Tech Talk

_NASCAR is going to Talladega to run the fourth and final restrictor plate race of the season this weekend. Richard Childress Racing has long been a force on restrictor plate tracks and while their success at Daytona hasn’t been as strong, they have won three of the last five races held in the Cup series at Talladega. With Kevin Harvick the only driver from the RCR stables in the Chase, Gil Martin is tasked with leading the flagship of the organization toward the promised land. He spent some time with Frontstretch before the trip to Northern Alabama this weekend to touch on the things that make for a successful race at the 2.66 mile track between Atlanta and Birmingham._

_Tony Stewart started off his championship run last season with back-to-back wins at Chicago and Loudon. While his sixth-place finish on Sunday didn’t replicate his win from 2011, the nine bonus points he carried into the Chase this year have him sitting in basically the same position — on the cusp of being a contender. The attention now turns to Loudon, where Stewart and his teammate Ryan Newman were dominant in 2011. This Spring, they finished 12th and 10th respectively, but are poised to made another run at the top two spots this coming weekend after a successful test at Milwaukee._

_Frontstretch caught up with Steve Addington after the Milwaukee test to get his take on heading to the Magic Mile, cars in line for the Chase races, working with Hendrick Motorsports and how much they pay attention to the competition when they’re at the race track._

_The regular season comes to an end this coming weekend at Richmond. Kyle Busch is in the thick of the wild card hunt and is heading to one of his best race tracks on the circuit, while crew chief Dave Rogers has one shot to make or break the title hopes of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Rogers is dotting all of his I’s and crossing all of his T’s to make sure the team has every chance to be a part of the 12 teams in the Chase for the title. He talks this week about testing, tire durability, having Busch as his driver and setting up cars to go fast or be comfortable._

Mike Neff: *We’re heading to Richmond this weekend. It is the last race before the Chase and the whole Wild Card scenario is hanging thick in the air. Kyle is very good at Richmond, knowing the circumstances surrounding the weekend and what is at stake, how aggressive can you be with your setup and strategy knowing that if you go too far, you could knock yourself completely out of contention?*

_The Cup Series was in the Irish Hills of Michigan eight weeks ago and, in case you missed it, Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke his millennium long losing streak. As the series heads back to the two-mile oval with its fresh pavement, Steve Letarte is tasked with preparing the car for NASCAR’s most popular driver to try and make it two-for-two at Michigan International Speedway._

_Unlike the old surface, where drivers could move from the apron to the wall to make their car work, the track is now practically a one groove race track. If the car isn’t working in the preferred groove, it probably is going to struggle to keep up with the cars that have hit on the setup._

_The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series raced on the freshly paved surface of Pocono Raceway on June 10th. This weekend, just eight weeks later, the Cup cars will be back on the triangular-shaped track in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The teams have updated their notebooks after logging a full race on the fresh pavement and now are ready to head back with new ideas on how to go fast. But how do you make adjustments in so short a period of time? Jamie McMurray’s crew chief, Kevin “Bono” Manion tells Frontstretch what is on his mind heading back to Pocono for the second race on the upgraded surface._

_Jimmy Elledge has some 20 years of experience in racing and has been on the top of a pit box for quite a few of them. He is now on top of the box for Justin Allgaier and Turner Motorsports in the Nationwide Series. With the Cup series taking the week off before their grueling run to the end of the season, Tech Talk hit up Elledge for his opinions on heading back to the scene of his last NASCAR win with Allgaier in 2011._

_The Cup Series heads to Loudon, New Hampshire for the first time this season this coming weekend. Last year the Stewart-Haas Racing team owned the track, with Ryan Newman winning the pole position for both races along with winning one of the two while his boss and teammate, Tony Stewart, took the trophy in the other. Newman’s crew chief Tony Gibson is our guest for this week’s edition of Tech Talk and talks about the importance of aerodynamics, mechanical grip and rolling the center of the corners._