Plus, No. 4 team gets used to car going to R&D Center
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will shift gears, literally and figuratively, this week as they move from the banked 1-mile oval of Dover International Speedway to the 2.5-mile triangle of Pocono Raceway.
That quick boost of acceleration off the corners of the uniquely shaped track often comes with a price -- the potential for parts breakage.
"It (raises) durability concerns because that's one more part, one more abuse cycle you're going through every time you shift," Darian Grubb, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota for driver Carl Edwards, said Tuesday. "It's more parts that can break."
Performance may not be affected if a driver chooses not to shift, he said, but "to get the maximum lap times you pretty much have to.
"We're still curious to see with this engine package and aero package going there is it going to be mandatory where you have to (shift) every lap or you're going to get run over, or is it going to kind of mute it out a little bit and make handling that more important? I'm not sure.
"There have been a lot of tracks where people have shifted so far this year where we really haven't because we didn't see much of an advantage to it."
Shifting also can dramatically change the balance of the car, Grubb said, because of the specific gear ratios required by NASCAR. "If you have a tight car, you can make it loose by downshifting and breaking your rear tires loose.
"It's actually something we try to push at Pocono, having our drivers practice shifting and non-shifting laps in all three turns to know where we stand on balance if we (make certain changes)."
Historically, data doesn't seem to favor either option.
"I think it's all a matter of setup, driver timing and driver preference," Grubb said. "You have a lot of teams there that shift in all three corners and a lot of drivers that shifting in the tunnel turn is the last thing they want to do because it's already white knuckles (through there)."
Satellite Shop For No. 4 -- NASCAR R&D
The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 entry of Kevin Harvick that finished second at Dover on Sunday was one of three cars taken back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for final inspection.
Also taken were the cars of race winner Jimmie Johnson and 21st-place finisher Denny Hamlin. NASCAR officials said Tuesday that all three cars had been inspected and no issues were found.
It marked the 10th time this season one of Harvick's cars had been sent to the R&D center following a race, something crew chief Rodney Childers said he has become accustomed to. His cars made the trip back to Concord, North Carolina at least a dozen times last season.
"It's not that big of a deal," Childers told NASCAR.com recently. "It works out fine. It always sounds bad when you hear how many times we've been over there since this team was started, but I'd rather have it that way. They always take first, second and a random, and we've been first or second a lot."
Childers said crewmen from the team take the car apart for officials as the final inspection process begins.
"We take all the suspension off, the motor out, fuel cell out, pretty much every little piece and part and they inspect all of it," he said. "When we get it back to the shop, it's almost halfway disassembled, which is a good thing. We would be doing that anyway."
The first- and second-place entries, and often a random, are taken back to the R&D center by NASCAR officials after all events except for the season-opening Daytona 500 and the season-ending finale at Homestead.
The Daytona 500 winning car, in the most recent case the No. 22 of Team Penske driver Joey Logano, goes through final inspection at the track so that it may be put on display at DIS for one year.
At Homestead, the four cars competing in the season finale for the Chase also go through final inspection at the track to expedite official championship results.
When Push Comes To Shove
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams have been penalized 12 times this season for driving through more than three pit stalls, a violation that results in a pass-thru penalty. But for the first time this season, a team was penalized for pushing a car through more than three pit stalls.
The HScott Motorsports No. 46 team, with driver Michael Annett, was flagged for the infraction this past weekend at Dover, on Lap 279 of the 400-lap race.
Goodyear Stands Pat At Pocono, Texas
The Goodyear tire combination provided to teams for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 is the same that's been used exclusively at the 2.5-mile track since 2012.
Camping World Truck Series teams, competing at Texas Motor Speedway, will have the same tire combination used last season. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series teams ran the combination, which includes right side tires featuring a multi-zone construction, at Texas earlier this season.