NASCAR WCUP: Crew Chief Club at the Save Mart/Kragen 350
25 June 1999
Event: Save Mart/Kragen 350 When: Sun., June 27 at 4:30 p.m. EDT on ESPNWhere: Sears Point Raceway (1.949-mile road course)
Together, Jimmy Makar, Larry McReynolds, Todd Parrott and Robin Pemberton have led their drivers to 70 wins, 379 top-five finishes, 600 top-10 finishes and 70 poles prior to this Sun
day's Save Mart/Kragen 350 at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. McReynolds has enjoyed much success at Sears Point. He led Davey Allison to a win at the 1991 Banquet 300, and in 1994, McReynolds chiefed Ernie Irvan to the pole and the win at the Save Mart 300.
Pemberton was at the helm for Rusty Wallace's second career victory at Sears Point in the 1996 Save Mart 300.
In last year's Save Mart/Kragen 350, the Crew Chief Club finished in the following order:
Makar/Labonte Start: 9th Finish: 4th Status: Running
Pemberton/Wallace Start: 28th Finish: 5th Status: Running
Parrott/Jarrett Start: 3rd Finish: 15th Status: Running
McReynolds/Skinner Start: 24th Finish: 17th Status: Running
Crew Chief Club souvenirs are available on the Chevrolet and Ford merchandise trailers. Fans can also log-on to the Crew Chief Club at their official website, www.crewchiefclub.com.
WHAT DO YOU DO DIFFERENTLY WHEN BUILDING A CAR FOR A ROAD COURSE?
Jimmy Makar - Interstate Batteries Pontiac of Bobby Labonte - "Basically, you have to turn left and right on a road course. Whereas on a circle track, you just turn left all the time. On an oval, you put all the weight on the left side that you're allowed by the rules. Any bit of off-set that you put in the car, you put in to make the car turn left better. When you go to a road course, you can't do that because you've got to turn left and right. The car is more square and there is no off-set anything as your weight distribution is more equal front to rear and left to right. You build everything into the car to make the car as equal as possible because you're going to be turning to the right and to the left. We used to set up for 'The Carousel' turn, a long, sweeping and fast left-hand U-turn, but with the new configuration that corner is gone. So, we try to concentrate on getting through the esses. We're carrying a lot more speed coming at that corner now. It doesn't have as tight a radius as it used to, so you'll be going about 30-40 mph faster coming into the esses. It's going to be critical to maintain that speed."
Larry McReynolds - Lowe's Home Improvement Chevrolet of Mike Skinner - "With the changes they've made at Sears Point, it's a lot more like Suzuka (Japan) and Watkins Glen (N.Y.). Before the change, you had to focus on left and right turning. You had to neutralize your balance to where it was in the center of the car. But now, all the turns are predominantly to the right, just like Watkins Glen. Instead of low and to the left like on round tracks, we build our cars low and to the right because most of the turns are right hand turns. There is one left turn that's still there - turn one. Turn one's more of a high-speed dogleg than it is a corner. It's right past the start/finish line. You carry a lot of speed into it. But where you do the majority of your passing is on the right hand turns, so that's what you've got to focus on."
Todd Parrott - Ford Quality Care Service/Ford Credit Ford of Dale Jarrett - "Sears Point is pretty similar to Watkins Glen. You turn more to the right than you do to the left, so you've got to have a car that's opposite of everywhere else you take it. We had a good qualifying effort there last year so we feel pretty good about going back."
Robin Pemberton - Miller Lite Ford of Rusty Wallace - "Sears Point is a bit like Watkins Glen with the exception that you don't brake as much. The most important part about setting up your car for a road course is knowing how many good shots you get at passing under braking. At Sears Point, you only get one good shot."
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