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Day at a Glance

Cooler temps aside, 600 miles still tough to do

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Posted: Sunday May 28, 2000 01:54 PM

Dale Jarrett won the Coca-Cola 600 in 1996. Jon Ferry/Allsport

By Steve Almasy, CNNSI.com

CONCORD, N.C. -- Hop in the family car and drive 600 miles. You can make the journey from Charlotte to within shouting distance of Tampa, Fla. Heck, Dover, Del., site of the next race, is just 524 miles up the road.

The Coca-Cola 600 is an extreme test. It takes place under ever-changing conditions, and the puts extra pressure on the pit crew. It is the longest race of the year, and that challenges the driver more than most races.

"Just a few years ago we ran this in the daytime," Dale Jarrett said, "and it was 85 and 90 degrees and we did that for 600 miles, but now we get the luxury, so to speak, of it probably getting down into the 70s before the night's out.

"You have to be in good shape and have yourself conditioned for these type of races. ...The next four or five races are pretty difficult from a driver's standpoint because it's usually pretty warm and they're all difficult tracks."

The distance itself pretty much rules out teams without much experience, especially those without veteran pit crews.

"I'd be surprised if anybody here didn't make adjustments on just about every stop," Jarrett said. "The biggest thing is getting it right and still having an adjustment left for the last part. It seems a lot of people tend to get a little too tight that last segment that we run here and that's a critical time."

And a lot of things can happen in the last 100 miles. Rusty Wallace was one of those who has led at the 500-mile point and finished second.

"Sometimes you want it to be 600 [miles]," Wallace said "That day I wanted 500.

Many guys blew up just after the 500 mark, lost an engine or had crashes or something."

Hey, a lot can happen in four hours. It's a long drive.

Storylines we're following
Robby Gordon races 1,100 miles   The "other" Gordon tries again to pull off the double again. He tried in 1997 but was foiled by rain at Indy. This year, Gordon thinks he can win at Indy -- he predicts it will come down to him, Greg Ray or Juan Montoya -- and hopes to get at least a top-12 finish at Charlotte. "I'm a few years older," Gordon said. "and I've run a few Winston Cup races now." Last year, Tony Stewart drove in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Stewart had a shot at winning in Charlotte but finished fourth. John Andretti also drove in both races in 1994.
Little E   Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke into Winston Cup with a 16th-place finish in last year's race. He won the pole for today's race, and is already a huge fan favorite. While seven of 40 Coca-Cola 600s have been won from the pole, the winners of the past five have qualified well. So Earnhardt has to be among the favorites. Other drivers are not so sure he's ready for the front pages of sports sections quite yet. "He's done a good job, and he deserves what he's doing right now," Rusty Wallace said, "but Sunday night is the big one. That's the one that pays the points and that's the one that if he does good there, then you really need to keep talking about him."
Our New Favorite Driver
John Andretti   G-forces helped break his cracked ribs the other day, but that won't keep him out of the driver's seat for the race. The plan is for him to start Sunday and exit the car for relief help at the first caution. "Cracked ribs? They're nothing," Andretti said. "You've got to break one to really know what it's all about. Pain doesn't bother me; it's sharp intermittent pain that bothers me."
Bandwagon
Jeff Gordon -- Last won in the '99 fall race at Charlotte. He's won the Coca-Cola 600 three times. It's more than a hunch.
The weather  -- Doesn't look good.
Bruce Fecteau and Kim Tansey   -- Fecteau, a fabricator of Brett Bodine Racing and Tansey were married Saturday morning atop the team hauler at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Romance lives!
The Bottom Line
The last 100 miles are some of the most entertaining on the Winston Cup circuit. Who can forget Ken Schrader in 1995? He was blowing away the field in 1995 when his engine expired just miles from the finish.

 

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CNNSI.com Profile: Gordon's long weekend Coca-Cola 600 Lineup Waltrip buys way into Coca-Cola 600 field Jeff Burton, Martin finish 1-2 in Busch event at Lowe's
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