FYI WIRZ: NASCAR's Point Hogs Dig Home Turf at Charlotte for Sprint Points

For most of the 11 races in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, top point leaders have been steady and resilient performers. Only Jimmie Johnson seems to have started at the bottom after Daytona and worked his way into the top five.

All drivers will take renewed point hopes to the 1.5-mile quad-oval track with 24-degree banking at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, for the Coca-Cola 600. Fans without tickets for the May 27 Memorial Day weekend race can view the action at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Drivers are coming off last week’s CMS All-Star race that gave home-based Charlotte area NASCAR teams a break from point greed. Winner Jimmie Johnson and HMS nabbed a million bucks but no points.

Whether Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson hold on to the top five spots in the Sprint Cup standings is a matter of a very long race, 400 laps for 600 miles, that will follow the noon motorsports extravaganza, the Indianapolis 500, this Sunday night.

The big day in racing at CMS was defined by the five with the most points.

Greg Biffle (No. 16 Ford)

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The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race of the season and we are back to points racing this weekend so it’s important to finish well. The 600 is a long, drawn out, strategy-driven race and we’ll have to make it all the way to the end.

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Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Ford)

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Track conditions can change a lot during the 600 since it can start out hot and sunny which makes the track slick, and that can entirely change by the end of the race. It’s always challenging but I really like running that entire 600 miles and continuously working on strategy and your car’s set-up. Even though it’s our longest race of the season, I’ve always really enjoyed the 600 miles and just the challenge it presents to teams. It’s always nice to race at Charlotte as well since it’s our home base.

 

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 Chevrolet)

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I think the (NASCAR Sprint) All-Star Race showed what we are capable of doing for the 600. We are bringing the same car, and we have a couple of ideas on how to make the car even faster that I hope will work out.

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Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Toyota)

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Some of the 500-mile races we run are just as long simply because of the average speed that we run. I try to hydrate a little more and that’s about it. I don’t notice that much of a difference between the 500 and the 600. It seems like with the 600, you have a little more give and take the first half of the race than you would normally have. You just try to set your car up to be in good track position on lap 300 because the cooler the temperatures get, the harder it is to pass.

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Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet)

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It is a very long race on a tough track. It’s not only from the driver’s perspective, but the teams go through a lot to get prepared for that race. Staying alert and focused, properly hydrated all the things that the driver has to go through so do the guys that go over the wall. It’s a very tough event on everyone but I think everybody enjoys it. I know my guys do. I know I do.

We are in all of our backyards. Hendrick Motorsports is literally a mile-and-a-half, two miles away. I start stacking up a lot of cool reasons to win that race.

 

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FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com. Unless otherwise noted, information and all quotes were obtained from personal interviews or official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.