The idea of multi-car qualifying is nothing new to motorsports. Our readers who follow Formula 1 racing (or other open wheel series) know what I’m talking about. It is however, a fairly new system for NASCAR. We’ve seen the Nationwide Series use the process for road course races over the last few years, and this season the Truck Series has used it at Pocono and will again use it at Kentucky this weekend. CBS Sports reported on Thursday that NASCAR may be considering implementing multi-car qualifying for both the NNS and Cup Series on a regular basis. Is anyone else wondering why?
It appears that the main reason this system would be adopted by all the NASCAR series is to speed up the qualifying process. That’s fine, but I didn’t realize there was a problem with how quickly qualifying happened. This appears to me as something that isn’t necessarily broken, but NASCAR wants to fix it anyway.
Personally, my biggest objection with the multi-car qualifying idea is how fair this would be for everyone involved. We’ve seen plenty of times in other forms of racing where one driver’s bonzai qualifying lap was ruined by another driver in the name of strategy. With so much at stake, and the measures that teams go to in terms of finding an advantage, it isn’t crazy to think that this could happen in NASCAR. Single car qualifying runs eliminate any possibility of tampering by another team.
On top of that, what if a driver blows an engine while qualifying, and the other driver on track drives into the oil left behind and wrecks their primary car? A team could potentially have their weekend ruined before the race even starts. How is that fair? Under the system we have now, this would never happen, because NASCAR has the ability to clean the track in between qualifying runs.
With the current state of the sport I realize that NASCAR is trying to find ways to improve the racing and get more people to not only attend races, but also to watch on TV. To me though, implementing multi-car qualifying will cause more problems then it actually fixes.
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Is this week dragging by? Don’t worry, a holiday weekend is approaching, and with it comes Truck Series action at Kentucky, and NNS and Cup racing at Atlanta! While we wait for it to get here, we’ve got the 90th edition of ATIW for you. If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Anonymous:
Training for pit crews, how is it done? Is UTI the only show in town? By the way great articles, very well written, has given me a much better understanding of NASCAR, and I haven’t watched my first race.
The UTI campus in Mooresville, also known as NTI, doesn’t actually specialize in pit crew training. They are more about teaching guys to be mechanics. They do offer a pit crew class as a part of their program, but it is very basic. Performance Instruction & Training (PIT) in Mooresville does offer a much more comprehensive program for teaching people to go over the wall, as do a few other smaller programs. Tire changer and TV analyst DJ Copp actually runs his own small program for teaching guys and providing pit crews for example. Outside of that, some teams will have developmental pit crews they work with, or they will hand pick guys to bring in and train. The opportunity also exists for some shop employees to come out and learn. There are really several avenues for learning the skills. – T.C.
2. From Brandon:
Love the site! With the start and park drivers would NASCAR ever consider paying the purse based on laps completed? It seems if a team was only going to get 10% of the purse for running 10% of the laps it may eliminate some of the start and parking going on…
It’s certainly a novel idea. I think the big thing for NASCAR is not penalizing a team who competes every week and has bad luck but discouraging the practice of starting and parking. While this would certainly discourage the practice, as these teams wouldn’t be making much money off of this, it could also hurt a team trying to make a go of things. It’s definitely tough to find a perfect solution for this.- Journo
3. From Peter:
Sorry if this is a repeat question. Why do the gas can carriers always shake the empty can while timing down the balance of the second can?
What you are seeing when the catch can man is shaking the can is him signaling to the jackman that the car is full of fuel. When the tank is full, fuel will run out of the vent tube on the back of the car and into the catch can. Once the jackman sees the signal from the catch can man, and knows that his tire changers are finished, he will drop the jack and send his driver back to the race. – T.C.
4. From Craig:
With the NFL determined to go to an 18 game schedule, possibly pushing the Super Bowl deeper into February, do you think it will force NASCAR to change to the Daytona Speed Weeks schedule? Possibly going back to the old days when they started the season at another track before speed weeks to avoid a conflict with football?
