation
gets 63 free laps for no extra charge.
PIR may not
be the most unique track featured on the NASCAR circuit, but because of the
transition between day and night time conditions, Phoenix does offer the combination of two
races in one. The driver who seems to be
dominating in the first half of the race under the sun may not have the same
luck the second half of the race under the lights. The changeover from loose to tight conditions
makes a lot of challenges for drivers which some cannot overcome.
Denny
Hamlin seems to be a driver that can ease between the changing of the
temperature and light, but the recent surgery on his ACL last week leaves the
possibility of only the #11 car finishing the race and not the driver.
The last three races won at PIR
belong to the Hendrick owned Chevrolets of Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson,
and Jeff Gordon.
Go figure. But, Mr. Mark Martin
has the most starts, Top 5’s and Top 10’s at Phoenix out of the active driver roster.
David Reutimann who usually
finishes in the back of the race like his owner’s namesake has discovered that he
too can evolve with the conditions at PIR.
The last two races “Rudy” has run at PIR resulted in
two Top 10’s.
Happy 30th Birthday to Kasey Kahne.
Track Stats
Subway Fresh Fit 500
(April 18,
2009)
Top 10
Results
1. Mark Martin
2. Tony Stewart
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Greg Biffle
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. David Reutimann
9. Sam Hornish Jr.
10.Carl
Edwards
Checker Auto Parts 500
(November 15,
2009)
Top 10
Results
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Burton
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Mark Martin
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Kurt Busch
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Juan Pablo Montoya
9. Jeff Gordon
10.David
Reutimann
Post Questions
& Comments to:
NASCARNATALIEANTHONY@yahoo.com
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