Concord, N.C. — One of the questions that I am most often asked as a spotter is, “What are the differences between spotting a place like Bristol as opposed to Talladega?”

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We’ll, there are a lot of similarities and there are quite a few different aspects as well.

At any track, the job is to tell the driver when he is clear of another car; how far back the next car is and, of course, what to do during a wreck. Those are the basics that I’ll do at any track.

At Bristol, it is important to tell the driver what’s happening during a wreck that is even behind him. Things happen so fast that if there is a situation in Turn 1 and the driver is going into Turn 3, he will be there pretty quickly. So information about where cars may be scattered or where debris is on the track is critical.

One of the other elements of my job at a quick half-mile is to try and forecast when a guy is going to stick his nose under the quarter-panel of your car. Since they reconfigured Bristol it’s a little easier; but before that pretty much the only way to pass was to jam the nose of your car into any small opening you can find—and hopefully their spotter is on the ball!

At Talladega (even more so than Daytona) there is so much more information that you have to give. I am talking non-stop throughout the race and have to give additional information like, who is behind us and who’s behind him. Since most of the race in three-wide, I will inform my driver what lane he is in—and keep reminding him of that. Now, you might think, ‘he should know what lane he is in’, and that’s a good point. But the draft moves so fast that you can be in the middle, then there’s a break on the top lane and you make think you’re as high as you can be. With the banking such as it is, it’s very tough for them to judge.

With the new Car of Tomorrow there is more information that I have to give on the Speedways as well. Because each car has such a large spoiler, it is impossible for the drivers to see through the car ahead of them. So, if they want to bump-draft they need to know how much room is ahead of the next car so that they don’t push one guy into the next. It’s a little complicated, but here is something you would typically hear during a restrictor plate race:

“Okay, you’re three-wide in the middle. You’ve got the 18 and 24 with you. The 99’s inside; he’s got the 12, 16 and 2 with him. You’re clear low if you need it and you have the 6 working the bottom two back. He’s got the 5, 9 and 26 with him. You’ve got about two car lengths of room if you wanna push that 42 car—but do it now!”

You have to say all that in about five seconds, but clear enough for him to understand it—because by the time you’re done saying it—everything has changed. It’s really like being an auctioneer at 200 mph!

So there are some basics that I use each week, but every track and every situation really calls for something different. But it’s what makes the job so much fun!

For more information about Mike visit www.mikecalinoff.com