It’s certainly possible that NASCAR would consider pushing the race back, or trying to accommodate the NFL if they pushed the post-season further into February. From the way I understand it though the NFL is just talking about taking away two pre-season games and starting the season earlier. If that happens it shouldn’t affect NASCAR’s schedule. – Journo
5. From Joe:
Have you heard anything about all of the engines NASCAR took to check for differences in horse power?
I know there weren’t any penalties associated with the check. And since we haven’t seen any more about it, we can assume NASCAR decided everything was fine. If they had found one manufacturer had a significant advantage over another, they would have made a rule change to level the playing field. – T.C.
6. From Brian:
With Petty saying this week that there will only be two cars, what was all the “exciting news” Petty, AJ, and Marcos talked about coming at each of there press conferences? What else is in store at RPM? Or is there nothing left to announce?
I’m sure what they were talking about were sponsor announcements. As far as I know they’re just going to be a two car team next season. – Journo
7. From Allen:
I’ve noticed when I attend Cup races if there was a Nationwide or Truck race the day/night before the “official” haulers are still in the infield. You know the ones with the giant Series logo’s on them, is there a reason they don’t leave with the team haulers?
As far as I know the Series haulers don’t generally return to North Carolina after races, so they aren’t in a hurry to leave the track like the teams are. They have to be at the next track early in the week, so they go straight from wherever they’re at to wherever they’re going. – Journo
8. From Michael:
“There was passion (and one middle finger), and boy was there carnage.” Who flipped the bird?
Steven Wallace to Ron Fellows. Here is the video – fast forward to 7:30. - Journo
9. From Michael in SoCal:
During Villeneuve’s last pit stop on Sunday, why was the catchcan kept in the car after the fueling was complete as they finished the four tire change?
Once the car is completely full, sometimes excess fuel will spill out of the vent tube. Keeping the catch can in until the last minute means less of that fuel ends up on the ground. Remember that it only takes one spark from a lugnut to set fuel on fire, and the less there is on pit road, the better it is for everyone involved. Also, spilled fuel is very slippery, so by not allowing spillage, it also aids in keeping the crew members on their feet during the stop. - T.C.
10. From Marcus:
Do you guys know what the state of the new Cup car is? They were really talking about it alot and lately they haven’t said a thing about it. With only 12 races left this season you would think that if they really wanted to implement it they would be designing it and getting ready to test it but all I have heard is that they would like to make changes to the current car to make it look more like the new Nationwide car. Just wondering if you guys have any more info or if you have heard anything in the garage area lately. Thanks.
Changes to the COT have certainly been discussed, but we’ve heard probably not until the 2012 season. NASCAR and the teams need enough time to properly test any proposed changes, and the teams would need time to implement these changes to their fleets. – T.C.
11. From Red Neck:
What type of coolant is used in NASCAR? Is it plain old water, anti-freeze or a mix?
Teams just use water to cool the engines. Anti-freeze is not needed because the cars are never driven in conditions that would require it. – T.C.
12. From Mike:
At the near end of the Nationwide race in Montreal, Robby Gordon ran out of fuel. Nascar told him to pull over and park (I believe the grass area in turn 2). Was that a safe move? What if his car would have been hit? Or Robby!
Absolutely. Robby got out of the car. This is actually not at all uncommon in most road course racing series. This is why they have local cautions to alert drivers of an issue in a certain part of the course – this avoids unecessary full course cautions. While NASCAR doesn’t utilize the local caution, this was not a surprising move given there were only a couple of laps left. So to answer your question, Robby was safe and the drivers were all well aware of his car’s position on the track. – Journo
And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!
Roger Penske may have yet another star in the making in the person of young Parker Kligerman. While everyone focuses on the continued presence of Cup drivers in Nationwide, and other prospects like Trevor Bayne, Kligerman has been quietly racing and finishing well.
So far this season, Kligerman has only seven starts in the Nationwide Series although he has attempted ten races. He’s driven for underfunded Smith Ganassi Racing and gotten a few starts in Penske equipment masked as K-Automotive #26 Dodges. While the three early season DNQs certainly don’t look good on his resume, his last four starts (Daytona, Chicago, Bristol, Montreal) all turned into very impressive runs. After finishing 13th at both Daytona and Chicago, Kligerman has cracked the top ten in his last two races with a ninth at Bristol and an eighth at Montreal. Not bad considering he was up against Cup regulars at Bristol and a slew of road course aces at Montreal.
