The 600 Is About Endurance Of Man And Machine

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There are 36 point-paying races on the Sprint Cup schedule and one, the Coca-Cola 600, has been the longest race of the season for over 50 years. It’s considered to be one of the toughest, most grueling races for drivers and a pretty tough test for the Chevrolets, Fords, Dodges and Toyotas they drive.

For the majority of the race’s history, it began and ended in the scorching May heat, routinely causing drivers to ask for help from those who had already fallen out of competition.

In 1992, lights were installed at the 1.5-mile track. Even though initially expensive, doing so insured the race would be much more comfortable for those who attend the 600. Plus, the lights offered a feel of good ’ol Saturday night racing. Lights or no lights, its still a long and hot race for the 43 drivers on the track and requires a great deal of patience.

Engine endurance has always been a concern during the 600-mile event. Drivers don’t often think of it while racing, but their engine builders pace in the pits and bite their fingernails all 400 laps.

“I think as a driver you are mentally prepared and kind of just know how long a 500-mile or 400-mile race is,” says Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 RCR Enterprises Chevrolet. “But I think the people who worry about it the most are the engine guys, just because everything they do is set off of 500 miles, so they probably worry about it a lot more than we do.”

Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon collected his first of 83 career wins in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600. Having grown up in the open-wheel Sprint Cars and Midgets around Indiana, the 600-mile races of 1993 during his rookie season and the win the following year were by far the longest races he had attempted at that point in his career.

“I remember the first few times I ran the 600, I remember asking how many laps have we run? How many laps to go?” Gordon says. “And I remember every time they told me, I wished I didn’t ask that because it seemed like the race was so long and just seemed like it was never going to end.

“Of course, that night, I couldn’t wait for it to end because we took the two tires and we knew Rusty (Wallace) was going to run us down if we had to go too long so I’m glad that one ended when it did.

“But, every year, 600 miles is still a long way. I think over the years, you learn how to adjust and be patient and not rush things and know that because it is a long race, a lot of things are going to happen and a lot of it is about survival.”

The Vallejo, Calif., native feels the late afternoon start and the checkered flag at night presents its own set of challenges for drivers and teams.

“To me, what is so difficult about the 600 is you’re pretty much practicing during the day to try and get ready for a night race,” Gordon says. “You start the race in the late afternoon when the track temperature is still pretty warm and it cools down quite a bit as you go into the night.

“So the track conditions change dramatically. Your setup has got to be flexible and then it is a very, very long race so hydration and just trying to stay up with the changing conditions of the track to me are the most challenging parts of the race.

“But it depends on what kind of a night you are having,” Gordon says. “In order to be good at the end, we’ve struggled at the beginning at times and that just makes that first 100 miles go by so slow.

“It seems to me when the sun goes down the track conditions get better, the laps start clicking off and then the whole race goes better.”

Like Gordon, Tony Stewart, of Stewart-Haas Racing, agrees that the change from afternoon to night plays a big part in race strategy.

“I don’t know that there is anything difficult about it,” Stewart says. “You still approach it the same as you do a 500-mile race. You just have to get your car balanced.

“The hard part is you start with it hot in late afternoon and then you are going to have quite a bit of time for the track to change a bunch from the beginning of the race to the end of the race. That is probably the biggest challenge. But it is always a challenge when you run night races when you are going to start late afternoon.”

Stewart’s teammate, Ryan Newman, feels car comfort has a lot to do with making it the full 600 miles.

“It all depends on how the car is handling and how hot it is outside,” Newman says. “That additional 100 miles when you’re leading the race and the car is pretty good is just another 100 miles, it’s just logging some time.

“If the car is really misbalanced and you’re fighting loose entry and struggling and up by the fence it can be miserable. There’s times when you’re a 15th-place car and you’re running 15th and you know you are at the best of what you can get 500 miles in and you’ve still got 100 miles to go and your shoulders are tired, your elbows are worn out and you’re looking out the right side of the car, so it all depends on how your car is handling really.”

Clint Bowyer feels having everything right on his RCR Enterprises Chevrolet is the key to success in the 600. If the chassis set-up is off, it can make for a very long night.

“If your car is good and you’re handling good and you’ve got a good balance on it, it doesn’t seem any longer than any other race,” Bowyer says. “They all seem long. But man, I’m telling you, if you’re having a long day and things aren’t going good, you think it’s never going to end. I’ve been on both sides of that fence and I’m pretty excited about which side of the fence I think I’m going to be on Sunday.”

So much can go wrong in a 500-mile event. So its understandable that drivers and teams feel adding 100 miles is more opportunity for an engine to blow, parts to break or become involved in a crash.

If a win comes in the 600, its just that much more rewarding when the test of physical, mental and mechanical endurance has been won.

View more articles written bu Ben White at MSU http://motorsportsunplugged.com/

View the orignal article here. http://motorsportsunplugged.com/?p=3531