MBNA America 400 - Kyle Petty Notes

Kyle Petty Notes, Quotes: Delaware 400
‘Dover is all about traffic’

One of the more successful drivers on one of NASCAR’s most unique tracks, Kyle Petty and the #45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team head to the one-mile Dover (Del.) International Speedway this week for Sunday’s 400-mile race.

Petty, 44, will be making his 704th career start this weekend. He is 10th on the all-time list in NASCAR Cup career starts, and fourth among active drivers. His eight career victories place him 45th on NASCAR’s all-time list in Cup wins. One of the most recognizable names in international motorsports, as is his sponsor, Georgia-Pacific, Petty’s driving career began with a five-race season in 1979. The native of Level Cross, N.C., has won over $19 million.

The thoughts of Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge driver Kyle Petty heading into Dover:

“Dover is all about traffic. Whether it’s the crew trying to get in the place Sunday morning or trying to get to the airport Sunday night, or whether it’s what you are fighting on the race track for 400 miles on Sunday afternoon, Dover is all about traffic. You are dealing with it all day long.

“How you deal with that traffic goes a long way in determining what kind of day you are going to have. You’ve seen it on the highway. You get caught behind a big truck right before it starts up a big hill, and it can cost you a lot of time. That car that was in front of it at the bottom of the hill is going to be long gone by the time you get to the top of the hill.

“Same thing on the race track. You get caught behind a slower car with another car on the outside of you, and you’re pretty well stuck. You sit there looking for an opening, knowing the car you are racing is pulling away. Traffic just plays a major role at Dover for everybody, whether you are leading the race or running 10th or whatever.

“The leader usually pulls away at Dover because, at least for a long time, he doesn’t have that traffic to deal with. He has not just clean air, but he has the track all to himself. He can run his own line and, until he catches the end of the pack, doesn’t have to worry about anybody else messing him up.

“Watch on restarts. The leader has an obvious advantage but that car on the inside of him, the first car one lap down, is going to fight to keep his place too. He not only has that ‘Lucky Dog’ spot because of it but he has a lot less traffic to deal with. It’s just him and the leader at that point, which makes getting around Dover a lot easier.

“Traffic is traditionally tough at Dover. That, along with the importance of a good pit, makes qualifying pretty key. If you start near the back, you have to work awfully hard to get through traffic and make your way up towards the front. Even worse, if you can do that you still stand a really good chance of giving it all away on your next pit stop because of where you are pitting. There is a reason pole winners and the guys starting first through fifth or sixth win most of the Dover races. Early track position and pit position is most of that.

“Pit position is pretty critical so that makes qualifying pretty important. You want to be able to pit as close to the first turn as you can. The pole winner almost always picks the very first pit. These pits are pretty tight with walls on both sides, so you stand a good chance of getting into traffic on pit road – both coming in and going out. It’s a place where you almost always see cars getting together at least once on pit road. So you have to be extra careful there.

“The pits themselves are a little shorter than some others, so you have to be really careful getting into the pits from two aspects. One, you don’t want to run over the line and have the crew have to push you back into the box. Besides the fact that is embarrassing as heck, it costs you a ton of time. Also, you have to be sure to get in your pit box far enough to give your guys room to work at the back of the car but not so far forward that you get blocked in by the car in front of you.

“The lowest groove is the place to go in the turns now. You want to be able to run as hard as you can with those leftside tires as close to the apron as you can get. Besides the fact that it is the fastest way around the race track, it guards the inside and makes it incredibly difficult to pass.

“Passing on the outside is really tough. You have to have a heck of a car, or you have to be passing somebody who isn’t running particularly well, to be able to take them on the outside. It takes awhile once the race gets going but eventually a second groove starts to build in the corners and, when it does, it makes passing outside a little easier because you can get good grip without tearing up your tires. But it’s still tough, on the first lap or the last lap.

“You run the straightaways – or the banked curves that pass as straightaways – as high as you can. The preferred line is to shoot off the fourth corner, slide up high towards the wall, hold that until you dive into the first turn. Basically, you run you car uphill coming out of the fourth turn and go downhill into the first turn. And you do the same thing out of Two and into Three.

“We’re looking forward to getting to Dover and seeing what we can do with this Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge team. Working traffic right and taking advantage of track position could lead to a pretty good day for us.”