NASCAR Trucks: Drafting, gas mileage, and pit performance key to Daytona Truck win
3 February 2000
"The Truck Series guys are going to have to learn several things during the race at Daytona," said David Starr, pilot of the No. 35 Unified Office Network Chevrolet Silverado. "And one of the most important is how to draft properly." Starr admitted that "the draft does play a key role at some tracks like Texas, California and Michigan, but here we have a lot more speed and it takes longer to get up to full speed. This means that if you get out of line it is going to be extremely difficult to catch up. Many of the guys racing in the trucks - myself included - have little or no experience with this type of a race so we are going to have to learn as much as we can in practice." The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series makes their inaugural Speedweeks debut at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, February 18. The Craftsman Truck 250 is slated to be 100 laps on the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway, and is destined to be one of the most memorable races of the season, and one of the fastest. In testing, the Craftsman Truck Series vehicles were over 190-mph in the draft, considerably faster than the Winston Cup cars that averaged slightly under 188-mph in their pre-race test sessions. Though not as aerodynamic as the cars, the trucks have an advantage because they do not run restrictor plates at Daytona, or any other track they visit. "We don't have restrictor plates so the fans should expect to see a good old-fashioned race like they used to see here," Starr speculated. "Drafting and passing should be like the 'good-old days.' You could pass a guy in the turn and he could get right under you and take the position back," Starr explained. "It will be back and forth the entire race - passing and being passed. You've really got to stay alert because things happen so fast at these speeds. These trucks are so evenly matched a key to winning the race will be staying in pit sequence. The guys working the pit stops will play a very critical role at Daytona and they could decide the outcome of the race. "Gas mileage is another key to this event. Coming into the last few laps, don't be surprised to see a few teams try and stretch things out so they can sneak away with a win. Everyone wants to win every race, but the chance to win at Daytona - and especially the very first truck race here - will have many drivers and teams working that much harder. This is the chance of a lifetime to fulfill the dream that we all have about winning at Daytona," Starr added. The race will be televised live on ESPN at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Fans can also catch the action on MRN radio. The qualifying session is set for Wednesday, February 16. In 2000 Starr plans to make frequent starts, but not a full season, in three NASCAR series. He will run the No. 35 Unified Office Networks Chevrolet Silverado in the Craftsman Truck Series, the No. 16 - 31W Installations Pontiac Grand Prix in the Busch Series, and the No. 35 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Winston West Series.