Kligerman signed on as a Penske development driver for the 2009 season, and then spent the rest of the year dominating the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He brought home nine wins and lost the championship battle to Justin Lofton by only five points. His very good ARCA season earned him the opportunity to run two races for Penske in the Nationwide Series towards the end of ’09, and Kligerman again didn’t disappoint. In his first ever NNS attempt, he sat on the pole, led laps, and brought his car home with a top 20 finish.
For 2010, Kligerman has been running a limited NNS schedule on very little support, but he is starting to make a very solid case for why Roger Penske & Co. should find a more permanent home for his future. The young driver from Connecticut has been overshadowed this season by his Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier, who currently sit first and fourth in the NNS championship standings, but his future appears to be no less bright.
Let’s hope a full slate of Nationwide races in a fully supported Penske car await Kligerman for 2011.
As a tire changer I have basically two jobs: take the lugnuts off and put the lugnuts on. Sounds simple enough right? Well don’t forget that during a pit stop there are 20 lugnuts to hit, that is 10 off and 10 back on. So in essence, that’s 20 chances to screw up. And trust me, there are a lot of ways to screw it up.
At Bristol, even though Jamie McMurray finished third, it was a tough night for his guys. After one round of pit stops under caution, McMurray had to bring his car back to pit road because the rear changer knocked off lugnuts. Meet tire changer deadly sin number one. When a new tire gets hung on the hub, the lugnuts sit on the end of the studs and wait for us to come back and tighten them up. On your way to getting them tight quickly, it only takes a small miss to knock one off. And sometimes the jackman is paying attention and sees you knock one off, so you can fix it without coming back to pit road. There are plenty of cases though, where a changer knocks one off, the official sees it, and the jackman sends the car. The team has just bought their driver a return trip to pit road. These situations aren’t exactly conducive to job security.
What’s interesting to note though, is that there are actually a lot of cases where a lugnut gets knocked off but the official doesn’t see it, and the car heads back to the race with only four. Things happen so quickly during a stop, that if a changer knocks one off, but is a good actor, the official won’t notice. Often times the official only knows a lug is missing because the changer was fumbling around.
The next deadly sin will also ruin a race for a team, and could cost the changer his job. This sin is usually predicated by a short radio message that goes like this: “I’ve got a vibration.” Those are words dreaded by every changer on pit road. Why? Because that can mean loose lugnuts. There are a ton of reasons why lugnuts could be left loose or come loose, but in any case, it’s really bad when they do. The vibration comes from the fact that the loose wheel is now wobbling on the hub, destroying both the wheel and the studs. And every changer has had those pit stops in his career where when he got done, he said a little prayer and thought “wow, I hope those are tight.” You then spend the next 60 laps praying that the car makes it to the next pit stop without hearing that dreaded message.
The other two sins I will mention here will kill pit stop times, but unless they are repeated over and over, probably won’t completely ruin a race. They are hanging lugnuts, and hitting more then 20 during a stop.
Hanging lugnuts means you hit all five off, but for whatever reason, one (or more) doesn’t come all the way off the stud. It’s a horrible feeling to grab a hold of the wheel to pull it off, only to be jarred by a stuck lugnut that won’t allow the wheel to come off. The next course of action is to either pick the gun back up and hit the offending nut off, or try and spin it with your fingers. And we will call attempting to spin the lug with your fingers deadly sin 3-B. Crew chiefs and pit crew coaches alike will chew some ass over that tactic because sometimes the lugnut might be stuck and your fingers aren’t strong enough to spin it off. Or maybe it took 10 turns to get the lug off. Either way, you just killed the stop.
In practices and at the races, we are always told to “just hit 20.” Only hitting 20 lugnuts is what we all strive for. Sometimes though, that just doesn’t happen. Instead of hitting five, it’s not uncommon for a changer to hit six, or seven, or eight off. There are again a million reasons why this could happen, but every extra hit means the pit stop is longer by two to three tenths of a second. So if I miss one time during each pattern, that’s four extra hits for the whole stop, which just cost my team one second in the pits.
