As NASCAR approaches Daytona's dangers, Truex says 'They want us in a wad' | KEN WILLIS

Right about the time the cars are pulled onto pit lane after the checkers wave Sunday at Watkins Glen, drivers will start worrying about the looming Saturday night at Daytona.

Nah, just kidding.

Most started fretting about it long before this weekend.

Example 1: “I think you’ll see people take a lot more risk than what they probably feel comfortable with in order to put themselves in position to make something happen.”

Example 2: “It’s crazier than you could ever imagine. It’s not my favorite thing but it’s part of it.”

The first quote came from Kevin Harvick, whose tone was a bit more casual than the man who uttered the second, Martin Truex Jr., whose playoff hopes may depend on him doing something he’s never done at Daytona.

Win.

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Truex winless at Daytona, Talladega

Harvick enters Sunday’s Watkins Glen road-course race on a two-week win streak, which popped up just as his playoff obituary was going to press. For him, next Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 will still be a hairy affair, but he can freely untangle himself, as well as one can, if he senses a triggering of the infamous Big One.

Truex, not so much. And any anxieties he packs for the trip south, as well as those brought along by other playoff hopefuls, is exactly what NASCAR and NBC were counting on when they moved Daytona’s summertime high-wire act from July to the final race of the regular season.

For Truex, counting on a Daytona victory comes with an inconvenient truth. In his otherwise fine career, one that will someday land him in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, he’s winless in 34 Daytona starts. Including his 35 starts at sister track Talladega — the other “plate-race” behemoth — he’s a combined 0-for-69.

Yikes.

There’s still hope Truex will come to town without that career sandbag weighing him down. He has to enter Watkins Glen with confidence. The past four trips there, he has a win and hasn’t finished worse than third.

Problem is, no past success has mattered this season for Truex, who’s still receiving his mail in the lead pack, but has yet to fully crack the code to the new Next Gen car. Especially on road courses, where he and his three Gibbs Racing teammates have all battled mediocrity this year.

So, chances are, he won’t get to Daytona’s closing laps with the same “out” as Harvick, who, if he desires, will be able to rip-cord his way out of any mess he feels will result in tow trucks. Or at least try.

The game plan?

“Maybe I need to get more aggressive at the end,” Truex says. “It’s wild. If we have a green/white/checkers, it’s amazing that everybody just holds it wide-open. It’s like bumper cars.

"Nobody cares, they just hold it to the floor and hope for the best.”

Truex on Daytona: "They want us in a wad"

All of this madness dates back to the late 1980s, when NASCAR was basically forced to slow down its cars at Daytona and Talladega, as speeds soared past 200 mph in equipment ill-prepared to contain potential disaster.

“Restrictor-plate” racing was ushered in, and the unintended consequence was the equalization of the front-runners and mid-packers, due to unresponsive throttles that led to the bunching of cars in packs of 20, 30 and more.

Modern technology allows the slowing of race cars without physical hardware covering most of the carburetor, but the on-track result is the same.

And while it might have been an “unintended” consequence back at the beginning, the theory from this corner has long held that there’s a way to slow the cars while still allowing the Haves to separate themselves from the Have Nots.

But one look at the TV ratings from Daytona (and Talladega) and you might conclude big-pack racing has become an addiction no one outside the cockpit wants to kick.

“That’s a correct assumption,” Truex says. “They want us to be in a wad. They want us all to be in a pack, three-wide, and things getting crazy. That’s how that racing is. You have to be able to figure out how to put yourself in the right position. It’s hard to do, because you never know where the wreck is gonna start.”

Harvick knows both Daytona extremes

Harvick, unlike Truex, has a couple of wins at Daytona — one in February (2007), one in July (2010) — but in 40 other Daytona visits, he’s left town without a trophy. He knows every emotion the track offers (and threatens). All things equal, he's happy to arrive with his playoff RSVP already in the mail.

“I would say it’s the single biggest relief, because I think it’s going to be wild,” he says. “I think there’s gonna be people doing anything they can do to put themselves in position from a strategy standpoint. That’s why the scenario is so great, to have that race in Daytona.

“I’m glad we’re not depending on it to try to put ourselves in position to get into the playoffs.”

That doesn’t mean he’s completely free to flip on the cruise-control and enjoy a leisurely drive. His fellow 40-something veteran reminds him, and others, of plate-race reality.

“We’ve been wrecked in the top five, we’ve been wrecked in the back trying to stay out of the wreck,” Truex says. “There’s nowhere to hide.”

Campers start arriving mid-week, cars hit the track Friday. Buckle up.

— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com

Friday

12:30 p.m.: Parking lots open.

1 p.m.: Infield FanZone opens.

1-1:15: Austin Hill Q&A (Midway).

1:15-1:30: Natalie Decker Q&A (Midway)

1:30-1:45: Landon Cassill Q&A (midway).

2:30: Stadium gates open.

3:05: Xfinity Series qualifying.

4:45-5: Myatt Snider Q&A (FanZone).

5-5:15: Austin Hill Q&A (FanZone).

5:05: Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 qualifying.

7:30: Xfinity Series Wawa 250 race.

Saturday

12:30 p.m.: Parking lots open.

2:30: Stadium gates open.

3:45-4 p.m.: Kurt Busch Q&A (Midway).

4:15-4:30: Harrison Burton Q&A (FanZone).

4:30-4:45: Martin Truex Q&A (FanZone).

4:30-4:45: William Byron Q&A (Midway).

4:45-5: Kyle Larson Q&A (Midway).

5-5:15: Richard Petty Q&A (Midway).

5:15-6:30: Pre-race concert featuring Better Than Ezra.

7 p.m.: Coke Zero Sugar 400.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Truex, Harvick approach Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona differently