While the three NASCAR Sprint Cup contenders will each be exercising his right foot, each crew chief will be exercising his brain at the Miami Homestead Speedway this week.
Part of their methodology was revealed in a teleconference on Tuesday.
Gil Martin, probably the least known of this trio as Kevin Harvick’s crew chief, said he’s loaded for bear.
“Basically we're bringing a brand new race car to Homestead. We've put everything into it that I think we've learned through the course of the season,” he said. "And we’re taking the No. 29 team to Key West for some deep sea fishing and team building on Wednesday,” he said.
Martin and Harvick have the biggest job since they are 46-points behind the current points’ leader, Denny Hamlin.
Mike Ford, Hamlin’s crew chief, only has to keep the No. 11 car ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Harvick. Ford said it’s his team’s to lose.
“Having a 15-point lead is a huge benefit. We don't feel like we have to go win the race. It would be nice to be able to outrun those two guys, and at the mile and a half stuff, I think we've been really close with Jimmie. I feel like we've been a little bit better than Jimmie at the mile and a halfs recently, and I think we would have to make mistakes if we're going to lose this,” Ford said.
Chad Knaus who has the experience and confidence of sharing four straight Sprint Cup titles with Johnson takes an interesting view. Despite the 15-point deficit Knaus believes that the No. 48 team has regained championship momentum.
“I think after last weekend, the guys have got a little bit of spring in their step, and closing that gap, albeit by half as much as we truly needed, we were able to close it up some so that gives us definitely a fighting chance going into the weekend, and honestly if we go down there and do everything that we need to do, we have the ability to win it. So a lot of optimism going into the race this weekend,” he said.
On the other hand Knaus and Johnson go into Homestead with a bit of a different strategy than in years past since they are now the hound instead of the fox.
Knaus explained: “I think the biggest concern that I've got currently is that we haven't gone to Homestead to truly race yet. We've gone down there with a bit of a protective mindset, so I think that puts us a little bit behind compared to the other guys.”
Very soon we’ll see whose strategy pays off.
NASCAR Sprint Cup standings (1 race to go), top 5
1.Denny Hamlin, 6462 points
2.Jimmie Johnson, 6447
3.Kevin Harvick, 6416
4.Carl Edwards, 6198
5.Matt Kenseth, 6151
Part of their methodology was revealed in a teleconference on Tuesday.
Gil Martin, probably the least known of this trio as Kevin Harvick’s crew chief, said he’s loaded for bear.
“Basically we're bringing a brand new race car to Homestead. We've put everything into it that I think we've learned through the course of the season,” he said. "And we’re taking the No. 29 team to Key West for some deep sea fishing and team building on Wednesday,” he said.
Martin and Harvick have the biggest job since they are 46-points behind the current points’ leader, Denny Hamlin.
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| Mike Ford and Denny Hamlin. (Photo: nascar.com) |
Mike Ford, Hamlin’s crew chief, only has to keep the No. 11 car ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Harvick. Ford said it’s his team’s to lose.
“Having a 15-point lead is a huge benefit. We don't feel like we have to go win the race. It would be nice to be able to outrun those two guys, and at the mile and a half stuff, I think we've been really close with Jimmie. I feel like we've been a little bit better than Jimmie at the mile and a halfs recently, and I think we would have to make mistakes if we're going to lose this,” Ford said.
Chad Knaus who has the experience and confidence of sharing four straight Sprint Cup titles with Johnson takes an interesting view. Despite the 15-point deficit Knaus believes that the No. 48 team has regained championship momentum.
“I think after last weekend, the guys have got a little bit of spring in their step, and closing that gap, albeit by half as much as we truly needed, we were able to close it up some so that gives us definitely a fighting chance going into the weekend, and honestly if we go down there and do everything that we need to do, we have the ability to win it. So a lot of optimism going into the race this weekend,” he said.
On the other hand Knaus and Johnson go into Homestead with a bit of a different strategy than in years past since they are now the hound instead of the fox.
Knaus explained: “I think the biggest concern that I've got currently is that we haven't gone to Homestead to truly race yet. We've gone down there with a bit of a protective mindset, so I think that puts us a little bit behind compared to the other guys.”
Very soon we’ll see whose strategy pays off.
NASCAR Sprint Cup standings (1 race to go), top 5
1.Denny Hamlin, 6462 points
2.Jimmie Johnson, 6447
3.Kevin Harvick, 6416
4.Carl Edwards, 6198
5.Matt Kenseth, 6151