Driver Quotes From Pocono Regarding Shifting

A few of the drivers talked with the media before Friday's first practice at Pocono with the main topic being about shifting this week.

Johnson's only two Pocono wins came while shifting 

JIMMIE JOHNSON TALKS ABOUT BRINGING BACK THE ELEMENT OF SHIFTING HERE AT POCONO: “We started shifting last year and even I tried some the year before that and didn’t see a lot of speed because the gear ratios we were allowed to use, there is just such a big gap between each downshift is one, very risky and two, we couldn’t run the coolers on the cars to keep everything cool, cold, because as you start downshifting…the transmission coolers…so if you are running in third gear a lot, you are going to build a lot of extra heat and you need to have coolers and stuff on the car in order to keep the transmission under it. It was kind of a risky thing, you only wanted to do it from time-to-time. Not-to-mention the power curve of the engine, if you are not shifting, you might want to move the power curve down and a lower RPM range where you will run and then if you shift you kind of want to do the opposite because you can stay in that peak RPM longer. So it really hasn’t been a strong effort to have a car shift and guys are dabbling with it."

"Now it just makes it easy where you can come in, you can put the coolers on the car, you can get the gaps closer so when you downshift you aren’t risking missing a shift and spinning the car out and crashing it. It won’t be as easy to tear up the transmission and you can build and engine package to suit what you plan on doing. So I think it has been a good move. It brings a lot of interest to the track and a lot of discussion from a fan standpoint and the media standpoint. Gives us drivers options. Gives the team options. The engine shops options. I think there is a lot of excitement coming into this race from the garage area.”

RYAN NEWMAN TALKS ABOUT SHIFTING AND HIS STRATEGY COMING INTO POCONO: “It will be interesting. It puts the driver back a little bit more into the equation of things with respect to the shifting. The second part of the shifting is that it does change the handling of the race car so getting into a car that drives good when you don’t shift versus when you do shift just because of the fuel mileage situation with the big race track, that makes a difference as well. The combination of driver, crew chief and race car, is probably more important than it is most other race tracks just with the asymmetry of the race. Three different corners; different banking; different length straightaways; shifting; not shifting-those types of things. A lot of communication has to be done here. You add into that your spotter talking you coming off of turn four the first couple of times, you get everything sorted out, you can have a good day.”

Kurt Busch's two wins came with mandated gear ratio

KURT BUSCH EXPLAINS HOW SHIFTING AT POCONO CAN CHANGE THE WAY YOU RACE AT POCONO? “Back in the day, we’d run third gear primarily all the way around the race track and put it into fourth gear down the long front straightaway. With the gear rule that we’re going to change to and what we’re going to adapt to today, we’ll see how it plays out. We might end up shifting more often because it’s a third gear that’s mandated, so we can’t change it at all. It helps you come off the corner stronger. With a lower gear like that, you’re able to get those rear tires to spin a little easier and you’re going to be on the looser side of things. It’s basically getting that squirt out of the corner, coming out of the corner stronger with that gear. We’ll see how much it loosens it up, yet you still have to be conservative because you don’t want to over-rev the engine. We’re seeing a lot of these races getting into fuel mileage. The more that you’re shifting, that’s going to take away your fuel mileage as well. Most likely, we’ll downshift right at the apex of the corner because it will over-rev the engine if we downshift into the corner.”

CLINT BOWYER TALKS ABOUT THE NEW GEAR RATIO AND SHIFTING: “Is that our push to pass button? I don’t know. There was a couple of times even in the last couple of years getting down into (turn) one you get really bottled up and you’d actually reach down and grab your gear anyway you’d be bogged down so much that you felt like you needed to. Only time will tell. We’ll have to get out there on the race track. I don’t know that it will be an every lap deal. Certainly, probably, maybe on restarts but we just have to get out there and feel it out and see what we’ve got. I’ve never shifted here before but like I said it’s not that big of a deal. We shift on the road courses all the time and it’s really kind of a given. You can tell by the pitch in the engine, you don’t even have to look at the tach and know what rpm you are, you can tell by listening to the engine if you need to reach down and get you a gear.”

MATT KENSETH ON WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT AND IF HE LIKES IT: “I don’t really know but I think it will be a little bit better. I think it will be more forgiving if you get in traffic or if you miss the corner or whatever you will be able to down shift and have a little power to get back up out of there. I am looking forward to it.”

“It is easier not to shift but I like shifting because it adds another element to the race. I think it probably makes more passing and you have to be a little easier and careful on equipment. I think it gives you more of a possibility of things breaking. It puts it more in the drivers hands and I like that.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR. TALKS ABOUT SHIFTING AGAIN AT POCONO: “I don’t know. I’m going to try to find out. I haven’t shift here in a while. I think it’s unnecessary but they think the brakes are going to be better but it ain’t going to be no better.”

“Shifting is no big deal. Just hopefully you’ve got the gears all right and everything feels pretty comfortable. It should be fine. It will be the same as it was last year. Take last year’s race and replay it and just imagine all the drivers are shifting.”