These are all deadly sins because if done enough, they will all lead to a changers demise. And trust me, having to explain why you just screwed up a race is not exactly a fun conversation. No race can ever be won in the pits, but it certainly can be lost.
The Cup teams get their final off weekend of the season, but there won’t be a shortage of racing action this week. The Truck Series is off to Chicagoland Speedway, and the Nationwide teams head north of the border to tackle the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Justin:
Thanks for a great site. Have you heard anything about why Scott Wimmer cannot get a decent ride in the Nationwide series? He has a lot of success in the past. What is the knock against him if any?
Thanks Justin! I think Wimmer’s problem is not so unsimilar to a large number of racecar drivers. He’s getting older, his performance was never spectacular and he doesn’t have funding. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not bad, you certainly know what you’re getting with Wimmer, but he’s not necessarily the kind of driver big teams are going to be willing to take a risk on at this point. – Journo
2. From Dave:
Does the first start and park team still face the rigorous “just because” tear down process that some cars went through at the start of the season?
Yes, NASCAR continues to tear down start and park teams like they were doing earlier in the year. This week, the #55 of Michael McDowell was the first car out of the race and NASCAR took their engine back to the R&D center. – T.C.
3. From Jamie:
You guys tweeted free beer at RCR. So do one or both of you work for RCR?
You caught us… Just kidding. I’m not sure where you saw that tweet, but it wasn’t on our twitter feed. Because of the nature of the site we’ll never disclose where we work, and we certainly wouldn’t be that obvious. – Journo
4. From Dan:
Hey Guys, According to the results of the Saturday night Bristol race the #48 car was listed as running at the end of the race with 415 laps completed. Why would Johnson stay on track after he couldn’t gain any more points? Hamlin who finished one position ahead had 58 more laps completed. Johnson was well ahead of Conway, who finished behind him, with only 212 laps completed and no threat to Johnson losing a position. Seemed odd considering it was Bristol, since a lot of chaos can go on there nearing the end of the race.
Well first, you never retire from a race if you can help it, because you never know what may happen. Johnson was involved in the wreck around lap 260 or 265, which means there was still half the race in which something could go wrong for somebody else and he could gain more points. Second, even once you mathematically cannot gain any more spots, you keep running for pride (for lack of a better word). You don’t want that dreaded DNF on your record and you never give up, even when you know it’s over. And finally, sponsors are paying your team to get exposure for them, and that can’t be done with a car loaded on the hauler. I personally commend them for running until the finish. – T.C.
5. From brotherflounder:
What do you think of Kyle Busch winning the triple?
I thought it was a cool moment, certainly something historic. Is Kyle winning in the Nationwide and Truck Series much of a feat? Not really. But still, to be able to do all that in one weekend is nothing to sneeze at – which is why no one has done it before. – Journo
We are hearing today that Randy Moss Motorsports has shut down its #81 Camping World Truck Series team effective immediately due to lack of funding. The team, which has been running with David Starr this season, had only partial sponsorship to begin the season. We are also hearing that several employees have been laid off, including crew chief Doug Wolcott.
There have been a ton of rumors floating around about RMM in the last several weeks, many of them mentioning a possible merger or sale of the team. Mike Skinner’s #5 truck has full sponsorship for the season from International Trucks, Monaco Coaches, Exide, and PC Miler but Starr only had a partial deal with Zachry.
Through 16 races this season, Starr is ninth in CWTS points with 6 top tens and has an average finish of 13.2. We’ll keep you posted if we hear any more.
As we approach the final stretch run of the 2010 Nationwide Series schedule, expect there to be more driver shuffling within Roush Fenway Racing’s NNS program. We’re hearing that both Matt Kenseth and Erik Darnell will get starts in the team’s #16 Fords in the upcoming races. Kenseth ran two NNS races for this team early in the season, and Darnell hasn’t made any starts in 2010.
We’ve talked quite a bit about the RFR Nationwide teams this season (here and here), because of the team’s commitment to developing drivers and because of the team’s turmoil. What were supposed to be full seasons for both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Colin Braun, have since turned into partial seasons. A rash of bad luck, torn up equipment, and opportunities to run other drivers were the reasons why. We’ve seen no less then five drivers make starts in the #6 and #16 (Stenhouse, Braun, Kenseth, Brian Ickler, and Billy Johnson), and Darnell will make it six.
