Race Weekend Central

Tech Talk: Bono Manion Talks Air Flow, Strategy and Teammates at Talladega

Kevin Bono Manion Cup Darlington 2015 Mike Neff

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway, where the crew chief has the least amount of input into the speed of the cars of any race weekend all season. Kevin “Bono” Manion, crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr.‘s No. 9, is this week’s crew chief for Tech Talk. He talks about the difficulty …

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Tech Talk: Tony Gibson Talks Spring Rates and Rock Hard Tires

Tony Gibson Indianapolis Cup 2015 Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Coming out of Charlotte after a top-five run, Tony Gibson is feeling good about the No. 41 team driven by Kurt Busch and where they are heading into Kansas. While on the way to Kansas, the team took a detour through Phoenix for three days of testing. Monday and Tuesday teams tested for Goodyear in anticipation …

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Tech Talk: New Father Matt Puccia Talks Charlotte, Gear Ratios

Matt Puccia Indianapolis Cup 2015 Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

The Chase for the Championship in the Cup Series is stressful and intense. When teams are not in that mix, the focus changes to preparing for next year and trying to win a race for your sponsor and team in the current season. Matt Puccia is trying to finish the season strong with his driver …

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Tech Talk: Huge Loads and Optimum Cambers with Jason Ratcliff

2015 Loudon Ii Cup Jason Ratcliff Matt Kenseth Trophy Cia

(Photo: CIA Stock Photo, Inc. ©2015)

Winning fixes everything, even if there wasn’t anything broken. Matt Kenseth, Jason Ratcliff and the No. 20 team played strategy well at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and came home with the victory last weekend. There are many things that come into play for a team to win a Cup Series race and the historic trends don’t …

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Tech Talk: Truck Arms and Pinion Angles with Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion

Kevin Bono Manion Charlotte Sprint Showdown 2015 Cup Mike Neff

(Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

The 1-mile racetrack in Loudon, New Hampshire, provides some unique challenges to race teams. For a team that isn’t in the Chase, the test is to compete and try and win the event while not interfering with the teams racing for the championship. As a team that hasn’t won this season, getting the car to …

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Tech Talk: Tommy Baldwin on How the Digital Dash Is Good for NASCAR

Tommy Baldwin Cup 2015 Phil Cavali

(Photo Credit: Phil Cavali, The Hot Lap)

Tommy Baldwin is not just the crew chief of the No. 7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car driven by Alex Bowman. He’s also the owner. The longtime crew chief brings a unique perspective to the job and also provides some interesting insight into next season and this year’s Chase. In this week’s Tech Talk, Baldwin talks …

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Tech Talk: Tony Gibson Talks Darlington Tire Wear, Richmond Grooves

Tony Gibson Darlington Cup 2015 Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Tony Gibson has been around this sport for a very long time; as such, he’s seen quite a few changes since he was a member of the 1992 NASCAR Cup Series championship team of Alan Kulwicki. Things are now coming full circle and the sport is getting back to the lower downforce cars that he …

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Tech Talk: Jason Ratcliff Discusses How to Deal with All Those Throwback Schemes

Jason Ratcliff Bristol 2015 Cup Mike Neff

Photo Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch

Spending two weeks thinking about a 42nd-place finish can be tough on a race team, but it helps when it is looking forward to a race in which it went to Victory Lane just two years ago. It also doesn’t hurt that the organization is probably the hottest in the series right now, and it is going to …

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Tech Talk: Matt Puccia Talks Tire Wear at Bristol

Matt Puccia Martinsville 2015 Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

The No. 16 team of Greg Biffle is heading into Bristol knowing it has to win in the next few weeks to have a chance to run for the championship, and crew chief Matt Puccia feels confident that the team is going to have something for the competition thanks to a strong car from the spring …

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Tech Talk: Tony Gibson Talks Aero, Fuel & Yaw

2015 Michigan Ii Cup Kurt Busch Tony Gibson Cia

Photo Credit: CIA Stock Photography

Crew chiefs make the big money because they have to make the calls that can win or lose a race on pit road. Last weekend we saw the race settled in the last quarter-mile of the event thanks to fuel strategy. As the series prepares to head to Michigan International Speedway for the second time …

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Tech Talk: Bono Manion on Setting Up for Those Pesky Right Turns

Kevin Bono Manion Martinsville 2015 Mike Neff

(Photo: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

Pocono was a rough weekend for Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports team driven by Sam Hornish Jr., but the veteran crew chief is hoping to put the disappointment behind his team and have a better run this coming weekend – after all, it’s a car that has won in the past …

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Tech Talk: Talking Aerodynamics, Strategy & Shift Levers with Jason Ratcliff

Jason Ratcliff Daytona 500 Cup 2.15 Mike Neff 147

(Credit: Mike Neff, Frontstretch)

The last four weeks have been quite a challenge for the crew chiefs in the Cup garage. The head wrenches had to prepare a low-downforce car for Kentucky, a standard 2015 rules package car for Loudon, a high-drag car for Indianapolis and now another standard package car for Pocono. Don’t forget that every team brings …

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