FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson talk Charlotte

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) presents race 31 of 36, the Bank of America 500, at Charlotte Motor Speedway this Saturday night. The 334 lap event on the 1.5-mile 24 degree quad-oval in Concord, N.C, will be televised on ABC at 7:30 p.m.

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

The Charlotte area is home to most NASCAR teams, but not many will be looking for a home field advantage. Six-time CMS winner Jimmie Johnson shared his thoughts on that.

“If there is any advantage for being home, it’s probably the same for everybody,” Johnson said. “There’s something about sleeping in your own bed, seeing your family, being close to home, there’s just a comfort that comes with that, so I don’t see it really playing any way, shape or form there.”

Johnson also explained his frequent visits to CMS victory lane.

“I don’t feel like I have an edge as I did back with the old surface,” Johnson said. “In that period of time with the old car, too, I must add, we just had something working. I had a line that was fail-proof in turns 3 and 4 that I couldn’t believe no one really had flushed out and found that was just instant speed and worked well for me.

“But all that’s changed since they put this new surface now, and the edge we had has been pulled back. We’re still competitive, but I hope to find an edge over there again. There’s nothing like winning at home.”

The top five NSCS point leaders—Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth—shared their thoughts about Charlotte. Comparing their words can sometimes help fans have a better understanding of the next event.

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford)

“Charlotte has been a little difficult for us,” Edwards said. “We have been very hit and miss there. We have a baseline strategy with the setup and we will go use that and hopefully it will work out better. I’m very grateful to be going into Charlotte as the points leader after our run in Kansas last weekend.”

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Chevrolet)

“As soon as it goes to night there, the track becomes a different race track than it is during the day,” Harvick said. “I’m sure that we’ll practice during the day and have no clue what we have at night. All-in-all, it’s going to be the same old Charlotte that it always is – really, really fast at night. The cooler it gets, the more grip there is.”

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevrolet)

“I think we’re going to be a threat,” Johnson said. “Charlotte, with that asphalt that’s down, it is its own environment and it’s really tough to get your car right from the start of the race to the end of the race. So I feel like directionally we’re going the right way; but until I get on the track this week and understand where the grip level is and what our issues are, it’s hard to build too much confidence.

“It’s so tough to take what you learn at one track and carry it to the next. It’s really tough to even go from a Saturday to a Sunday and hit it anymore. It’s been really hard this year.”

Brad Keselowski (No 2 Dodge)

“Charlotte is definitely a track that I am looking forward to going back to, especially now that the Miller Lite Dodge team is in the hunt for the championship,” Keselowski said. “It was a place that I struggled to get a grip on during my early trips, but last year (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) and I picked up a win in the Nationwide Series there and it seemed like a light went off for me.

“It takes consistency to win the championship and we have consistently had fast cars at every race in the Chase. We’re executing very well as a group and as a team. The things that we can control, we’re doing very well.”

Matt Kenseth (No.17 Ford)

“Track position is important every race, but it seems to be even more important at Charlotte over the past couple of years with this new style of car,” Kenseth said. “The pavement has a lot of grip, and even though the track gets pretty wide, it’s a real fast track that can be difficult to pass at, so track position turns out to be very important there.

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com.

Unless otherwise noted, information and all quotes were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes and information were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com