The tire fiasco at Indianapolis last weekend served to emphasize how important it is to have a good pit strategy but to also have a Plan B, Plan C and maybe even a plan Z.
Preparing for a Sprint Cup race is much like preparing to go to war. A good crew chief—just like a good general—will have a primary plan of attack but he will also have several contingency plans to accommodate the changes he will inevitably face during the race. He must be a good student of history and a good tactician as well.
Basically you need to consider the following elements or factors when you develop your game plan:
1. Is there a history of frequent cautions or are there long green flag runs?
2. Is the track considered a handling track or a horsepower track?
3. Does the track tighten up or free up as the race goes on?
4. What is the expected tire wear? You saw the importance of that at Indy.
5. Is it easy or difficult to pass on that track and where is it easier to pass?
Other considerations will also be factored in but let’s work through these primary ones.
1. Cautions play an important role in how you handle your pit stops, so studying the history of cautions will give you a better insight into what you probably will be dealing with on race day. Some tracks have long green flag runs as a norm while others are caution filled or have periods of high caution activity.
You would plot the historic pattern of cautions for that particular race to incorporate them into your strategy. The anticipated frequency of cautions would influence how you set up your car. Lots of cautions? Set the car up to be faster for short runs versus long runs. Anticipated cautions can influence whether you try to make a race an economy run.
2. A “handling” track versus a “horsepower” track. What’s the difference? Daytona would be a good example because it is both. In February it is a horsepower track because February’s cooler weather provides better grip for the tires than in the heat of July when good grip becomes more difficult to achieve as the track temperatures rise and oils seep up from the blacktop, etc. Horsepower doesn’t help if you cannot transfer it to the track to achieve speed.
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