Brakes, how the car turns the focus at Richmond

Richmond International Raceway is just three-quarters of a mile around, but it races much bigger ... sort of like a mini-Atlanta.

It's wide enough to race side-by-side, fast enough to keep it interesting and yet small enough that things still happen in a real hurry. It's a short track with a big-track feel. Oh, and there's a lot of attention focused on the Chase this weekend, too, so there's an added element of danger and drama to deal with.

For Jeff Meendering, crew chief for Bobby Labonte's No. 43 Dodge, he's looking to learn as much as he can for the next 11 races, including how to solve the teething problems of the new car.

"The design of the racecar induces a loose-in, tight-center, loose-off condition," he said. "That's something we fight every weekend, but everybody is getting a little closer on their setups, figuring out ways to bandage that. Everybody fights the same handling characteristics.

"Tight-center, the only way you can fix that is to loosen up the racecar, and to do that you have to really free it up. You almost have to live with a loose car to be fast anymore.

We're constantly testing the Kentuckys and Nashvilles and Iowas ... just to see what this car likes. We're definitely getting closer and closer to getting the drivers more and more comfortable. Some people have gotten there already. We haven't, but we're getting closer."

Meendering said that Richmond is wide enough for good racing, but you definitely need brakes to compete at a high level.

"It definitely races bigger than it is," he said. "The width promotes really good racing. From a setup standpoint, though, we look at it like more of a short-track setup ... something like Loudon. You run your short-track brake packages and things like that. The calipers are bigger, thicker rotors and bigger-diameter rotors, and that promotes a lot of heat, so we have all our cooling ducts in and a lot of fans blowing on them."

At Bristol, several cars were eliminated after brake heat melted the bead on the inside of the tires, which is the reason for the ducts and cooling fans, Meendering said. (Continued)