(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Saturday,June 25th, 2011
SONOMA, Calif.—Because of changing elevations at road courses—and to alleviate engine overheating under extended cautions—NASCAR has increased caution-car and pit-road speeds by 5 mph across the board at all road courses that host races in NASCAR’s top two divisions.
“With cars going uphill and downhill, plus the way teams have developed their cars and gear ratios, the speeds were too slow,” Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said . “Engines were overheating, especially with extended caution periods.”
The change applies to Infineon Raceway, which is hosting the Cup series this weekend, as well as Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., site of Saturday’s Nationwide Series event. The caution-car speed at both tracks will be 45 mph. Pit-road speeds at the tracks are 40 mph at Infineon and 35 mph at Road America.
SONOMA, CA - JUNE 20 2010: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, races Kurt Busch, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Dodge, and Kasey Kahne in the #9 Budweiser Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 20, 2010 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR)
The changes also will apply to Watkins Glen International and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, both of which will host NASCAR races in August.
Trying to save fuel while leading under caution late in last year’s race at Infineon, Marcos Ambrose couldn’t get his car re-fired after turning the engine off on the uphill stretch leading to Turn 2, but Ambrose’s issue was unrelated to the reasons for the caution-car and pit-road speed increases.
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