CONCORD, N.C. -- Rip the lip or put your wheels on the white line? That is the question NASCAR drivers will face this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Honestly, they are happy to have the choice.
Ripping the lip is the art of racing inches away from the outside wall to maximize speed out of the turns. It's common practice in NASCAR and grassroots series around the world. Some drivers have done this to great success; others have performed better racing at the bottom of the track before sliding up in front of their competitors.
"I feel like you can pick and choose," Ryan Blaney said in response to a question from AltDriver on Tuesday. "I feel like the top gets dominant late in a run, and the guys who can do it correctly kind of shine. (Kyle) Larson, Tyler Reddick, those guys are kind of the standouts, to me, who can do it efficiently.
"Like there's one thing about, 'Oh yeah, I'm going to go run the fence,' but you can be half a second off running the fence. Those guys, they are doing it and doing it with a lot of speed. But then you have some, they can commit to the bottom and find pace down there. It's really just whatever your car is doing right."
Blaney was on the wrong side of this lane conundrum last season. He had the lead entering the final turn, but he ran in the middle of the track. Reddick ripped the lip and passed him on the outside to steal the win and a spot in the Championship 4.
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As Blaney explained, it's impossible to make passes if every driver is running the fence. He also noted that the top has become worn out as the track has aged, especially with drivers gravitating to the high line.
The bottom has occasionally provided better opportunities to pass in recent seasons. The 2023 Cup Series champion specifically pointed to Xfinity driver Austin Hill as a prominent example.
Hill agreed with Blaney's sentiment, telling AltDriver, "Our car has to be really good for me to run the top. I just have always been better at running the bottom."
This low line is one that Hill used to great success last season at Homestead-Miami Speedway as he won at the intermediate track.
Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier, and other Xfinity drivers would stay in the middle of the track or ride right up against the wall. Hill, however, would put his left tire right on the white line and follow it through all of the turns.
This strategy helped him go from 16th to first in the opening stage, and it helped him lead 82 of the 200 laps before punching his ticket to the Championship 4.
"We kind of saw it last week at Vegas," Hill added while comparing intermediate tracks. "Unfortunately, we had a loose wheel, but I was able to wrap the line really low and be right on the white line. Restarted 30th and drove all the way to fourth under green flags.
"I think that carries over to Homestead. I think that if we bring the same package that we had last year and then the track transitions like it did last year -- you're gonna have to have a car that's versatile -- but for me, I had a car where I could go run the bottom."
As Hill explained, ripping the lip at Homestead requires a tighter race car. He prefers his No. 21 Chevrolet to be on the loose side. That doesn't mean he will only stay on the bottom. If he sees another driver beating him up top, he'll have his team tighten up the car so he can try that line.
Creed, Hill's teammate at Richard Childress Racing for two seasons (2022-23), takes a different approach to Homestead. He is one of those drivers who prefers to race right against the wall to get momentum off of the turns.
Creed just sees more risk than reward at the bottom of the track.
"I'm a run-the-fence guy," Creed told AltDriver. "I feel like I've been good at it. Obviously, been really good at Darlington, and I've always been really good on the long runs at Homestead, being able to drive from outside the top 10 to top three for the end of stages.
"...I don't mind running the bottom when it's good, but as the pace falls off, I would rather go run right against the fence."
The drivers across the three national NASCAR series will have multiple strategies available once again during the tripleheader weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Will the top be the winning line, or will the bottom prevail?
The answer remains unknown, but one thing remains certain -- NASCAR fans will have no shortage of entertainment while watching the battles on the track.