How Bristol's pit road makes it different than other tracks on the circuit.
UNB! NETWORK STAFF REPORT
It's no longer the pits, figuratively speaking, when setting up shop in a pit stall on the backstretch at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Because it is the only track that still features pit stalls on the front (Nos. 1-22) and back (Nos. 23-43) of the track, teams forced to pit on the backside of the tiny, half-mile bullring often found themselves at a competitive disadvantage, hitting pit road only after those stopping on the frontstretch had already been in for pit stops.
Teams pitting on the frontstretch entered pit road at the exit of Turn 4 while those pitting on the back remained behind the pace car until they reached the exit of Turn 2 and were allowed to drop down onto the backstretch of pit road.
But in 2002, track officials began mandating that all cars to enter pit road in Turn 2, regardless of where their respective pit stall was.
Now, teams pitting on the frontstretch must maintain pit road speed all the way around to the pit stall that the respective teams selected before returning to the track in Turn 1.
Those pitting on the backstretch get to pit first, but must also maintain pit road speed all the way back around to Turn 1 before returning to the track.
No comments:
Post a Comment