The Trick to Texas – Turns Two and Four November 8, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , trackbackIf you’re looking for where the action will be during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, keep your eyes on turns two and four.
The trick about this 1.5-mile oval is that at the exit of turns two and four, the transition from the banked turned to the relatively flat straightaway comes very quickly…especially at 180 mph.
“You lose the banking in a hurry,” explained Sprint Cup Series pace car driver and former NASCAR racer Brett Bodine. “You’re not done turning the car, your speeds get faster and faster, but you’re losing banking. Prior to getting to that part of the racetrack, you have to be in the perfect position to get off of there and keep the throttle down and stay wide open.”Bodine took me around the track in the pace car early before Sunday’s race to explain a driver’s technique maneuvering around TMS. Exiting off pit road, he kept our Camaro pace car on the non-banked apron of the track before pulling up on the backstretch.
You’ve got to put a lot more steering wheel into it, you’ve got to turn more, but if you’ve got a loose condition, you just run out of race track,” Bodine told me.
As we sped around turns three and four, Bodine deftly maneuvered the car through the transition. As we accelerated to 130 mph down the front stretch, Bodine took us up to the high groove of turns one and two.
Drivers will try to make a pass from the outside lane. It’s further around the track, but the car doesn’t have to slow down as much, enabling the driver to carry more speed down the straightaway.
We saw a number of drivers hit the backstretch wall out of turn two during the Truck and Nationwide race this weekend, and given today’s overcast weather, the speeds will be pretty high coming out of the turns.
So look to turns two and four for the best opportunities for drivers to make a pass today and maybe even some guys trading paint.
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