TEXAS TEST WAS A WINNING ONE FOR TEAM YELLOW

Jon Wolfe admits that not every test for Team Yellow is a good one.  However, he believes the one last week at Texas Motor Speedway could turn out to be a winning one.   “It is one of the best tests I’ve been on in quite a while as far as learning things,” says Wolfe, crew chief on the Yellow Transportation Dodge driven by Johnny Benson.

           
 “We really learned quite a bit about the new tire that we are using this year,” adds Wolfe.   “We found out that it takes a lot different handling package than what we have been running the last three years.   And I mean a lot different.”

By the end of the two-day session at the 1.5-mile track, Benson was wearing a huge smile.  “We feel really, really good about how we’re going to run (in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300),” says Benson.   “We think we found out what we need to be a winning car.”  The 200-lap event will be televised live by FOX beginning at 2 p.m. (EST).
 

Both Wolfe and Benson don’t hide the fact that if the Yellow Transportation team hadn’t tested, their chances of being a contender for the victory would be slim.   “When we unloaded, we were not very good,” said Wolfe.  “We went with the same setup that we ran there last year, where we ran fairly well, but (with that setup) Johnny couldn’t even make a lap before he was screaming on the radio about how loose the car was. 

          
 “We are certainly very glad that we tested at Texas.  Now looking back at Vegas, we wish we had gone out there to test.  We’ve run well pretty much everywhere we’ve been except Vegas where we struggled.  We should have tested out there.

“A lot of times you run and run and run and don’t learn a whole lot from a test.  This is one of those times where we really learned a lot.”  Wolfe points out that “some of the things we have done for the past three years to make our car work with the other tire we have got to completely forget.  The changes you need with this new tire are not subtle ones.”

Benson agrees as he adds, “the thing we have fought for three years was the car was too tight.  You really struggled to make the car turn (in the corners).  You don’t have that problem now.   Now you have a problem gripping the track.  And when you lose grip, the car gets loose.”

           
With Texas being a very fast race track, Wolfe realizes he needs to get the Yellow Transportation Dodge “as comfortable as possible for Johnny.  The sidewalls on this new tire seem to flex around more and that gives the driver an uneasy feeling.   And when you go into the corner at 195 or 198 (miles per hour) at Texas, you don’t want that kind of feeling.  “And by the time we finished the test, we had gotten the car to where it was really comfortable for him.  We feel really good with what we learned.”