Pocono Race Recap

It pains me to write AJ’s race recap this week, and I considered not even doing it. But I figure there are people out there who don’t know all the circumstances behind his finish. He started in 30th place due to rained out qualifying, and ended in 30th place when all was said and done. That doesn’t tell the whole story of how he ran though, so I am going to walk you through AJ’s race, as difficult as it is for me.


Pocono Race Recap

With all on-track activities rained out on Friday, the Stanley Tools Dodge Charger was relegated to a 30th place starting spot when the field was lined up by the NASCAR rule book. The 44 team worked hard during both practices on Saturday to get the car tuned in for the race on Sunday, and AJ finished up Happy Hour 9th on the board and pleased with his car.

When the green flag fell on Sunday, AJ was still happy with the handling of his Stanley machine. By the end of the first lap, he had already moved up four spots. A few cars pitted under the early caution brought out by the #11 car of Denny Hamlin, and by lap 10 AJ had the #44 Dodge Charger up to 20th place. At that point the car was a little bit free entering the corners, but he needed the most help with some grip coming off the corner.

The 44 team had a chance to make some adjustments when the yellow flag came out on lap 13, and AJ pitted from the 19th position to get four tires and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted the race in 22nd place after a few cars behind him took just right side tires. He quickly made that ground back up though, and was in 18th position by lap 23.

AJ radioed in on lap 26 that the car was getting looser as the run went on, but that it looked like everyone was battling the same problem as they were all sideways coming off the corners. He eventually tried some different lines through turn 1 especially to help the loose condition, and then made a green flag pit stop on lap 45 for four tires and a track bar adjustment. The 44 team did an excellent job on pit road, and when green flag stops cycled through, AJ was sitting in the 11th position.

Despite running top 10 lap times, AJ called in on lap 64 and said that he didn’t like the feel of the car and to not play with the air pressure in the tires anymore. Sammy called for another track bar adjustment, and AJ again came to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 76. He came back out on the track and cycled back through to 11th place again.

This time the car started out the run a little bit tighter, but by lap 83 AJ radioed in saying that it was “so loose” and by lap 92 he said there was “no right rear grip” and that he was “just hanging on.” Despite the free condition, AJ made up a couple more spots and was in 9th place when the caution came out on lap 103. This time Sammy came back up half a round on the track bar and made a small air pressure change.

The green flag flew on lap 109 with AJ in 9th place, and was followed by a quick caution on lap 113. AJ said that the car was better, and Sammy opted to keep him on the track under the caution, moving the #44 Stanley Tools Dodge up to 6th place for the restart. The double file format led to some exciting laps when the green flew, and there were a couple of white knuckle three wide incidents through the corners until AJ finally got settled into line.

AJ was running 9th at lap 131 when he called in that the engine temperature was climbing on his Dodge Charger, and that he thought he must have picked up some debris on the grill. His gauge was reading 230 degrees, which was high but not terminal. Thankfully it was almost time for a green flag pit stop, and AJ came in just 6 laps later for four tires and no changes. The crew also got the grill cleaned off and the temperatures dropped back down to a normal level.

A little ways into this run, AJ complained that the rear end was out of the track again. Apparently even small adjustments, or a bad set of tires could cause the car to handle badly. Cloud cover also changed the track conditions which caused the 44 car to lose a little ground. When the yellow flag came out on lap 157 for debris, AJ pitted out of 12th place to get four fresh tires and a wedge adjustment.

Rain started coming down on the track during the yellow flag, but the track crew kept the cars running throughout the caution laps to help in track drying efforts. As it got closer to restarting, Sammy made the decision to bring AJ into the pits to top off the gas when the field got the one to go signal. With 35 laps left in the race and knowing that he needed to conserve fuel, AJ sat in 23rd position when the green flag fell.

As cars that had not pitted under caution and couldn’t make it to the end started to come in for gas, AJ found himself up in 10th place, even though he was saving RPM’s in every corner to keep the 44 car on track until the end. It looked like the strategy call was going to get AJ the top 10 finish that he deserved as the white flag flew, but things fell apart as AJ came down the Long Pond straightaway between turns 1 and 2. He radioed in that he was out of gas, and despite trying to wiggle the car and get some fuel to the pick up and get it re-fired, AJ could do nothing but coast as he watched car after car go around him.

The #44 Stanley Dodge Charger never did make it back across the finish line for the checkered flag, but came to rest in the final straightaway. AJ was credited as the first car one lap down, and was relegated to a disappointing and heart breaking 30th place finish. The only good that came out of the finish was that David Stremme’s was worse, and AJ picked up one spot in the points standings.

All in all, it was both a good day and a bad day. AJ had a top 10 to 15 place car all race long, and was running lap times as good as the leaders at several points in the race. Now if only he could buy himself some good fortune to go along with a fast race car. If anyone has any luck to spare, send it AJ’s way. He could use some.