TREACHEROUS TEXAS BITES BRAD KESELOWSKI, BUBBA WALLACE AND MORE AS JOEY LOGANO PREVAILS
Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch are veteran NASCAR racers who all lost control of their race cars on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
The track certainly has its challenges, with different widths and banking in Turns 1 and 2 and then in Turns 3 and 4. This means drivers and teams must choose which set of turns to maximize speed. A bump between Turns 3 and 4 adds to the sketchiness of the track.
So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that another veteran, three-time Cup champion Joey Logano, prevailed in the chaotic race.
There were 12 cautions throughout the race, where, in order to maximize downforce, teams tried to get the cars as low to the ground as possible. But hitting the bump can force the bottom of the car to scrape the pavement, causing the driver to lose control.
Why didn’t Logano lose control of his car like so many others?
“There’s definitely guys that I think have the ability to drive their car a little bit more on edge, and they’re willing to take that risk a little bit more at times,” Logano said. “That’s either going to be good for you or bite you.
“That bump down in [Turns] 3 and 4, it’s brutal. Everybody is down on their rear limiters as much as they can be. If you are a little free, and it hits the [shock] limiter, it’s gone. There’s no opportunity to save it.”
Logano indicated that the decisions teams make as far as shocks and shock bump stops (which can control the handling of the car) and other technical choices can impact a driver’s ability to get through a treacherous race like the one on Sunday.
Ten drivers exited the race because of accidents.
“I was trying too hard and busted my butt and looked pretty dumb,” Keselowski said after his accident. “It’s just the cars are right on the bump stops, and you’re driving the hell out of them.
“And just when you step over, you step over, and that’s what I did.”
Josh Berry wasn’t one of those knocked out because of an accident, but he finished 84 laps down as lengthy repairs were made to his car. Berry wrecked while leading the race.
“I hit that bump and got loose,” Berry said. “I don’t know what I would do too much different. Obviously, in these cars, especially at a place like this, if you are going to be fast, it is going to be uncomfortable. And you are going to be on edge.
“Unfortunately, it bit us.”
