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  1. #81
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    RULES PACKAGE

    The 2020 NASCAR rules package for superspeedways will be in effect, with additional engine restrictions intended to drop the target horsepower to around 510. The cars will use the superspeedway package, but aero ducts will be eliminated and a smaller throttle body will be used. Competition officials introduced the changes May 1 after Ryan Newman’s severe wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500. Learn more about the crash findings and the intent of the safety and competition changes here.

    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Cup Series teams will have seven sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for the race.

    Tire management and taking risks might be the theme of this week, as it is possible to pit here without losing a lap. With the importance of track position and chances to make moves at the end of a stage, working with teammates and manufacturer groupings to perfect a winning strategy will be a focus for drivers and crew chiefs all afternoon.

    “While not known as a high-wear track, we do actually see some wear at Talladega,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Talladega was repaved in 2010, but tire wear is really not an issue. This leaves open the possibility for some pit strategy, with teams having the opportunity to take two tires, or even no tires on occasion. This will impact them in two ways — to gain a little track position and help them stay close to teammates or other cars they are working with in the draft.”

    PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

    — Team Penske drivers have won five of the last six playoff races at Talladega. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, the team’s two remaining playoff drivers this year, have a combined eight career wins here. Ryan Blaney, who was knocked out of the playoffs after the Round of 16, has won the last two Talladega races.

    — Kurt Busch has made the playoffs seven times during the current elimination format but has never made it to the Championship 4. With his win at Las Vegas, he advances to the Round of 8 but still has a point total that is below the cutline.

    — Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman are the only remaining playoff drivers who do not have a superspeedway win in their Cup Series career.

    — Kyle Busch has just six races left to extend his 15-year win streak. He has four runner-up finishes this season.

    Source: Racing Insights

  2. #82
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    ch Ch Changes in posting of New Setup again...

    All three road courses on the Cup Series schedule will have the new rules in place:

    Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (2.28 miles)
    Sonoma Raceway (2.52 miles)
    Watkins Glen International (2.45 miles)

    “When we consider changes to the aero package, we often can look back on our playbook, if you will, from seasons past,” Probst said, “and there’s obviously some trade-offs that you make between introducing something completely new that the industry has never seen versus something that we have run before where we have a playbook from our side and (teams) have setup books from their end. We felt like we were going to look at aero packages that we have run in the past, and looking back at a lot of competitive metrics that we track, we feel like the 2017 levels of downforce on those types of tracks had pretty good side-by-side racing that our fans enjoyed.

    “So instead of just coming out and creating a completely new aero spec that’s unknown to possibly us and more importantly the industry, we felt like we’d go back to something that’s tried and true for us and go back to a package that we had run recently. At the same time, we did make some small adjustments to that package so that it would fit with our current intermediate speedway package so that we’d minimize further the necessity of the teams to have to develop this package.”

    Probst said that the aerodynamic changes were met with a “broad base of support” in meetings that were initially held with stakeholders — spanning drivers, team engineers and managers, Goodyear representatives, manufacturers and broadcast partners — during NASCAR Champions Week in December at Nashville, Tennessee.

    “Certainly from our standpoint, we feel like this is a step in the right direction to create more side-by-side, exciting moments during the race,” Probst said. “Obviously the proof will be in the pudding, but this is certainly something that we have run before that’s had good results.”

  3. #83
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    Finally Found it :

    RULES PACKAGE

    The Cup Series will use the adjusted 2020 package for short tracks and road courses, featuring a reduced rear spoiler and front splitter with engines remaining optimized to produce a targeted 750 horsepower.
    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Teams will be provided with eight sets of Goodyear Eagle Road Course Radials for the race.

    Despite running a section of the main Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, this week’s focus is set to zone in on maneuverability and tire pressure for right-hand turns.

