In his relatively brief career as a Sprint Cup crew chief, Paul Wolfe has developed a reputation as a master strategist.
His most recent victory, on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was almost a carbon copy of his first one, back at Kansas Speedway in 2011 in his first year as a crew chief in NASCAR’s elite series.
In both races, his driver Brad Keselowski prevailed in a gas-mileage contest, with Keselowski’s old boss, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finishing second.
On Sunday at Las Vegas, it might have appeared as if Wolfe had no master plan, but when it came down to the stretch run to the checkered flag, Keselowski had more fuel and fresher tires than most of his competitors, including Earnhardt.
Earnhardt had the lead until the final lap but ran out of fuel, largely because Keselowski kept the pressure on him and didn’t allow him to take it easy and save enough fuel to complete the final lap at full speed.
It wasn’t the first time that Keselowski and Wolfe won without having the fastest car.
“As you look back at history, and as we started to have some success in 2011 and the way we did that, some of those races weren’t necessarily all out speed, but different strategies and things we did on pit road that were maybe not the norm in the past,” Wolfe said on this week’s NASCAR teleconference.
Wolfe went on to say that the team’s disappointments of a year ago, including missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup after winning the title in 2012, were due in part to their deviation from their aggressive race strategies, something they both vow not to do again.
Wolfe’s strategy skills also have come into play now that qualifying under the new knockout system has an element of decision-making in it, with two or three sessions featuring multiple chances to make laps instead of the old one-car-at-a-time qualifying. His team, which had only two poles in the past three years, has won a pole and an outside pole in the first two sessions of knockout qualifying.
Front Row Motorsports will have an all-David driver line-up at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. Regular drivers David Ragan and David Gilliland will be joined by David Reutimann, who will be making his first start of the 2014 season driving the team's No. 35 Ford.
“Driving for Front Row Motorsports is a great opportunity with a great organization,” Reutimann said in a team release. “I miss being at the track on Sundays, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Reutimann, a two-time Cup winner, lost his ride in the No. 83 BK Racing Toyota to rookie Ryan Truex after last season.
Three Nationwide Series teams have been penalized for rules violations last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The No. 11 car of Elliott Sadler had weight attached in an unapproved location. Crew chief Chris Gayle has been fined $10,000. He and car chief Todd Brewer also were put on probation until Dec. 31.
The No. 9 of Chase Elliott exceeded minimum front heights during post-race inspection. Crew chief Greg Ives was put on probation for the rest of the year.
The No. 22 of race winner Brad Keselowski had a shock absorber exceed maximum gas pressure. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins was fined $5,000 and put on probation for the rest of the year.
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