NASCAR's goal with the implementation of the Car of Tomorrow was to help reduce the amount of cars needed for each team by making the COT able to transition from different types of tracks with minimal effort. That theory will be tested this weekend as the COT makes its debut at a road course.
Dale Jarrett will also try to tame one of the last remaining tracks that he has not won at in his career. Victory at Infineon Raceway has eluded Jarrett and he hopes to finally find success at the challenging track.
"It would be great to get a win at Sonoma," Jarrett said. "But it's so hard to win at these road courses because you have so many teams that bring in their road course specialists and try to almost steal a win. We obviously have to qualify first, but after that who knows. The way strategy can play out in these road races sometimes, anything can happen. We'll just go out there and make our best effort and see what happens."
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. EDT start this Sunday.
Dale Jarrett Discusses Racing at Infineon Raceway
What has your team done to prepare for your trip to Sonoma?
"There's not much you can do to really prepare fully for the trip to Sonoma. With the oval tracks we race at, there's usually a track or two very similar to it that you can use notes from to help prepare. Or you can find a track to test at that at least has similar banking and so forth to get an idea of the shock and spring combinations that might work best. But Infineon Raceway is such a unique track. It has some elevation changes that pose some real challenges. We went out to VIR (Virginia International Raceway) on Monday of this week just to kind of shake the car down and make sure everything on the car is working properly. This is the first time we're racing this Car of Tomorrow at a road course so we just wanted to make sure the brakes are good and it's ready to go. Brakes and transmission are key at a road course so we just don't want any surprises."
Do you like racing on a road course?
"Yeah, it's fun. I enjoy it because it's something different. I didn't grow up racing go-karts and all that kind of stuff these younger guys grew up with. So I don't bring that kind of experience into it, but I've learned a few tricks over the years. My first venture at a road course was at Road Atlanta when the Busch Series went there back in the early '80s. I made the trip out to Bondurant when the school was actually at Sears Point, and that's where I got my road-racing experience to begin with. I went back there again in '05 to kind of brush up on some of the techniques and try and get rid of some of the bad habits that tend to develop when you're not road racing all the time. But that first race was a lot of fun and it's something I've enjoyed doing over the years. I've had some really good runs at different times and even though I haven't won, I've had some good moments.
I've also had some embarrassing moments, but if you're gonna do this you're gonna have that happen from time to time."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
- Dale Jarrett has completed 91.05 percent of the laps run at Infineon Raceway in 18 starts.
- Jarrett's average finishing position has been three spots better than his average starting position.
- In 18 starts Jarrett has 2 top-fives and 4 top-10's, while leading eight laps.
- Infineon Raceway remains one of only seven tracks that Jarrett has not won at.
