Preparing for a road course brings challenges not found on ovals. Because the cars turn left and right instead of all left balance becomes more of a factor. More weight is added to the right side to counter the weight of the driver. Brake efficiency also is key, maybe more than at Martinsville Speedway where brakes are used more than any other oval.
Teams also bring more transmissions because you can change gear ratios more at road courses, and there typically are two additional sets of eyes other than the spotter to give Johnson guidance.
“Besides that you pretty much have what you have,’’ car chief Ron Malec said. “It’s hard to make the car happy going both directions. You find a compromise there and you run it.’’
Much of the preparation comes in strategy. Teams mentally run the race backwards when figuring pit stops, understanding if you make more than two you likely won’t be a contender.
Fuel mileage and fuel pickup also figure into that.
“Some teams do things a little differently than others,’’ Knaus said. “You can run a center pickup which is opposite than what we typically run on an oval. At an oval we typically will run a pickup in the right rear corner of the fuel cell.
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