If you’ll remember, Erik Darnell has been with the Roush organization since the 2004 season. He was the winner of Roush’s famous “Gong Show” in 2005, which was televised that year and put on the Discovery Channel as “Driver X.” Darnell then ran full seasons in the Truck Series for Roush from 2006 to 2008. For the 2009 season he moved up to the Nationwide Series and split the #6 ride with driver David Ragan. In 16 starts he earned two top five and five top ten finishes and had one pole. He was also given the opportunity to run seven Cup Series races for Yates/Hall of Fame Racing in the #96 in place of Bobby Labonte, getting a best finish of 29th at Kansas. A lack of sponsorship dollars has forced him to sit out much of the 2010 season.
Going forward, many questions still plague the RFR Nationwide program for the 2011 season. We’ve heard that as of right now, the team may only run two cars next season, with Carl Edwards comitting to another full schedule. The team will suffer with the loss of Paul Menard and his money to RCR/KHI for next season, and the struggles for both Braun and Stenhouse will probably mean the second car may be driven by a round robin of Cup and development drivers.
In the current climate of funded drivers and retreating sponsorship dollars, it’s very uncommon for a young driver without his own money to get a second chance. What we are seeing with Aric Almirola though, goes against all of that. JR Motorsports announced on Wednesday that Almirola had signed a multi-year agreement to drive the team’s #88 car in the Nationwide Series.
After getting high profile gigs at Joe Gibbs Racing, Ginn Racing, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and finally Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, it appeared Almirola had washed out. Once at EGR, his #8 team was shut down only seven races into the 2009 season due to lack of funding. Through those seven races however, Almirola hadn’t exactly set the world on fire. His average finish was 32.8 and his best finish was a 21st at Atlanta. Before that, Almirola was best known for his Nationwide Series “win” at Milwaukee in which he started the race, but was pulled part way through and replaced by Denny Hamlin who went on to score the victory.
After leaving EGR in 2009, Almirola spent the rest of the season making sporadic starts for Phoenix Racing, Key Motorsports, Smith Ganassi Racing, and Billy Ballew Motorsports across all three major NASCAR series. He was one of a small group of drivers who turned to some of the lower seriesto advance his career and get more experience. And as it turned out, the 16 starts Almirola made for Billy Ballew in which he led 98 laps and had six top five finishes, would turn into a full time Truck Series ride for the 2010 season.
Fast forward to this season, Almirola has two Truck Series wins and sits second in the Truck Series points. His strong CWTS runs led to him being the backup driver for both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon while they were on baby watch, plus he was given the chance to run JRM’s #88 at ORP. Almirola didn’t disappoint there either, finishing third behind Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. All of this led up to JRM signing Almirola for the 2011 season and beyond.
Before this deal came about, we’d heard (along with others) that Almirola was a candidate for some Cup organizations, including Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola even admitted to ESPN that he’d been offered Cup deals (see the link above). With that said, I think it’s interesting that he decided to take the Nationwide deal with JRM. It would seem that in a situation like Almirola’s, especially with his stock being high, that he would have wanted to capitalize fully and take a Cup deal. Instead, he will continue to have to prove himself and his ability in the NNS with JRM.
If Almirola continues to progress, and has continued success in the future, this should help serve as a lesson to owners about driver development. Instead of rushing these kids along, and giving them a season or two to prove themselves, why not keep them in lower series longer? Let them develop their skills, then bring them along slowly. Almirola is extremely lucky that he’s been given the chances to show that he can improve, and hopefully he will parlay those chances into more success on the track.
With big announcements flying this week, the teams are getting geared up to head for Bristol for a little short track Saturday night action. Don’t forget, the Truck Series races tonight at the ”World’s Fastest Half Mile.” If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…
1. From Michael in SoCal:
Following up on Franq’s question from last week about using the road course at Indy for the Cup Series race, what about using one of the road courses at Pocono? If the Cup Series is going there twice within a span of about seven weeks, it might be a nice change of pace, Your site is a daily read! Thanks.
