Sunoco Pit Move: Pocono

If you thought crew chiefs spent more time with crankshafts than computers, Steve Letarte wiped out that misconception Sunday at Pocono Raceway. He proved that the right preparation -- coupled with a little luck -- can be an advantage in any situation.

Just like a pro quarterback has to study game films to locate opposing defensive weaknesses, Letarte said a NASCAR crew chief now has to analyze statistics and see if he can gain an advantage for his driver.

"With other races when you see teams win, even when it is not us, it is preparation that goes in to that," Letarte said. "It is knowing the trends. There are trends to these races when the yellow is called. There are trends on how many tires you need to take.

"It is just stats and studying and I think that is why you see teams that seem lucky win a lot of races."

Letarte said with the tightening of rules in recent years, teams now rely more on data from previous races to create a statistical analysis.

"I think it is like any other change made in the sport, it changes how you have to race," he said "It is no different than harder tires, softer tires. You know, four or five years ago they changed the tires. No one ever would have stayed out on tires at Darlington or Atlanta or any of those places and now you see that winning more races.

"I think that it forces the crew chief, the team and even the driver to be studied up on all of it."

Letarte admitted luck played a major role in Gordon's victory, but his decision to stay out during a series of yellow-flag stops 35 laps shy of the halfway mark wasn't as big a risk as it seemed at first glance.

"I think a lot of people are making it out to be a bigger risk than it was," Letarte said. "If we had been in the top two or three cars and given up track position, I think it would have been a huge risk. A lot of times at Pocono the only way you are going to win a race or run up front is to get off-cycle.

"We decided at that point we had run 60 or 70 laps or whatever it was and eighth was about as far as we were going to get, so we were going to try and get off-cycle and gain a little track position. Everyone has said how great an idea it was to do it, but there were other teams that did it."

Letarte admitted that going for the win wasn't first on his mind when making the call to stay on the track. Instead, he was trying to increase his odds of a good finish, no matter the timing of the final rain shower.

"What people forget about Pocono is that it ended up raining out, but even if it would have gone back to dry and we all would have pitted at that point, we still would have gained track position," he said. "So, it worked in two ways. It was good and we won. At the same time, it was an easier way to pass eight guys because we just didn't give Jeff a car good enough to do it today and you saw after we got out in clean air, we had [enough speed.]"

And again, a little homework paid off for Letarte.

"I had a note from last year's race that Greg Biffle was 16 seconds behind the leader and pitted and didn't lose a lap," Letarte said. "That was the only note I remembered, is that you won't lose a lap here. So it doesn't matter if it doesn't work. It is going to cycle around and everybody is going to need fuel and you would be OK."

So how does Letarte stay focused on strategy when there are so many distractions?

"If you watch during the race, I walk a lot and sometimes I just have to walk away from someone giving a suggestion or thoughts because I just need to think and it worked out good today," Letarte said. "The strength of our team is the team. I didn't make that decision today; I was part of the decision.

"Our car chief had a hand in it, our engineer had a hand in it, Ken Howes had a hand in it and our spotter had a huge hand in it because he could see the clouds coming. It is a huge group of people who are pulling in the same direction, and that is what is going to make it work.

"I am not smart enough to go out and make that decision to win that race, but me and 19 other guys are collectively smart enough to get lucky and get a little weather and win the race."