‘600’ offers challenge

SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE

NASCAR officials have to be holding their collective breath, while the crews and drivers of the Nextel Cup Series are shrugging their shoulders.

Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 is only the longest distance event of the season, and it’s at the track most sensitive to changing temperatures.

There’s a definite cool-down during the race, considering it begins in the daytime and ends at night under the lights.

Ryan Newman is on the pole, his second of 2007, and teammate Kurt Busch is on the outside of the front row. They will lead the field to the green flag shortly after 5:30 p.m. But as has become the norm in the last two years, an air of uncertainty continues to hang over the race.

That’s because everyone in the garage knows that Lowe’s Motor Speedway is the most temperature-sensitive track in how it translates to a race car’s handling.

Tough race

“No matter the tires ... [the Coca-Cola 600] has always been one of those races where the first part of the [event] you have to pretty much survive to get your car to where it needs to be for the end of the race,” said Nextel All-Star Challenge winner Kevin Harvick, who qualified 27th.

“It’s a moody track and its mood changes often,” said two-time LMS winner Bobby Labonte, who starts ninth in his No. 43 Dodge. “You just have to adjust and hope you can hit the setup when it counts.”

But the variable that has most shrugging their shoulders is the type of tire used at the track. In the last two years, racing at Lowe’s has been all about the tires — and not in a good way. In 2005, there were a record 22 cautions for 103 laps in the 600 and 15 more in October amid rampant tire failures.

Then with new pavement last year and a harder tire from Goodyear, competitors related it to driving on ice.

Today, many are still trying to figure out the tire/track combination, a challenge evidenced by several mishaps in last weekend’s All-Star races.

“The track changes drastically on this tire, relative to temperature, more so than in the past,” said Tony Raines, who struggled in both practice and qualifying (37th) on the tire.

“In the afternoon sun, the track is treacherously slick, treacherously loose. You’re going to have to trust your experience from the last two weeks as far as putting the car right where it needs to be at a certain time,” he added. “It’s going to be a fine line.”