Thanks Micheal! The Pocono road course is nowhere near ready to handle a NASCAR race – as we saw a couple of weeks ago the main track isn’t either. Even if Pocono were interested in upgrading their road course, I still don’t think NASCAR is all that interested in adding road courses to the schedule. I do agree though seven or eight weeks is a little ridiculous between races, and any change would be welcome. – Journo
2. From Dan:
Hey guys I know you all remain anonymous but what I wonder about is how you get info (outside the technical stuff) without raising suspicions. The answer you gave last week ( Ask the Insiders #87) about the Target sponsorship and the deal they have with EGR/ CGR I would think would be only privy to those associated with that team. Of course that’s not to say you all couldn’t find out. But couldn’t someone connect the dots after seeing an answer to a question? Like hey I was asked that last week by so and so. Hope what I’m saying makes sense. Anyway just curious.
Well we would never ask someone a question that appears on the site for the exact reason you suggest. If we ever don’t know an answer to a question or can’t easily find out through inconspicuous means we’ll tell you we don’t know. As far as last week’s question goes, Ganassi’s program is very well known to those who are familiar with sponsorship in the sport. On top of those at the team that are familiar with the program you’ve got to consider all the people connected with those individual sponsorship deals that are also familiar with it – literally hundreds of people currently and formerly associated with the team and sponsors. – Journo
3. From red8814:
I understand that Sadler’s helmet, seat & HANS were all scheduled to be scanned for fractures following his wreck at Pocono. If a driver is in a far less severe, “moderate” wreck that takes him to infield care b/c the car won’t start up, is there any automatic review of his safety equipment, including the belts/harness?
Not that I am aware of. All over the rule book in the section about safety gear, it is repeated that the drivers are responsible for their own safety equipment and it’s proper usage. NASCAR is in no way responsible for any of it. – T.C.
4. From Michael in SoCal:
Any thoughts on why Robby Gordon put PJ Jones in the # 7 and moved himself into the # 07 last week at Michigan? Thanks.
Robby put PJ in the #7 car because he knew they would be guaranteed to start the race (PJ qualified 41st) – he knew he would be much better positioned to get into the race on speed (he qualifed 35th). And then they both start-and-parked – the double start-and-park, always a classy move. – Journo
5. From Ryan:
T.C.-After reading that Casey Mears will take over the Germain #13 car starting at Atlanta and full-time next year, I’m wondering how well do you think he will do?
I wouldn’t expect much from this move. While Mears is certainly more experienced than Papis, his performances certainly haven’t been stellar over his career. Let’s remember that this is the same Mears who struggled at Ganassi, Hendrick, Childress, and Red Bull. He certainly won’t resurrect his career in an underfunded Cup car for Germain Racing. – T.C.
6. From Denny:
Have been reading a blog which mentions something about Reuti running a non-approved intake supplied by TRD on the engine which won at Chicago. Even one of the announcers stated Reuti showed-up with a different intake for this race. How could they possibly get away with this, with all of the inspections going on, both before and after the race in Chicago. Also, reading that NASCAR will be testing engines after MIS. Does anyone, other than NASCAR officials get to view the actual testing? Will these be a real dyno test…..on a stand-type engine dyno or just a chassis dyno? Thanks for the great info, as always!
Honestly, I don’t know anything about this. If it’s actually true, both MWR and TRD have done a remarkable job keeping it quiet. NASCAR’s inspection process is certainly extensive, and if any other team caught any wind of this, it would have been reported to NASCAR immediately. That fact alone makes me question the validity of what you’ve read. And after Michigan, NASCAR did take 16 engines from various teams. Since they only took the engines, the dyno tests will be done on a standard dyno, not a chassis dyno. Don’t expect NASCAR to make the results public unless a drastic rule change comes about because of the tests. – T.C.
Why doesn’t NASCAR consider doing the “side by side” coverage, commercials on the right and the race on the left? If IndyCar can pull it off we can.
