Why Sprint Cup teams will have their hands full under the Kentucky moonlight
This is simply a great week. On Thursday, my lovely bride Stevie is celebrating her birthday, and Kentucky Speedway is even throwing a truck race for her.
Friday night is the XFINITY race and then Saturday night, the NASCAR Sprint Cup gang takes to the track in my beloved home state!
We go into Saturday night's race with a lot of unknowns. You may or may not know, but Kentucky Speedway not only has completely been repaved, but it's also been reconfigured.
This will also be only the second time in 2016 that teams will use a revised aero package. The only other race was at Michigan.
If that wasn't enough to keep the drivers and crew chiefs up at night, even after the tire test back in mid-June at Kentucky, Goodyear announced they are bringing a different combination to the Quaker State 400.
The cool thing about the repave is they have used new technology. Not only is it new, but it's also very abrasive. That means tires are going to be at a premium.
Then take a look at what they've done to the configuration. In Turns 1 and 2, they changed the banking from 14 degrees to 17 degreesâ¨They also narrowed both turns from 74 feet to 56 feet. The banking in the tri-oval was also changed from eight degrees to 10 degrees. The part I really like is they've also added 3,200 feet of SAFER barrier.
We've been racing at Kentucky since 2000 when the NASCAR awarded them a Camping World Truck Series race. A year later, NASCAR added a Kentucky race to the XFINITY Series schedule. Then in 2011, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was added, making it a triple-header weekend.
As you may recall, track owner Bruton Smith bought the place in 2010 and hasn't stopped improving on it since.
You want some irony? Because ole DW loves irony.
Saturday night will mark the sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup race there. So what, you say? Well, of those other five races, we've only had two different winners.
It's true. Kyle Busch has won three times at Kentucky while Brad Keselowski has won twice.
I've been talking with Kentucky Speedway President Mark Simendinger all through this process and he is really excited. He told me a couple things we all need to watch for.
Mark said they've been adding rubber to the track since June and having all three series there should put a lot of rubber down to make for multiple-groove racing.
Drivers love multiple grooves because it gives them options of where to race, depending on how their car is handling.
Even though it features a new abrasive surface, it is still going to be very fast. While they have redone Turns 1 and 2, Turn 3 still remains flat, so I'm thinking the driver that get his car to handle the best there, carrying all that speed into it, might have an edge on winning this race. In talking to the drivers who participated in the Goodyear tire test, they all raved about the bumps being gone.
Even though Mother Nature looks to give us perfect weather Saturday night, Mark also added that two terms are forever gone from the Kentucky Speedway vernacular. Those are "weepers" and "cookie cutter." He said the new surface has been drying excellently, even without the jet dryers or the Air Titans.
When Mark talks about "cookie cutter," he is referring to the fact that Kentucky is 1.5 miles long. While there are eleven 1.5-mile tracks on the circuit, and five of them in the 10-race Chase schedule, Mark wants it known that Kentucky Speedway is far from the other "cookie cutters."
So I can't wait for Saturday night. It's our 18th race of the year, and oh by the way, it will also mark Tony Stewart's 600th NASCAR Sprint Cup start in his final season.
Even though Tony spun out late at Daytona last Saturday night, he still came home 26th, which moved him up two spots to 30th in the points. He now has met the two qualifications put forth by NASCAR of being Chase-eligible. While he has the win in his pocket, he still has to remain 30th or better throughout the next nine races.
I'm excited for the folks at Kentucky Speedway. They have put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, hours and money into improving the track yet again.
The weather will be great and the fans in that area always have supported the track. I expect a packed house and a blockbuster event.
On Saturday night, we're expected to have what they call a waxing crescent moon, so I'm going to harken back to bluegrass legend Bill Monroe who wrote it and Elvis Presley who sang it: "It was on a moonlight night, the stars shining bright, Blue Moon of Kentucky keep on shining!"
