Another Penske Question

[mbilek]

After the race Roger mentioned that the reason Barron blew the doors off the Penske twins was that they Penske cars were saving fuel.

OK. All cars needed to make one more stop, why do you think Roger was saving fuel--no way could he make it to the end.

IMO, he was short-filling the cars in the race, knowing most stops would come during the yellow. If he could get out first, track position was everything.

markbilek

[SJFast]

Yep....that makes sense ! And the cars are faster with a lighter fuel load.

[pfc_m_drake]

One other possibility is that the more fuel you have in the car, the shorter the amount of time it takes to fuel the car during a pit stop.

Therefore, if you pit and still have some fuel in the tank, your pitstop should take less time than somebody else who needs a full load of fuel, and therefore also gain track position.

Hard to say which was the case...but in any event, saving fuel seemed to be the winning strategy (for yesterday at least).

[mesquite]

I have another Penske question. Have Gil and Helio worn MOBIL hats after the race before ?

My bro-in-law and I are watching the post-race, and he first tells me the MARLBORO sponsorship was missing from Gil's fire-suit. I told him they now read "Marlboro Team Penske."

Then Gil puts a hat on as they interview him and it's the black ... Mobil hat. Just wanted to know if anybody knew anything, or maybe it's just something I hadn't noticed until yesterday.

[jmart]

He as much admitted he was running lean to make the pit stop a short one. My question though, how do you think that strategy would have played out had the last stop not been under Yellow? Didn't Barron have a 2-3 second lead at that point? That margin could have covered any extra fueling required, and the crazy thing is they were all within 4-5 laps of their window.

I don't know if it's pure luck or playing the law of averages, but Penske seems comitted to fuel economy runs, and it appears it worked for him this time. He payed for it at Naz (but nobody expected that race to restart and go the distance), and it worked for him at Indy (but if the track had stayed Green, who knows).

Anyway, my hats off to them. Gateway was exciting, and it has really set up a great battle for the last two events. It is truly crunch time, but I still have a feeling that Sam, even though in 3rd, is best positioned for the last two events. Speedway HP will make the difference. Again, just a feeling.

jmart

[pfc_m_drake]

Originally posted by mesquite:
<STRONG>I have another Penske question. Have Gil and Helio worn MOBIL hats after the race before ?

My bro-in-law and I are watching the post-race, and he first tells me the MARLBORO sponsorship was missing from Gil's fire-suit. I told him they now read "Marlboro Team Penske."

Then Gil puts a hat on as they interview him and it's the black ... Mobil hat. Just wanted to know if anybody knew anything, or maybe it's just something I hadn't noticed until yesterday.</STRONG>

I haven't seen it before myself...but Mobile has been a longtime Penske Sponsor (via their Mobile 1 brand). Maybe they were just getting one of their sponsors some air time yesterday. If it starts to happen consistently, then maybe there's more to it.

[Sam Fan]

Originally posted by jmart:
<STRONG>Anyway, my hats off to them. Gateway was exciting, and it has really set up a great battle for the last two events. It is truly crunch time, but I still have a feeling that Sam, even though in 3rd, is best positioned for the last two events. Speedway HP will make the difference. Again, just a feeling.

jmart</STRONG>

Funny, I've had that very same feeling ...

[Tex]

Typical Penske strategy. Carried over from his CART days.
IMO it is excellent strategy. It is a pretty good bet there will be yellows often enough to make this strategy work. That allows for quick pit stops along with excellent crews, conservative drivers. That is, drivers who know how to conserve fuel and equipment.
Of course, that's a no brainer since they are in 1st and 2nd.
They are a little behind the 8 ball in the next 2 races. If they are clean races Penske will probably not win. Yellows at the right time an he probable will.
IMO Penske, more than any other team, uses strategy more than on track racing to win.

[BADGER]

Maybe he was planning on a late race debris yellow to make the fuel stratagy work?

[2fast4u]

Originally posted by mbilek:
<STRONG>After the race Roger mentioned that the reason Barron blew the doors off the Penske twins was that they Penske cars were saving fuel.

OK. All cars needed to make one more stop, why do you think Roger was saving fuel--no way could he make it to the end.

IMO, he was short-filling the cars in the race, knowing most stops would come during the yellow. If he could get out first, track position was everything.

markbilek</STRONG>

good question. I don't think the penske boys were saving fuel any more than barron was... roger just doesn't like to admit that someone could drive right by his boys like they were a couple of pikers.

why short fill for track position when you're basically in P1 and P2 all race long? that's a strategy for coming from the back or middle of the pack to the front.

also, if they'd short-filled earlier in the race, they would've needed MORE fuel to get to the end and barron would've beaten them out of the pits... they didn't, and he didn't.

there's only one reason alex barron didn't win that one - because that outside move on HCN at the final restart didn't work out quite as planned... except for that, the race was his to win.

Originally posted by BADGER:
<STRONG>Maybe he was planning on a late race debris yellow to make the fuel stratagy work?</STRONG>

Certainly is a stretch in the IRL .

[Tex]

The point is what ever Penske strategy was, it worked.

[mesquite]

Originally posted by Tex:
<STRONG>The point is what ever Penske strategy was, it worked.</STRONG>

Exactly.

Did you see Helio's comments on Barron's kamikaze on the restart.

"I'm about to brake and turn. Are you ?? Oops!.. doesn't look like it. See you later."

[Mackie]

Not enough "Aurora" horsepower, Penske cars on all the big tracks are passed with ease. He is still trying to win the CART way, next season, his Toyota's (he is an approved builder) will be built to get better milage then the Comptech and TRD engines, wait and see, some things never change. It has bit Penske in the butt several times this year, and may have @ Indy, if the race ran "green" to the finish, Penske does have some luck, little of it is bad.

[tjgje]

Originally posted by Mackie:
<STRONG>Not enough "Aurora" horsepower, Penske cars on all the big tracks are passed with ease. He is still trying to win the CART way, next season, his Toyota's (he is an approved builder) will be built to get better milage then the Comptech and TRD engines, wait and see, some things never change. It has bit Penske in the butt several times this year, and may have @ Indy, if the race ran "green" to the finish, Penske does have some luck, little of it is bad.</STRONG>

"Team Penske owner Roger Penske said Castroneves will test Chevrolet's new engine this week at Joliet -- the team has been using last year's model -- in a bid to improve its raw speed on the 1.5-mile tracks that make up the rest of the schedule." http://www.indystar.com/article.php?irl26.html,sports