Elliott Sadler and Jimmie Johnson crashed in Friday's practice. Credit: Autostock

Drivers' enthusiasm for Pocono now curbed

LONG POND, Pa. -- Heading into Sunday's Pennsylvania 500, several Nextel Cup Series drivers are concerned about a recently-installed curb in Turn 2 at Pocono Raceway.

Twenty-two left front tires burst during last month's Pocono 500, prompting the racetrack to install the curb as a means of preventing drivers from utilizing the rumble strips lining the turn.

Mark Martin

Most drivers don't think the rumble strips were the problem.

"I don't think the curb, last time, caused the flat tires, so I hate that they messed with that," Mark Martin said. "I'd much rather have the old curb than the new curb."

Rather than normal corduroy-style rumble-strips like those found at a road course, the new curb is more like those found on a city street.

Rusty Wallace considers it "a disaster."

Elliott Sadler labeled it "the Great Wall of China."

Kurt Busch, who will start alongside Jamie McMurray on the front row Sunday, said he's uncertain the alteration is viable. In his estimation, aggressive camber settings used by teams in June were the primary culprit for the tire failures.

"They made an effort to try to fix it, but it really wasn't the exact problem," Busch said. "It's always been one groove in there and one groove out. It's a very fast part of the racetrack, and most of the passing is either off of Turn 1 or off of Turn 3. So Turn 2 is relatively the same.

"But it does have a big curb there to try to help people to stay off of it and to help save left-front tires. I still think it was excessive camber by some of the race teams trying to get the car to turn better."

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Martin fears the possibility of overcrowding in the corner.

"The thing that concerns me about the new curb is -- if someone crowded you across the curb before, you wouldn't wreck, probably wouldn't run over the guy who crowded you over," Martin explained. "It may not be the same outcome now.

"If, for some reason, you run way over that new curb, it may throw you up in the air like a road course curb does and throw you out against the car on the outside of you. Then you both go in the wall.

"The biggest concern I have is that is a potential for more of an accident than before."