Sunday update from Pocono
There is a fairly strong tailwind down the front straight which will cause the drivers to have to shift between 4th, 5th and 6th gear down the straight and downshift back to 4th in Turn . They use the gears depends on wind, whether they are slingshotting another car, or if they are saving fuel.
The wind caused some drivers to run out of gear by pushing (tail wind) the car down the straight on Saturday, but if it comes in gusts it makes the car very unstable in the turns.
Drivers have said it is very hard to pass here, especially in Turn 3, which is almost flat. And there are no red tires, or Push-To-Pass to help.
Will Power said the tires were very consistent over the stint. And he doubted the speeds would drop. He said there really wasn't any tire degradation.
Set-up is a big compromise here because getting your car well balanced in one turn means it won't behave that well in another turn. Because of the long front straight, Turn 1 seems to be the one that is best to pass on and that's where teams focused on getting a good balance. But then that sacrifices a good stable car in Turn 3.
Montoya said this a momentum track. If you lose momentum going into Turn 1 it will take you a full lap to recover.
Last year Ganassi finished 1, 2 , and 3 by saving fuel running Honda engines. This year's race is 100 miles longer for 200 laps, 500 miles. Mark C. reporting from Pocono