LONG POND, Pa. - Doug Yates has been in demand since the day NASCAR decided on a new gearing rule that would mean no more downshifting at Pocono Raceway.

The chief engine builder for Roush-Yates Engines doesn't hesitate when drivers appear at his hauler for consultation.

"I think every driver we build engines for has come up and asked, 'What are we going to do for Pocono?' That probably goes back to March," Yates explained. "The first thing we tell them is, 'Don't shift.' "

Elliott Sadler, who drives for Robert Yates Racing, appreciated the advice, but wasn't worried about defying it.

"I'm not that stupid," he said.

Don't shift on the racetrack? That sounds pretty basic. But Pocono is no ordinary track.

The 2½-mile triangle has long been considered a road course of sorts with its sharp, speed-robbing turns necessitating a change to a lower gear as the fastest way to recoup speed for the run down two of the longest straightaways in racing.

Now, as Sadler paints the picture, the cars will go through the turns as if they had automatic transmissions. They simply will be very slow to rediscover speed.

Yates said the range of rpms from the top to the bottom of the speed band on one gear is generally 2000. Here, it will be 3000.

"You better have the best engine you ever had because you need power everywhere here," he said.

A balance of power that would permit the teams to build engines that could be used at many tracks without skyrocketing costs figured in NACAR's thinking, Nextel Cup director John Darby said.

"They can build engines which can stand 9,500 rpms with less failure," he said, noting that each increase makes the cars less cost-effective.

Coming off a sweep of last summer's events at Pocono, Jimmie Johnson should be the favorite Sunday.

But the Nextel Cup points leader has almost no advantage heading into the Pocono 500. The change in the gearing rule means everybody will be going slower, looking for new ways to get around the 2½-mile triangle.

"That's going to be much different than what any of us have done before," Johnson said. "I expect the times to probably be a lot slower since we're not able to optimize the power band of the engine.

"And then with the smaller spoiler, at Pocono it's very tough to get stopped in turn one with the speeds we carry and I would expect that the smaller spoiler is going to be a little tougher on the brakes, as well. So it's going to be a different racetrack, probably one of the tracks we will have the most difficulty adjusting to with this new rules package this year."

There is no motivation for a driver to downshift, Sadler said.

"You would wreck. It would lock the rear wheels up," he said. "It would be like driving your normal car down the road and going from fifth gear to first gear. You would wheel hop and then you would wreck."

Neither knows what to expect when the green flag waves. But Johnson certainly will miss the old routine.

He has worked hard on perfecting his Pocono driving style. Now, the search will be on to figure out how to maintain his advantage on this track, the only layout of its kind on the NASCAR circuit and the only place outside the road courses where shifting was used outside pit road.

"What made it so interesting and fun for me was the shifting and the demands on the braking and getting your downshift done right at the right time," said Johnson, who on Sunday will try to become just the third driver to win three straight races on the mountaintop.

Practice speeds Friday were down considerably from past years. The top speed was Kurt Busch's 166.620 mph.

That should mean the cars would not come close to Kasey Kahne's year-old Pocono qualifying record of 172.533.