NASCAR Notebook: Texas Motor Speedway
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas—When NASCAR introduced the new aero packages for 2019, the expected benefits were many.
Closer competition topped the list. The sanctioning body hoped for side-by-side racing, passing among drivers and closer finishes.
One unintended consequence from the new cars? Sore drivers.
“It’s not physically harder from making a lap standpoint but because the speeds are up, the corner speeds, have taken a bigger toll on everybody’s bodies,” says rookie Daniel Hemric. “The vertical and lateral g’s we’re feeling; the energy has got to go somewhere and the cars, the way they are, the drivers’ bodies are what’s taking it.
“It’s just the nature of the package and we’ve all got to adapt to it. People have adapted to all kinds of packages over time and this will be no different. It’s just different.”
Denny Hamlin shares Hemric’s sentiments. With the higher loads going into the corners, the 39-year-old driver says he feels, “more achy” after the races. Even though Hamlin’s team has taken more precautions inside of the cockpit, his post-race recovery time has increased by nearly half a day since the introduction of the new car.
“The corner speeds will probably be up 15 miles an hour or so over what they’ve been in the past,” Hamlin said of the car’s performance at Texas. “The only thing that worries me is there were blown tires last year and we’re going in there with higher corner speeds this year, so hopefully everything stays together and we’re able to have a clean and safe race.
“Certainly, you could just feel more load in your body this year because of the higher corner speeds…I’ve kind of worked on my insert to make sure comfort is more of a thing that I focus on. I’ve actually felt level from where I was last year, but I think I’ve made the inside of the car better. Certainly, you’re more tense because of the load. You’re trying to keep your body up.”
HARVICK ISN’T READY TO HANG UP HIS HELMET
Kevin Harvick dismissed recent speculation of an early retirement as “fake news”.
Although Harvick is a masterful analyst in the TV booth, the 44-year-old racer believes in keeping a good thing going.
For the 2014 champion, that means staying the course with crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team.
“Whoever wrote that is speculating on a lot of rumors,” Harvick said. “I’m not getting out of the race car. I feel really comfortable with where I’m at as far as how I feel in the race car, where my home life is as far as balance with my kids. I feel fairly confident that being a part of the TV side of things is something that I want to do in the future, but it’s not gonna happen in the next couple of years I can tell you that, and it’ll be evaluated to sit in the seat first before at the end of those next couple of years before it’s even considered 100 percent to do something different.”
Harvick has qualified for the Championship 4 round in five of the six seasons he has driven for SHR. He has also won 22 of his 45 career Cup races during that time.
“We have a lot of things that are going really well and the race car is one of them, so that’s just somebody looking for a headline there and there’s no way that happens,” Harvick added. “I have contracts and things that are already in place through 2021.”
LARSON ADVOCATES FOR A REVOLVING SEASON FINALE
With an average finish of 8.5 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson’s odds would be strong if he ever qualified for the Championship 4—until next year.
NASCAR announced on Tuesday that the season finale will move to Phoenix Raceway in 2020. Surprisingly, Larson loves the idea.
“Even though Homestead has been a track where I’ve led a ton of laps and also challenged for wins, I’ve always felt like it needs to go somewhere else,” Larson said of Championship 4 weekend. “I would like to see it go to a different track every year, just like the Super Bowl does.
“Like for me, Homestead is my best track. Everyone says if I make it to the Final Four, I’ve got the best shot. Well, it shouldn’t always be like that. It shouldn’t go to Phoenix where Kevin Harvick has the best odds to win every year. It should be able to move around. I think tracks should bid on it, however, it works in football, that would be cool.”
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