AVONDALE, Ariz. — Conquering Phoenix Raceway and winning the championship is about far more than speed in the truck or execution on pit road. The drivers also have to know which lane is the right choice during pivotal restarts.
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Phoenix Raceway is unique in that drivers dive far down onto the apron after crossing the start-finish line. There is no "out of bounds" at the 1-mile track. If they go too far, they just hit the safer barrier.
This layout means that there are multiple options for making Turns 1 and 2 each lap of the race. The drivers can use the shortest route and dive to the bottom of the track — violently slamming onto the surface in the process and possibly damaging the splitter — or they can use more traditional lanes and stay on the track.
What method is the best often depends on who you ask.
"I've watched the last two or three races back here multiple times," Ty Majeski said Thursday during Championship 4 Media Day. "There doesn't seem to be a right or wrong answer to that. I think it's very situational. I don't know that there's a line I prefer. You really have to pay attention to who is in front of you and what strategy they're on, how old their tires are.
"There's a lot that will probably go into the decision on what line I choose going into (Turn 1), but that could be a championship decision when you're on a restart on a green-white-checker. You need to make a decision on where to go and where to place your truck."
The green flag waves in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at @phoenixraceway. (📺: NBC & Peacock) pic.twitter.com/tTjBg1oxhM
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2022
Some trucks handle the apron better than others. They can take the abuse of hitting the surface without losing speed. This is something the teams have to test during practice sessions. They don't want to simply take the green flag at the start of the race and then just go for it.
"I like to at least do it a few laps in practice, just to see what it feels like," Austin Hill said Thursday. "It affects the left front splitter. It kind of pops the splitter up as the run goes. I mean, we see a good half an inch of splitter kind of popping up throughout the race.
"So I think that going ahead and (going onto the apron), and getting those reps and seeing how bad it flares out the skirts and that type of stuff, we need to probably get that out of the way and just see how violent it is going across it."
NASCAR's drivers have known about the apron for years, but last season's Truck Series championship race had a wrinkle that made an impact. Someone had mistakenly painted the restart zone in the wrong spot.
It was at least 50 feet away from where it was in previous seasons. NASCAR ultimately painted the restart zone in the correct place ahead of the Xfinity and Cup finales, but it left it for the Truck race after meeting with the teams and drivers.
The result was one of the messiest races of the season, one that featured 12 cautions, a red flag delay, 12 DNFs, and four overtime attempts.
"Everybody saw what we saw last year, so hopefully, there's no stupid moves," Christian Eckes, the winner of last season's Phoenix race, said. "And I'm guilty of them too.
"I mean, I made some dumb moves too, but you had to. So that's the joy and the pain of Phoenix is that there's a lot of opportunity to do dumb stuff, but those dumb things usually pay."
This season, none of the teams will have to contend with the restart zone moving to the wrong spot. They will just have to focus on the standard layout and finding which line is best for their respective setup.
Whether it is on the apron or on the track itself will remain to be seen.
"I feel like it is up for discussion," Corey Heim said. "Last year, they had that weird restart lane movement. They moved it like 100, 200 feet forward, and it actually made it pretty outside dominant.
"But this year, with it being back at its normal spot, I feel like you can get away with either lane. It will be interesting to see how that works out."
