Notebook: Hamlin, Busch trade places in morning practice

Notebook: Hamlin, Busch trade places in morning practice


By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Service
(August 14, 2010)

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Joe Gibbs Racing performed its own version of “Trading Places” Saturday morning at Michigan International Speedway, during practice for Sunday’s Carfax 400.
Denny Hamlin, who won at Michigan in June, and teammate Kyle Busch had been struggling to find speed this week. With NASCAR’s blessing, the drivers traded cars during the morning practice session.
“It was a great exercise,” said Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief. “Sometimes we have our drivers’ meetings, and on paper we look at our setups and we listen to what our drivers say, and sometimes it doesn’t correspond.
“We just talked about it and said it would be really neat to switch drivers and just see what they feel. Coming to Michigan and looking at the schedule, this first practice on Saturday typically doesn’t represent the racetrack conditions we’re going to have for (Sunday). We decided this would be a good time.
“We went to NASCAR and asked (Sprint Cup Series director) John Darby if he would mind if we did it, and he said it was fine, as long as we communicated with the NASCAR officials. So that’s what we did. We swapped drivers and we all came in here and got to talk about each other’s car and what it was doing.”
Rogers said the organization also plans to involve the team’s third driver, Joey Logano, in the ride swapping, as occasions permit.
Though Rogers described the exercise as “productive,” it didn’t make a significant impact on the speed of the cars. Hamlin was 24th fastest in final practice, and Busch was 28th.
Why celebrate?
Juan Pablo Montoya didn’t have much time to savor his second Cup win. His schedule just didn’t allow it.
“I went home and said, ‘Hi,’ to the family and baby and went to sleep,” Montoya said of the hours after his victory last Sunday at Watkins Glen. “Monday was kind of with the family, because I left Tuesday and went to St. Jude Hospital and the Target House Tuesday and Wednesday.”
On Thursday, Montoya gave ride-arounds to media in a Corvette at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Mich. On Friday, he practiced and qualified the No. 42 Chevrolet at the Michigan International Speedway.
Montoya pointed to a qualitative difference between his first win, at Sonoma, and the victory at Watkins Glen.
“I think if you look at the win in Sonoma, we won it by fuel mileage,” Montoya said. “We were not really the fastest car. We’ve dominated a lot of races and haven’t been able to close the deal. To go out there (at Watkins Glen) and dominate the way we did was nice.”
Edwards critiques new car
Carl Edwards has driven the new Nationwide Series racecar only once in competition on a downforce racetrack, but after finishing second to Brad Keselowski in Saturday’s Carfax 250 at Michigan International Speedway, the driver of the No. 60 Ford had a list of improvements he’d like to see in the car.
“I think that it raced well,” Edwards said. “I think the safety improvements are good. The only thing I would wish for is less downforce and more horsepower. They are really dependent on the engines. You’re almost wide open around there (Michigan).
“I wish we could take those ears (side pieces on the spoiler) off the back and shorten that front splitter a little more. I still believe firmly that this sport will be better off if we race cars on the track and not through the air. They look great, and they race pretty well.”
Because the new Nationwide car shares characteristics with the Sprint Cup chassis—the same 110-inch wheelbase, for example—Edwards thinks it may be more valuable to run the Nationwide races from an information-gathering standpoint.
“There are differences in the front suspension and front height of the car,” Edwards said. “I think there are some things you can transfer. It might make it more beneficial to run these races. The horsepower difference is so huge that the cars—you drive them differently. You need different things out of the cars, if that makes sense, so it doesn’t translate completely.”