There are not really any weaknesses and there’s probably four to five key components to a race team and their ability to win, and you had to have all five.
You can’t be missing one. You come out on the last pit stop, last fuel stop, fifth or sixth.
I mean, you’re cooked. You’re done at that point.
So you just kind of know where you stand and everything kind of plays out through the race and, yeah, the best always seem to get to the front.”
Setup Challenges and Strategy
The race demands a careful balance between cornering grip and top speed on the long straightaways.
“I don’t know, this is just so different from an intermediate standpoint,” Hamlin said. “Now it’s got high corner speeds, which you would consider intermediate.
But you also don’t know like what decisions teams make on the trim levels of their car, very similar to Pocono, things could, someone could just say, hey, you know what, I’m trimming out.
I want to qualify up front. That’s how we’re going to keep our track position.
So, I’m optimistic that, yeah, our speed should carry, but it’s not a given.”
Teams are also adapting to a revised 50-minute practice session before qualifying.
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“I think it depends on the racetrack as to whether you make qualifying runs or where you make two race runs, how many miles do you want to put on the engine,” Hamlin said.
