"Same Old 'Tire'd Pocono Raceway!"

 

Ever heard the phrase "I spent a week there one night?"

For some reason, that's what a Nextel Cup race at Pocono is like most times. Boring!...until last June that is.

Here's why: the pace car was the only one that DIDN'T have a tire problem. Only 21 of the 43 who started the Pocono 500 finished on the lead lap. The race went 201 laps, one more than scheduled in order for it to finish under the green flag.

Teams blamed the track and Goodyear.Goodyear blamed the track and the teams. Track blamed Goodyear and the teams.

So what caused all the tire problems?

Remember the "rumple strips" in the turns that cut down all those tires? (see June 13 issue in archives) Pocono Raceway smoothed those over for Sunday.

Goodyear will bring the same tire they used in June for this race,claiming: "the teams used too much camber, last time!"

Okay...okay...so...ummm..."What The Hell Is Camber?"

Let me 'splain what camber is...try and follow me on this:

When you’re looking at the front of the car, camber is the angle at which the wheel sits. It’s measured in degrees, so break out your old geometry notes. We’re sure you’ve seen lowered cars where the wheels “butterfly” in or out. When the top of the wheel is angled inward, tucked in the wheelwell, the camber is negative. If the top of the wheel is sticking out of the wheelwell, the camber is positive. Whether your car has negative or positive camber, it will cause your tires to wear very unevenly. Negative camber will wear the inside of your tires, and positive camber will wear the outside of your tires.

We'll have a pop quiz on camber later, okay?

Some teams didn't run the recommended air pressure either:
"We recommended 18 (pounds per square inch) tire pressure in June, and the teams that had trouble went under that," Goodyear said. "They got in trouble also when they set the camber too aggressive. They were riding on the side of the tires. You're going to have trouble when you try to race on a couple of inches of tire."

Michael starting from the pole for the first time in 14 years, led the field by almost 8 seconds until the first caution, then it seemed like he'd keep going backwards with each pit stop afterwards. So, they brought in some faster tire changers. Michael battled back with a 6th place finish. Mikey will have a different car this time...he wrecked the one that did so well there in June.

Carl Edwards, had never even seen Pocono before and won that race, after practicing the course on his XBox! Giving Roush his first Pocono Raceway win.

So...Pocono has smoothed out the corners....the teams will run the recommended air pressure and lighten up on the camber...and that leaves us with what?

The Same Old 'Tire'd Pocono! Boring...

I need a nap!

Mark