Drivers get nervous every time a new track debuts in the NASCAR Cup Series. Several unknown factors come into play and all the questions in their mind are simply unanswerable in what little practice time they get ahead of the race. This will be the case during the visit to Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez this weekend too.
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Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith spoke to the press about how he will be setting his car up for the challenge ahead. Road courses have largely been kind to the youngster. But the latest visit to the Circuit of the Americas taught him a few lessons. The setup his team used did not work out well and he had to settle for a 29th-place finish.
So, Smith has used the help of his crew to build a brand new setup from scratch. He admitted with joy, “I really like how my car has been driving. I think the road course is awesome. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. Obviously, the altitude is gonna be a little bit different from an engine feel. I’ve heard and I definitely can see that being the case.”
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits at an altitude of 7,500 feet above sea level. This would naturally present a fresh challenge for every driver on the field. But what Smith is particularly curious to see is how brake strategies will be drawn. “I don’t want to say brake issues, but what brake package you have is going to be very interesting,” he added.
The quicker the teams figure this out, the better their chances of victory will be. Adjustments to the car will be extremely crucial, but so will spending every possible minute out on the track ahead of the big race. Smith is aware of that. He’ll be crossing the southern border to try to earn his third top 10 of the season.
How the high altitude at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will affect engines
At 7,500 feet above sea level, the road course will be the highest elevation in Cup Series history. Engines produce significantly less horsepower than usual at such altitudes. The cars’ cooling will also be impacted since water boils at lower temperatures at high altitudes. For drivers, too, this will be a pressing challenge to overcome from a physical standpoint.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe has been sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, a room that simulates the conditions that a body experiences at high altitudes. He hopes that this will help him during the race, particularly because this has meant leaving his wife alone with his kids.
“If we get to Mexico and all that was a waste of time, I’ll just be in the dog house. You get good sleep because you’re not getting woken up by the kids, but it’s like 90 degrees in this tent. It smells like straight-up plastic,” he said.
Others, including Christopher Bell, have been making use of similar measures. It remains to be seen how effective they will be. As the Cup grid tackles its highest-ever altitude challenge, adaptability could be the ultimate decider.