    “We treat the Roval as a road course from a tire construction perspective,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “But the Roval is distinct from other, more traditional road courses that these teams run. Running the majority of the oval, inserting the two chicanes and then having the infield portion of the road course really provides its share of challenges. As on other road courses, the front tires will have higher pressure recommendations to handle the hard braking into the corners and acceleration off the corners. In deference to the oval, the right-front tire position will have the highest pressure recommendation to handle the loads on those sections.”
    PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

    — Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott are tied for the most road wins among active drivers with four apiece. Elliott has won each of the last three Cup Series road-course races dating back to 2019.

    — Heading into the Round of 12 elimination race, no driver has locked into the next round on points only. Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch secured advancement with wins.

    — Alex Bowman has the best average finish of all Cup Series drivers at the Charlotte Roval: 3.0. He and Clint Bowyer are the only drivers to finish inside the top five in both races.

    — Martin Truex Jr. has led laps in the last 10 road-course races, tied for the second longest streak in series history. Despite not always coming out on top, he has arguably been in a good position to win the last nine.

    Source: Racing Insights

  4. #84
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    RULES PACKAGE

    The 2020 NASCAR rules package for intermediate-sized tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to achieve a target of 550 horsepower. The cars will use aero ducts in addition to other aerodynamic devices to increase downforce.

    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Kansas Speedway is not considered to be a high tire-wear track, but it has aged some since its repave in 2012. Teams can expect to see approximately a second and a half of fall-off in lap times over the course of a full fuel run.

    Cup Series teams will get nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for the race, while Xfinity Series teams will get five sets and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series teams will get four sets.

    Teams in all three national series will run the same left-side tire code, but the Cup cars will run a different right-side tire code this weekend that is designed to provide more grip.

    PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

    — Three drivers who advanced to the Round of 8 matched or improved their deepest playoff run: Chase Elliott (R8), Alex Bowman (R12) and Kurt Busch (R8).

    — Kevin Harvick is the only repeat winner during this season’s playoffs with wins at Darlington Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

    — Kurt Busch has made the playoffs seven times during the elimination format but has never made it to the Championship 4, the most playoff appearances by a current playoff driver without making the season finale.

    — Alex Bowman is the only Round of 8 driver without a win at either of the three tracks.

    Source: Racing Insights

  5. #85
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    RULES PACKAGE

    The 2020 NASCAR rules package for intermediate-sized tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to achieve a target of 550 horsepower. The cars will use aero ducts in addition to other aerodynamic devices to increase downforce.

    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Each Cup Series team will be allotted nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials for the 501-mile race.

    Increasing familiarity with tire setup is a benefit for teams heading into the weekend, as the same combination was used in September’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway last weekend. With the inability to practice and iron out wrinkles, looking back on previous races is each team’s best bet — even on the smoother Texas track.

    “Since its repave a few years back, the smooth surface at Texas has provided a challenge in that it does not wear tires on its own,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “We have aligned several similar tracks that don’t naturally wear tires – Texas, Las Vegas and Kansas – and bring tread compounds that introduce some wear. Like we said for Kansas last week, getting tires to wear is a good thing. Tires that wear will run cooler because they shed rubber over the course of a run and dissipate heat out through the tread.”

    PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

    — The last 28 Cup Series playoff races have been won by playoff-eligible drivers. The last playoff race won by a non-eligible driver was at Phoenix Raceway in 2017 when Matt Kenseth, previously eliminated in the Round of 12, earned the victory.

    — After Kyle Busch’s elimination in the Round of 12, three of the four drivers from the 2019 Championship 4 remain in contention.

    — Jimmie Johnson (four) and Kevin Harvick (three) have combined to win seven of the last eight playoff races at Texas. Harvick has won the last three.

    — The eventual Cup Series champion has finished inside the top 10 in the Texas playoff race in five of the six years of the elimination era. But the winner of the race has never gone on to win the title under the current format.

