Unpredictable Pocono weather raises questions

LONG POND, Pa. -- How much of a crapshoot is a setup for Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway going to be? It only takes looking at Saturday morning's two practice reports to know that it may be a guessing game.

Rusty Wallace, a four-time winner on the 2.5-mile tri-oval, was one of only four drivers that posted top-10 times in both sessions. He was eighth in the first session -- in which Ricky Rudd set the pace (165.411 mph) -- and second in the second, behind Kurt Busch (164.393).

	Kurt Busch led the second practice session Saturday at Pocono. Credit: Autostock

"The problem is, the track is so cool right now, that it's really giving us a false reading of what's really gonna happen tomorrow," Wallace said. "It's gonna be a lot hotter and slicker tomorrow. I know it is, so I've got to keep that in mind."

Wallace, after running a best lap of 164.817 mph in the cooler morning session, said his team had waffled all over the map on setups. He said more serious discussions were in order, since he felt the Saturday mid-day temperatures did not reflect what the 43-car field would deal with Sunday afternoon.

"I changed the setup a lot -- many times," Wallace said. "At the end of the first race here, in June, I was real happy with my car. I put Ryan (Newman)'s setup in it and couldn't get it working the way I wanted to. I changed all kinds of stuff back to where I was in June, and that makes me comfortable."

Matt Kenseth was second best in the first session at 165.195 mph, followed by three-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon (165.171). Winston Cup point leader Sterling Marlin and second-place point man Mark Martin rounded out the top-five.

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In the second session, behind Busch and Wallace, leading Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Jimmie Johnson, Steve Park and Michael Waltrip finished the top-five.

"It's pretty close, but we're still a little tight," Park said. "The main thing is the weather. Right now it's overcast and a little bit cool (so) if the sun comes out (tomorrow) it'll throw us a little bit of a curveball. They've changed the tires and it calls for a whole different setup so I've got to applaud these guys on the Pennzoil Chevrolet for working so hard -- almost 24 hours a day -- to get this car right."

Newman, was seventh in the morning practice, but was the only driver that did not go out in the second session. Crew chief Matt Borland said that was by design.

"We felt like we were pretty decent here in the first race," Borland said. "The temperatures tomorrow will be identical to the last race here, so we figure that's our best bet, as far as getting a balance. We'll just see what happens."