Pocono Preview: Hamlin a Huge Favorite to Win Fifth Time

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Keselowski was third 100/1 or higher payout of 2011

We’ve had 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup series races thus far and three of them have been won by drivers at 100-to-1 odds or higher. Last weeks fuel mileage win by Brad Keselowski at Kansas was another in the growing list of 2011’s improbable winners as he joins Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 win (100/1) and Regan Smith’s Darlington surprise (500/1).

When mixing in the fact that we’re seeing a whole new change on the landscape of NASCAR's hierarchy, it could be argued that 2011 may be the most competitive season ever. The reigning five-time champion Jimmie Johnson has only one win on the year and it came at a track, Talladega, that almost anyone has a chance to win at. He’s not dominating the intermediate tracks like he used to.

Current points leader Carl Edwards looked like he was going to recreate his nine win 2008 season early on, but still only has the lone Las Vegas win to his credit. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is running well sitting in third, but even though he can't fins a win, the NASCAR Nation is loving it as TV ratings have reflected. Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin all are winless thus far into the season as well.

For the first time I can ever recall, there are at least 25 drivers that have a legitimate shot at winning each week. We still have the heavy hitter teams doing well with Hendrick, Childress, Roush, Gibbs and now Penske, but the gap between them and the lesser teams is closing.

Stewart-Haas racing is an extension of Hendrick while Michael Waltrip and Red Bull racing are gaining steam. The Ganassi team of Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya are also going to be better going forward; it’s amazing mix of parity never seen before.

Hamlin could be ready to get first 2011 win (Getty)

This week at Pocono Raceway we have an opportunity to see another first time winner as Denny Hamlin’s team comes in with things just starting to click for them. Last weeks third-place finish at Kansas gave Hamlin only his second top-five finish of the season. At this juncture last season Hamlin already had three of his eventual eight wins on the season.

At Pocono, no one has been better than Hamlin since he made his debut there in 2006. He made a splash there in his first season like never seen before as he swept both races. He also won the fall race of 2009 and this race last season giving him four wins in 10 starts with an average finish of 8.2.

The only case you could make for Hamlin not winning is just because of the climate of parity going on. Hamlin also has been in somewhat of a hangover since blowing the Championship in the final two races last season that no aspirin has been able to cure. However, momentum and being the best at the track should counter most negative assertions of Hamlin this week.

The Las Vegas Hilton Super Book feels so good about his chances to rebound this week that they have posted Hamlin as the huge 4-to-1 favorite, a major chnage from the double digit odds routinely seen on him weekly.

The main component to doing well at Pocono always rests with horsepower and who can get the most out of it on the long straight-aways. Getting a cars balance set exactly to a drivers liking is never possible because each of the three turns are vastly different which usually makes the driver choose what corner they want to be the best at. They can only be really good on one of them, but not all three.

This season the fans get the added boost of seeing the drivers being able to shift at Pocono which gives it more of a road course feel. 2004 was the last season where the drivers shifted. The majority of race fans have complained about the last few Pocono races because they can get pretty boring with everyone running the same gear ratio with not enough passing. With the change we should see a lot more passing with drivers ability coming to the forefront moreso than other tracks.

Shifting adds a new/old element to Pocono racing

Even though Juan Pablo Montoya hasn't had a very good season, he could be a driver to keep and eye on during practice because of his road racing skills. Marcos Ambrose, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick should also be conisdered a little bit more just because of the new/old element we have this week.

The top horsepower teams right now appear to be the stable of drivers at Roush and Childress, with Gibbs and Hendrick just a notch behind.

Stewart has also been able to get his cars set pretty well in his last two seasons at Pocono that include a win in 2009, third in this race last season and runner-up in the fall. Stewart will be using his seventh-place Darlington chassis. Beyond what car he brought, the real key for all drivers and their crew chiefs is what gear ratio turns out to be the best. If Stewart can gain any edge there, his driving ability and horsepower will be the winning combination Sunday.

Carl Edwards is a two time winner who won as a rookie like Hamlin did in 2005, the first year NASCAR changed the gear ratio for Pocono. He also won in his magical year of 2008 and was third in the fall race last season. He would seem like the most logical choice on paper to stop Hamlin’s look at win No. 5. He's bringing an excellent car this week too. It's the same one that won at Las Vegas and finished runner-up at Darlington.

Greg Biffle won the fall race here last season and was part of the late season surge by all the Roush cars that has spilled over to this season. Matt Kenseth has had only two top-five finishes at Pocono over his career, but because of how solid the entire Roush team has been he could be in store for his best career finish.

Last season all three Childress cars looked good enough to win in both races. Between Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Bowyer they had five top-10 finishes in the six combined starts. Harvick ended up showing the best with fourth-place in both races. With the way that Harvick has been stealing wins this season, taking one here wouldn’t be a surprise. It doesn't hurt that Harvick will be using his winning Michigan car from last season, a track that requires lots of horsepower.

Top 5 Finish prediction:
1) #14 Tony Stewart (10/1)
2) #11 Denny Hamlin (4/1)
3) #99 Carl Edwards (10/1)
4) #16 Greg Biffle (15/1)
5) #29 Kevin Harvick (12/1)