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NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers shrug off pesky Pocono Raceway bumps

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LONG POND &#8212; On Friday, Sprint Cup drivers became less and less diplomatic when discussing the newfound bumps in Pocono Raceway&#8217;s tunnel turn.Joey Logano wondered aloud if his car could make it through the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it was nearing the line between &#8220;character&#8221; and &#8220;a bad racetrack.&#8221;Kurt Busch compared them to speed bumps in &#8220;grocery store parking lots.&#8221; And he won the pole.By Sunday? There was much more shrugging that shouting.One of the bigger storylines heading into Sunday&#8217;s Axalta &#8220;We Paint Winners&#8221; 400 was how the cars would handle the unexpectedly rough ride that had developed in turn two since last summer.Though the actual tunnel entrance to the track itself underwent cosmetic changes &#8212; complete with a new facade on both sides and a waterfall out front &#8212; the roughness was attributed to general aging exacerbated by a harsh winter.The general consensus from drivers was that the negative reaction on Friday was a result of being caught off guard by the development.After finishing second on Sunday, Kevin Harvick insisted it wasn&#8217;t a huge issue once the race actually got underway.&#8220;After the first run, I think everybody was kind of settled down on the bumps,&#8221; Harvick said. &#8220;If the track is smooth, a lot of them are going to complain about it being too smooth and doesn&#8217;t have enough grip. Now there&#8217;s three bumps in the track and it&#8217;s the end of the world.&#8220;You used to go to the racetrack, and if there was a new bump, you said, &#8216;Hey, there&#8217;s a new bump,&#8217; and you&#8217;d go work on it. I probably made 70 percent of my passes today in the tunnel because guys would get there and bounce or get loose.&#8221;Jimmie Johnson, who took third behind Harvick, had no arguments.&#8220;I totally agree,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;It was an opportunity to work on your car &#8212; an opportunity to pass. I think it just really surprised us all on our first trip through the tunnel. It&#8217;s a hairy corner to start with, and then to roll off in there your first time and find those bumps, I just think it just got everybody&#8217;s attention.&#8220;I don&#8217;t mind the bumps and the challenges that come with all that stuff, so I second what Kevin said.&#8221;Of course, that&#8217;s the view from the guys who finished at the front of the pack. But for the most part, the sentiment was echoed on down the line.&#8220;The bumps were really the only opportunity I saw out there to do much passing,&#8221; said Carl Edwards, who finished 15th. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think it was as big of a factor as we were all concerned about. I think it added a little character to the race.&#8221;Denny Hamlin, who has had tremendous success at Pocono in the past with four wins, also didn&#8217;t have an issue with having to make adjustments because of the track.&#8220;I thought they were fine,&#8221; Hamlin said. &#8220;I thought it did actually add character and opportunities to pass. I don&#8217;t see anything wrong with them.&#8221;Still, the sentiment wasn&#8217;t quite unanimous by the end of the weekend.Logano had a successful day, finishing fourth despite starting at the back of the field for making a gear change. But his concerns from Friday carried through to after the race.&#8220;My car sucked over them,&#8221; Logano said of the bumps. &#8220;That was our worst corner. In one and three, I wasn&#8217;t bad, but the tunnel turn I was hanging on.&#8220;The bumps are so big and our cars aren&#8217;t made to do this stuff. It rips the wheel right out of your hands quite a bit.&#8221;&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t a fan,&#8221; said Aric Almirola, who was forced back to the garage midway through the race with engine problems and did not finish. &#8220;The race track is extremely rough going across the tunnel. I don&#8217;t know if it was just the way we had our car set up or what, but it felt like I was (off-roading) in the Baja 1000 today.&#8221;As it turned out, most of Sunday&#8217;s chaos didn&#8217;t come in the tunnel turn &#8212; a fact that track president and CEO Brandon Igdalsky had some fun with during the race.&#8220;Looks like turn 1 is the tricky spot today,&#8221; Igdalsky wrote on Twitter after listening to concerns about the tunnel for much of the weekend. &#8220;Hmmmmm!&#8221;