It’s all got to do with the way the advertising is structured within NASCAR’s TV deals, and I’ll be honest I really don’t know all the specifics. It’s feasible, we’ve seen them do it with the Coke Zero 400 on TNT, but I don’t know that NASCAR and their broadcast partners are all that interested in doing it. Here is an article from 2006 that answers some of your questions. – Journo
8. From Justin:
I know questions about payouts have been asked before, but none of it really makes sense. Just a few examples from Michigan. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 19th $86,050, David Gilliland 36th $86,148. Brad Keselowski 34th $98, 535, Sam Hornish Jr 32nd $79,950. Clint Bowyer 13th $89,975, Jeff Burton 24th $111,565. The payouts don’t make any sense. Why would one team apart of the same organization take part in different contingency programs? What contingency program could David Gilliland be a part of that Dale Jr isn’t?
It’s not all about what contingency programs a team is involved in. The reason some drivers make more then others depends on what contingency programs a team is involved in AND in what payout plan a team is in. I believe NASCAR has four different plans setup, and each team fits into one of those plans. I don’t know specific details, but the plans award prize money based on not only where you finish, but also past performance and longevity. – T.C.
9. From Newracefan:
I heard several times on Nascar Now about the HMS cars not having speed. I know when I listened to the 48 scanner Sunday on more than one occasion JJ was sayong the car was good but Chad was saying it he wasn’t fast enough. Is there something to this?
It is certainly possible for a car to have a good balance with the chassis setup, but just not be very fast. I’m just speculating, but maybe they were missing something aerodynamically, or they were possibly down on horsepower a bit. Let’s not forget that Johnson still finished 12th, so it must not have been that bad. – T.C.
10. From Lost in Texas:
With Kahne and Ambrose settled for next year, does this make Sadler the top free agent on the market for this year and who is the top ride that will be looking for a driver?
Well, unless a team does something drastic, or a team like Gibbs finally starts a fourth team, there aren’t really any open rides left. If Scott Speed and/or Brian Vickers don’t return to Red Bull, there might be an opening there, but that’s about it. Besides that, RPM is realistically the only team left with openings. Childress, Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs, Stewart Haas, MWR, EGR, and Penske are all full up for 2011. So I guess you could make the argument that Sadler is the top free agent driver, but without any openings, I’m not sure that means much. – T.C.
We found out this last week that Kasey Kahne would be making a one year stop at Red Bull Racing before he takes over the #5 full time at Hendrick Motorsports for 2012. A lot of questions still remain about Kahne’s future, but one of the big ones is who will be his crew chief next year and beyond. His current crew chief, Kenny Francis, has been mentioned as an option, but Red Bull already has two crew chiefs in Ryan Pemberton and Jimmy Elledge, and Alan Gustafson is firmly entrenched at Hendrick. So if you are Francis, what do you do?
Rumors are flying about Francis’ future, and I’ve heard everything from he’s staying at RPM, to he’s leaving with Kahne. Whatever the case though, he may not have a ton of options.
Let’s say for the sake of argument, Francis will follow Kahne to Hendrick. The problem then becomes what does he do next season? Sit around in his office at HMS? Or maybe become some sort of competition consultant until Kahne arrives? With Kahne making the stop at Red Bull, there is no way Red Bull would allow Francis to come in and run Kahne’s team. Why you might ask? Because then Francis would have access to all of Red Bull’s testing, engineering, and setup data and however good that information might be, Red Bull would not be okay with him then taking all of that data to HMS.
If Francis hasn’t been offered the HMS job, does he stay at RPM or try and move on to greener pastures? Everyone is expecting RPM to announce they’ve signed Marcos Ambrose during tomorrow’s scheduled press conference, so that may certainly be an option for him. Other than staying though, it doesn’t really appear as though he would have many options for next season. Most of the crew chiefs for the marquee drivers are locked up long term, and I’m not sure Francis would take anything other than a high profile job with a team that had a shot to win championships. RCR will certainly need a fourth crew chief next season, but would he be interested in working with Paul Menard? There are certainly question marks for Matt Kenseth next season, but they may turn back to Robbie Reiser. There are always going to be rumors about Lance McGrew, but other then that, Hendrick’s bosses are solid. I also wouldn’t expect any changes at Penske, Gibbs, Stewart Haas, EGR, or MWR. So while anything can certainly happen over the final part of the season with driver/crew chief relationships, Francis’ opportunities may be severely limited.
So if you are Kenny Francis, what would you do?