Superspeedways

SuperspeedwaysSuperspeedways

The biggest NASCAR Cup Series track (by length) is Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It measures at 2.66 miles. For all NASCAR national series, Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

  • Charlotte Motor Speedway 5555 Concord Parkway South Concord, NC 28027 Phone: 704-455-3200 Fax: 952-461-3397 Website: Official Track Website Track Facts: Super Late Model Nascar Nextel Cup Busch series ARCA.
  • Fontana (the old Fontana), Pocono, Indy and Michigan are larger than intermediate tracks, but not superspeedways. The number of such tracks is going way down in 2021, which means that drivers who did well at.
Total Speed RankingDriverDaytona #1Talladega #1Daytona #2Talladega #2Avg. Speed Rank
1Chase Elliott33284
2Ty Dillon241165.75
3Jimmie Johnson115957.5
4William Byron5105138.25
5Ricky Stenhouse Jr12522110
5John H. Nemechek17181410
7Bubba Wallace21611410.5
8Ryan Blaney49112512.25
9Kurt Busch62331812.5
10Tyler Reddick91752012.75
10Chris Buescher82251612.75
12Alex Bowman718102214.25
13Brad Keselowski1220161014.5
14Joey Logano1021171114.75
15Austin Dillon158231515.25
16Daniel SuarezX3114316
17Ryan Newman1116201916.5
18Matt DiBenedetto1613182317.5
19Christopher Bell211313918.5
20Erik Jones34277718.75
21Ryan Preece306301119.25
22Matt KensethX2842820
23Denny Hamlin1918153221
24Kyle Busch2722201721.5
24Aric Almirola242832221.5
26Michael McDowell2610243022.5
27Cole Custer3312262123
28Martin Truex Jr2028182723.25
29Ross Chastain14X34X24
30Clint Bowyer352629824.5
31Kevin Harvick2325282826
32Corey Lajoie2924272526.25
33Brennan Poole3832312431.25
34Justin Haley27XX3732
35Brendan Gaughan3734333534.75
36Quin Houff3636353335
37Timmy Hill3238373435.25
38James DavisonXX363636
39Joey Gase3935383837.5
40BJ McLeod4037XX38.5
41JJ YeleyX3939X39
42Josh BilickiXX40X40

It’s advisable to find drafting partners at Talladega . . .

Superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega create different challenges where setup is concerned. With the new ride height rule and changes being made with thought to spring stiffness there are as many ways to approach your setup as there are drivers. Keeping that in mind, in this week’s column we will focus our discussion on two of the basic factors that will certainly help gain you an edge in every race.

Pit strategy will be an important factor in this or any race so you will want to practice making pit stop adjustments on the fly. A lot of sim-racers find aftermarket button boxes help a lot in this area.

A wise man once said “Races are won and lost in the pits. When you are running up front you can work your ass off on every lap to gain a half second. In the pits you have the chance to gain or in most cases lose seconds “ – Michael Waltrip

Michael was a big fan of one of the low budget teams I used to work for. The team had an amazing driver and some fast Hendricks cars. They would lead many NASCAR races for hundreds of laps against teams with huge budgets, only to see their chance of winning destroyed by poor pit strategy and long stops. They were legendary for it.

Mr. Waltrip called their driver the “best driver that never won a race in NASCAR.”

Fortunately iRacing has provided you with a great crew. But you can do a lot to maximize your stops, pick-up time and — even more important — gain precious spots on yellows.

I recommend getting used to selecting right side tires only or even no tires. This will help you pick-up spots during early cautions when your tires are fine, putting you ahead of other drivers who just rush in to take a full can and four tires by habit.

Late in the race, should you find yourself having to make a green flag stop, practice taking no tires, a splash of gas and adding 5% – 10% tape. You might just get lucky.

Superspeedways

This brings me to my next topic: temperature control. While the gear you select has a lot to do with how hot (and fast) your car will run, you can do some fine tuning with tape. Tape will increase aero downforce and give you a little extra speed.

Be mindful though, too much tape can lead to high temps and engine failure.

While I have not had time to test with the new updates, my strategy will be to slam the car to the ground, shift the weight back and lower the spoiler, make camber and caster adjustments based on the tire temperature, and research gear ratios to see if I can get a little passing power in the draft by running a lower gear ratio.

“iRacing has provided you with a great crew. But you can do a lot to maximize your stops . . .”

After deciding what gear I want to run, I will monitor my temps in and out of the draft. I have my dash meter set to blink at 250 for water and 270 for oil. Though it may not sound like it, this is actually a little conservative. I prefer it like this to give me a little room in the event I should take some front end damage so I won’t instantly overheat.

You will see that some drivers on iRacing will run aggressive tape, running right on the edge if not a little over the point where the warning light blinks. Then they will “Share” the air allowing their partner or whomever is running with them to run in front and cool down until they need the fresh air, at which point they will call for a “Switch.”

While this can be risky, it can result in extra passing ability in a pack as well as gain you some speed should you find yourself alone out of the draft.
Look for people in the practice sessions during the week who you recognize from your split. What I will do is go back and look at my last four or five races and find out who I am being paired with consistently and see if I recognize anyone in practice. If so, I will ask to practice running with them or I will make it a point to send them a message later that day offering to work with them (or even share my setup).

It’s always best to have a friend or two at superspeedways. The last thing you want is nobody to run with and watch the pack drive away from you.

Superspeedways

Superspeedways List

I will make my Talladega setup available Friday on the Open Garage Forums for you to use Friday night or Sunday morning.

Good Luck and God Speed!

You may also like...

Recommended
Holden Heitritter Wins 2021 General Tire eShort Course World Cup on iRacing
Recommended
Schell Wins First iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Race, Bergeron Controls Title Chase at Williams Grove
Recommended
Defending Champ Job Back on Top of Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup at Barcelona
Recommended

Superspeedways

Team Redline Goes 1-2 at 2021 BMW Sim GT Cup Opener From Daytona