    Source: Racing Insights

  6. #86
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    RULES PACKAGE

    The 2020 NASCAR rules package for short tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to set a target of 750 horsepower. The cars will use a reduced downforce package with a shorter spoiler, a shorter splitter overhang and other aerodynamic changes.

    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Each team will be outfitted with nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Short Track Radials.

    Later into the fall season, adjusting for cooler track temperatures is a key factor in developing the right tire compound that produces the desired wear. It is important for the tires to have the ability to lay rubber in all areas of the track, creating alternate racing grooves throughout the race.

    “The last time we raced at Martinsville, it was June and both ambient and track temperatures were not a concern,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “We’ve had a lot of cold weather races at this track over the past several years, so we did some work on developing tread compounds that would lay rubber in the concrete corners in those conditions. The results have been good, as we’ve seen the surface turn from white to black in the corners, giving drivers the ability to move up the track to find grip. The resulting second lane has helped produce some great racing along the way.”

    PLAYOFF STATS TO KNOW

    — Only Joe Gibbs Racing has competed with multiple Championship 4 drivers in the same year (2016, 2019), and Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are still in contention for 2020. This trend will change if Brad Keselowski joins Team Penske teammate Joey Logano for the final run at Phoenix Raceway.

    — Neither Hamlin or Kevin Harvick have won in the last three races, tying the longest winless streak between the two for the entire 2020 season.

    — With his win at Kansas Speedway, Logano tied Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fred Lorenzen for 31st in all-time Cup Series wins with 26. Logano currently has a three-year multi-race win streak and has won multiple times in six of the last seven seasons.

    — Alex Bowman is the only remaining title contender who has never finished inside the top five at Martinsville. He heads into this weekend in a potential must-win situation, sitting 25 points below the cutline.

    Source: Racing Insights

    2019 RACE WINNER

    Martin Truex Jr. put on a historic display of dominance in last year’s playoff race at Martinsville, leading 464 laps and picking up his first win at the track. Truex swept each stage and punched his ticket to the Championship 4.

    RELATED: Who does this race favor?

    ACTIVE MARTINSVILLE WINNERS

    Jimmie Johnson (nine wins); Denny Hamlin (five wins); Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch (two wins each); Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman (one win each).

  7. #87
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    4me BOL...

    RULES PACKAGE

    Teams will use the enhanced 2020 short oval and road course package, featuring a significantly shorter rear spoiler and front splitter. Cars are fitted with a tapered-spacer engine targeting around 750 horsepower and emphasizing lower downforce due to aerodynamic changes.

    GOODYEAR TIRES

    Cup Series teams are provided with nine sets of Goodyear Eagle Intermediate Radials. Goodyear is accounting for the changes made to the series’ short track package by increasing mechanical grip through new tread compounds. Running with lower downforce, tire wear management will come into play throughout the afternoon for teams and may be a key factor in deciding the race winner.

    “This package that the Cup cars run at Phoenix — the tires, horsepower and aero — really produced some great racing when we debuted it in March,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “The sport as a whole came together to come up with ideas to improve this short track rules package, and that enabled us at Goodyear to bring a tire that adds mechanical grip and wears a bit more. Those are two important factors, as the mechanical grip replaces the loss of aerodynamic grip with the lower downforce, while the ability for tires to wear is always a positive.”

    CHAMPIONSHIP STATS TO KNOW

    — The season finale has been won by a Championship 4 driver in all six years of the current format. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano are this year’s drivers looking to keep the streak alive.

    — Logano (2018) and Keselowski (2012), Team Penske teammates, are the only previous Cup Series champions in the 2020 Championship 4 and both started the season with new crew chief pairings.

    — Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Elliott, has three wins at Phoenix with three different drivers. His three victories at this track are more than the other three Championship 4 crew chiefs combined.

    — Four of the last seven drivers to reach nine wins in a season failed to win the championship, including the last two: Kevin Harvick in 2020 and Carl Edwards in 2008.

    Source: Racing Insights

 

 
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