NASCAR: NASCAR: Subway 400 - Rockingham

WEEK 2 of 36 of the NASCAR season!


"Robert Yates Racing crew chief Mike Ford says if tire wear was important at a high-horsepower, aerodynamic track like Daytona, it's even more of a factor on the tire-grinding surface known as North Carolina Speedway."


"The Rock"
North Carolina Speedway
Banking/Turns: 22degrees
Distance: 1.017miles
Shape: Oval




Last year's winner - Dale Jarrett
Last year's pole winner - Dave Blaney
'02 winner - Matt Kenseth
'02 pole winner - Ricky Craven

Even though 15 of the 77 races run at Rockingham have been won from the pole, Jeff Gordon (1995) was the last one to accomplish that feat.


CLICK HERE for the Rockingham entry list.


Also, check out NASCAR.com's driver power rankings.
www.nascar.com...
Of course after Dale's big Daytona weekend he is atop the rankings followed by Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon rounding out the top 5.

I really like the Rock.

Was able to drive there for awhile in an old Woods Bros. car awhile back.


It is a short track that drives like a speedway.

Every corner entry, exit, and front and backstretch, are different than any other point in the track. The only time things are the same, is on the next lap.

Plus it has two different bank angles on each side.

A real racer's track, and difficult to setup for.

I always enjoyed Buddy Baker doing the commentation there. He was always dead on. Not like todays announcers that are watching the pc for interesting info and stats. Buddy would call it, and it would happen that way.

must have been a thrill to drive a track like this, many consider this week the start of the real nascar season, it will be interesting to see who can hit the right set up to preserve tires and run up front....different courses for different horses......

The right setup with new softer tires.

It will be interesting to see who hits the right combination, and who misses by a mile.

whos the favorite?

in my opinion the favorite could be any one of the top 20 drivers in this race, depends on who hits the right setup and makes the correct adjustments during the race, along with a healthy dose of luck

No names but...

The fav will be...

someone with a ton of experience at the rock
someone with short track skills
someone with strategy
small time team, as the big teams focus on the cookie cut tracks
someone with patience, but yet agressive.

No rookie
no 2nd or 3rd year vets


OK my pick (yes a name)

Jeff Burton or Ward Burton

Them Burton boyz.

Is Jr going to be in it.

for sure jr will be there, they will be on the old harder tires at the rock and darlington, they will use the new soft tires starting at las vegas

i see, and the softer ones make you go faster?


When is the offical list out of who is in it?

the softer tires may help you go faster for a few laps BUT, tey also wear out much sooner, then you will go slower....much slower.....PA has a link to the entry list in the first post in this thread

are they really using the soft tires here? not that it will matter much since the hard tires wear out in about 10 laps. if they were using the soft ones you'd see a blow out in about 15 laps. this should be a good race, my money is on my boy Matt Kenseth. Jr. will finish about 32. did i mention that i hat3 "Ralph Earnhardt" jr.??????? this guy needs to hit the wall and go the way of his old man.

Originally posted by aegis fang
this guy needs to hit the wall and go the way of his old man.

DUDE,...I dont really like him either, but that is a bit far to wish upon someone!

[Edited on 04/10/03 by smirkley]

NASCAR went to a softer tire this year, compared to the rock hard ones last year.

They provide much more patch grip, but the problem is the tire grips, going hard into the turn the weight shifts to the right front, and the tire still sticks, ripping the tire, popping the bead, or pulling pavement off the track.

It takes a bit more finesse using the tires.



toejam, I hadnt heard they were switching tires for this race. If this is true,...I still stand by my pick for the win.

But it would make sense at the rock.


[Edited on 04/10/03 by smirkley]

yes, hard tires for the rock and darlington, good decision on nascar's part
sports.yahoo.com...;_ylc=X3o'___'BpcmM5ZG1iBF9TAzk1ODYyNzYwBHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=fanball-rockinghamdarlington&prov=fanball&type=lgns

This is an interesting article, basically saying "enjoy The Rock while you still can", no one seems to be going to the races there.

www.nascar.com...

"They're lucky to get 50,000 people out to the track in Rockingham. This is a business, and International Speedway Corporation could make huge financial gains by moving the first Rockingham date to Kansas or Chicago, which each sell out more than 75,000 seats. Bad as it sucks, that's fact.

So hear this: Enjoy Rockingham now, while you still can.

NASCAR's concerted effort to penetrate larger markets may soon render smaller market venues like Rockingham obsolete. ISC already took one date from The Rock, shipped it out to sunny Southern California by way of Darlington, SC. "

Rusty Wallace dominates Saturday practices

Rusty Wallace and Jamie McMurray ranked first and second, respectively, in both Nextel Cup Series practices Saturday at North Carolina Speedway.

And they weren't just fast. They were consistent, too.

Wallace's 24.315-second lap in the morning session was the day's fastest, and he fell off just four-thousandths of a second from that pace in the second practice.

Wallace qualified fourth for Sunday's Subway 400, his best starting position at Rockingham since earning the pole in the 2000 spring race. He made 74 laps in Happy Hour, the most by any driver during the weekend's final preparatory session.

www.nascar.com...


I've always been a Rusty Wallace fan but it's getting tough, his losing streak is nearing three years. It looks as if he has a great car for this weekend's race, maybe he can get the checkered and end the streak. I would love to see him win at "The Rock"

For years I have been getting free tickets in the parking lot before the race, not bad seats either.


I just hope they keep one race there, Bruton is getting what he wants via a lawsuit.


The problem is there is just not enough around there to support the track, motels, or other attractions, etc.

The only big thing in the whole county is the track.

And Bruton can get 130,000 people in his Texas track with no problem.

The race is today?

sure is, should be 1pm your time, gonna watch it?