LONG POND, Pa. — Things don’t change often at Pocono, and that’s part of its charm.
For instance, you never hear the words “slide job” and “train track” in relation to the place.
The mile-long strip of asphalt ringing the second and third turns is new, and it has changed the way that drivers race the triangular-shaped track.
“You are looking for traction,” said Kyle Busch of the one-lane-wide patch of asphalt. “It’s just like a train track. You get up there and you run around there and it’s just like you are on a rail, and everybody is going to be doing it.
“It’s going to look like a train race through turn three. I don’t know many guys that will go down to the bottom and run the bottom, just because you can’t get a launch off turn three and get down the front straightaway as fast as you need to.
“It’s so long that you’re just going to get your doors blown off if you run down low in three.”
Turn three was the place where drivers used to set competitors up for the long ride down the front straightaway. Now, it is going to be one of those follow-the-leader deals. That leaves turn one as the logical passing place.
“That’s where you’re going to have your car working,” said Denny Hamlin. “Typically, off turn three you have some passing zones, but turn one is going to be it. You’re going to be able to come off there. The only other thing is, you’re going to see some guys almost dirt tracking, maybe able to slide up and do kind of a slide job in turn three. I still think there’s going to be some passing there, but if someone misjudges it, it could be pretty bad.”
Jeff Burton said that the reason all the cars are searching for the patch of new pavement is simple: grip.
“There’s 15-20 percent more grip on the new asphalt than there is at the bottom (of turn three),” he said. “There’s a lot of speed there, so that means the bottom is going to be open all day long. It’s going to be like Darlington; there’s one groove. If you’re down low, you’re going to be four or five tenths of a second slower.”