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NASCAR WCUP: Nadeau Looks Ahead to the Mall.com 400

14 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Jerry Nadeau
Driver, No. 25 Michael Holigan.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Event Preview Fact Sheet

Event: Mall.com 400
Track: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
Track Specs: Length - 1.366-miles

Nadeau Looks Ahead to the Mall.com 400

"Darlington is one of those tracks that eats tires in a hurry, but the car still has to handle well on old tires since the track tends to get greasy. It becomes a one-groove track, so it's important to stay up front and stay in that groove so you can maintain track position.

"Turns one and two are much different than turns three and four at Darlington. Sometimes you have to give away one turn to get through the other turns better. There are times when the car is great through turns one and two, but when you get down to the other end of the track the car is just tight. You may even have to give away some spots on the race track to be good.

"Some teams have it down to where they are good in all four turns -- it's tough to make that compromise. You want to get through turns one and two well so that you are set up to go down the backstretch. But you also want to get through turns three and four well to set up for the race to the start/finish line. It's a tough call, but if you have a good car, it will work well all the way around.

"At Darlington, you have to run right up against the wall and you have to be on your game 100 percent of the time. One little bobble and you can end up in the wall."

Text provided by Melanie Whitfield

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