First 600 Mile Race for the COT

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By Deb Williams

CONCORD, N.C. (May 24, 2008) – Lowe's Motor Speedway's Coca-Cola 600 has always been the ultimate endurance test for both driver and machine, but this year there's another factor in the equation – it's the COT car's debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' longest race.

On the 1.5-mile tracks, the car has received less than stellar reviews from its pilots. In the NASCAR Sprint All-Star event, the side-by-side, multi-pass racing the sanctioning body had sought with its creation was virtually non-existent. The drivers cited track position as critical, just as it had been with last year's cars, and they don't expect anything to change for Sunday's 400-lap event. It will boil down to how a driver gets off pit road on his final stop and track position.

“I think whoever gets out front, it seems as though you kind of get out there and guys get stuck behind you and you can't make a move; you can't get past them and stuff,” said Kyle Busch, who earned the pole for the event.

Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who qualified 18th, said Sunday's race would be a “long, long night.”

“It's going to be tough; it always is,” Gordon continued. “Six-hundred miles here is quite an experience and you've got to survive. You've got to go from day to night conditions and you've got to be there and good on the lead lap when it really counts.”

Gordon said the COT would make the event seem even longer.

“This car definitely is a challenge,” Gordon said. “And it's making it tougher on all the drivers and all the teams. Some guys seem to have it figured out better than others. And for those guys, it looks easy. For the other guys that don't, it's a constant work in progress. You've just got to fight hard throughout the whole night.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will start sixth, described the COT as “still such an unknown.”

“We're getting them to drive better, but in 25 laps (last week) my car went from really, really tight to way, way loose. I mean in 20 laps really,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “That's such a huge swing for a car to make. I thought it was bi-polar. We've just got to figure out how to get the car to stay more consistent over a long period of time.”

After Saturday's final practice, the crew chiefs' reviews of their cars were mixed. Jimmy Fennig, David Ragan's crew chief, said he didn't care if Ragan was happy because he was and he was sleeping in his own bed Saturday night.

Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, said neither he nor his driver could figure out what was wrong, and Jeff Burton's crew chief, Todd Berrier, noted that all of the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets were struggling.

However, Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs Steve Addington and Greg Zipadelli were pleased with their cars. Three of the top five cars in the final practice were Toyotas. Greg Biffle and Ragan were the top two, but then Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and David Reutimann rounded out the top five, respectively.

“It drives good, so if we can survive the first third of the race and get track position, I think we're going to be in pretty good shape,” Zipadelli commented.

In talking about the COT's performance, Biffle noted the All-Star race consisted of only 22 cars in four 25-lap sprints, and it would definitely be a different story in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.

“What's going to happen is the leader will get in traffic during a 600-mile race, so you're gonna see a lot better racing,” said Biffle, whose Ford will start fourth on Sunday. “I think a lot of cars were single file last week because the cars are so equal and there were only 22 cars. There wasn't anything to mix it up. It's not like a 22-car Bud Shootout, where you're drafting and everybody is on top of each other.”

The 400-lap race begins in the late afternoon and ends at night, thus the cooling track presents a chassis adjustment challenge since the balance of the car changes considerably.

“You don't win the Coca-Cola 600 in the first 100 laps, but you can certainly lose it by doing something stupid early,” said Kasey Kahne, who's starting on the outside of the front row a week after winning the All-Star race. “You have to be patient for the majority of the 600 miles and get racy later in the race. Our car was really good at night in the All-Star race and I would expect it to be the same tomorrow night.”