Team boss Rodney Childers’ magic will be put to the test after a random drawing gave Kevin Harvick the eleventh starting place for Sunday’s Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Only twice since 2010, an Indy winner started out of the top 10. Paul Menard won on a fuel per mile bet after starting 15 in 2011. Kasey Kahne won in 2017 after he faced it before a warning at the end of the race, putting him up front. He won in overtime.
Such is the challenge that Harvick and Childers have in a place where track position and strategy are critical and passing is difficult.
“I think everyone on the field can have a different strategy and that different strategy can work for any of those people,” Childers told NBC Sports. “Only depending on when the precaution comes out. There are so many different things that can happen. “
Harvick had a dominant car in last year’s race, but he also benefited when he faced from the front, and before most of the field, on lap 128 of the 160-lap race. Caution went out while I was on the pit road. That brought him back to the front while others clashed during precaution. If Childers hadn’t called Harvick at the time, they wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of that break.
But what happens early can determine whether a team will be in a position to compete late in the race.
If Harvick’s car is good early, the question is how many positions can he earn before the field stretches out on its own?
Then there is the caution of the competition, which is scheduled for lap 12. The first stage ends on lap 50. A full fuel race should reach the end of the stage from the caution of the competition.
One thing Harvick could do is what Childers did in 2018. Childers had Harvick, who was running second at the time, before the competition caution to change four tires (fuel cannot be added before the caution of the competition).
The plan was for Harvick to return down the pit during the competition’s only fuel precaution, making it a quicker stop than those who changed four tires and went ahead. That plan was overturned by a penalty for an uncontrolled tire.
Still, it shows what Childers is willing to do. Another consideration is that if a car is about six seconds or more behind the leader, it is unlikely that it will be able to play under the green and stay on the leader’s lap for when they return to speed.
Tire wear will also play a role as team leaders decide. The tires will wear out earlier in the race with less rubber on the track.
Then you think about how many precautions there will be between the competition’s precaution and the end of the first stage. Last year, a right front tire fell off and sent Landon Cassill’s car against the wall, creating a caution on lap 43. The year before, Martin Truex Jr. took the precaution on lap 42 after a mechanical failure.
There is a lot to consider for any team leader.
“You can’t do the same thing (as the leaders) and have the same result,” Childers said. “That’s where it gets tricky, just thinking it through. Having a good group of people behind you who are constantly thinking about those things (it’s key) and trying to think it through carefully. Only a person, like me, cannot think it alone ”.
But those who make the right decisions, and perhaps get help from a timely precaution, could be celebrating after Sunday’s race.
2. Aging like good wine
Since the Cup Series resumed in May, nine of the 11 races have been won by drivers over the age of 36. Seven of those wins come from drivers over the age of 39.
There is no doubt that Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) 44, Martin Truex Jr. (Joe Gibbs Racing) 40, Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) 39 and 36 – the old Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) leads for some of the leading organizations in sports.
Still, they’ve won during this period, while others, like Kyle Busch, still don’t win. Harvick has three wins, Hamlin has three wins, Keselowski has two wins, and Truex has one win.
The only drivers under the age of 36 to win since May are Chase Elliott, 24, in Charlotte’s second race, and Ryan Blaney, 26, at Talladega.
So are these veteran drivers using their experience without practice before the races? Or is this a case of old talent showing that you can stay among the elite of the sport longer?
“The level of experience obviously comes into play,” said Harvick. “I think that when you are surrounded by a good team and a good organization and you are able to solve those details, I think the potential is to lead to your 50 years. Why not? I think with the health side of things and the way people take care of themselves and exercise, I think the longevity of the body in most of us in the future will be longer lasting than in the past. “
Harvick has won 15 races since 2018.
“I think I had a second life, I guess you could say they came to SHR,” said Harvick, who has been with Stewart-Haas Racing since 2014. “That was very motivating, and I think seeing it now is still for me. very motivating. You work your whole career to get into a situation like this.
“I had a long conversation with Mark Martin. You work your whole career to get yourself into this situation, why would you want to give that up and just say, ‘I quit’? As long as (wife) DeLana and my family support us, I don’t think the drive and enthusiasm for showing up on the track every week will go away anytime soon. You just have to balance those things. I think looking at 40-year-old Martin (Truex Jr.) and Denny (Hamlin), and much of the success has been from that particular age group. I don’t think that will change anytime soon. “
3. Location location location
A clue to what happens on the track on Sunday could be what happens in the stands.
While there will be no fans at Indy this weekend, watchers will be moving from the top of the pagoda to the stands on Turn 1 to allow for social distancing. The secondary observers will be placed in curve 3.
With the group extended, an observer for the leader cannot run to slower car observers and tell them which lane the leader wants. Catching a slower car around the corner, especially in Indy, can cost the fastest car a couple of seconds or more and allow those behind it to close.
It is something that could affect pit strategy. He did it for Erik Jones and crew chief Chris Gayle last Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
“It’s a great thing,” Gayle said of being pulled over by slower cars. “We were on the same stage this (last) weekend in Pocono where we ran into (Ryan Newman). We were running out of fuel and we were going to do a fuel only strategy, we had decided that was what we were going to do but it was about staying in clean air most of the time possible towards the end of that race. We got into car 6 (Newman) and it’s notorious how difficult it is to dodge it. I’m like, I’m going to give (Jones) a lap to pass car 6. If we didn’t make it in one lap, we were getting bitten because we knew we could go somewhere else clean. ”
Jones went on to finish third. Newman finished 18th, the first car a lap behind.
4. Outstanding performance
With the focus on Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick last weekend at Pocono Raceway, it was easy to miss one of the key performances of the weekend.
Matt DiBenedetto scored the sixth highest number of points in the two Cup races at Pocono. That’s important because of what the weekend meant to him.
He went to Pocono 16th in points, holding what could be the last place in the playoffs. After those two races, and encouraged by scoring more stage points than Hamlin and Harvick, DiBenedetto is ranked 14th in the drivers’ standings. He is 43 points ahead of Erik Jones, who is 16th.
With Daytona’s scheduled regular season finale, there is a greater chance than in previous years that a driver outside the top 16 could win that race and claim a playoff spot. The key is to stay out of 16th place. DiBenedetto’s performance last weekend, particularly at each stage, was a key step in that goal.
“Stage points can make a big difference, especially at this point in the year when points are really starting to settle down a bit,” said DiBenedetto, whose 17 double-card points were the fifth most scored last weekend. of week. . “People are settling in their place, so you have to take everything you can get because that makes a big difference in terms of ensuring a solid playoff spot and, for us, really going up again where we think we are. running weekly. “
Keep an eye out for DiBenedetto this weekend. Crew chief Greg Erwin helped Paul Menard finish in the top 10 each of the past two years in Indianapolis.
5. Go tough
After 15 races this season, Kyle Busch has no wins, no stage wins, and no playoff points.
Last year at this time, he had four wins, five stage wins and 25 playoff points.
His revenge this season is 14.7. Her average finish at this time last year was 6.3.
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