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The only thing as sure as the next race is that there will be flux and change during the NASCAR season. And this year hasn’t been any different. This summer we saw crew chief shifts at some of the sport’s top tier teams – I even wrote about it here. From Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to Roush Fenway Racing changes were made in the name of improving performance, but has that actually happened so far?
Juan Pablo Montoya
Brian Pattie Average Finish: 17.6 Average Start: 16.5 Place in Points: 17
Jim Pohlman (9 races this season) Average Finish: 18.2 Average Start: 16.4 Place in Points: 19
Montoya and Pattie had been together since the mid-point of the 2008 season and had success together. It was apparent this season though the relationship was straining and with the EGR cars not as strong as they were last year, something had to give. And it was Pattie.
In the nine races since Pohlman took over Montoya’s performance, as evidenced by the numbers, has actually gotten worse. There’s certainly time for improvement before the end of the season, but so far this move hasn’t impressed. And with Montoya’s patience notoriously short we’ll see how long this lasts.
Martin Truex Jr.
Pat Tryson Average Finish: 19.6 Average Start: 17.3 Place in Points: 21
Chad Johnson (15 races this season) Average Finish: 16.2 Average Start: 17.7 Place in Points: 18
A slight improvement is perhaps better than no improvement at all. Pat Tryson, a seasoned and successful veteran of the sport, left Penske Racing at the end 2009 to join Truex at Michael Waltrip Racing. The move was highly touted but a less than successful pairing.
Chad Johnson has been atop the pit box for 15 races and in that time the two have had slight improvement in their finishes and made up three spots in the points. I suspect he’ll have ample time to prove himself in the role.
Greg Biffle
Greg Erwin Average Finish: 16.8 Average Start: 17.9 Place in Points: 14
Matt Puccia (10 races this season) Average Finish: 16.9 Average Start: 13 Place in Points: 14
This was another duo that had been together for a long time and found quite a bit of success. This season though was a struggle and like Montoya and Pattie chemistry was waning. Ultimately, from what we heard, Erwin walked.
Matt Puccia, a long time fixture in the Roush organization and a reasonably successful crew chief in his own right took over 10 races ago. And the move has been negligible. Biffle didn’t make the chase and they have seen no improvement in their average finish and no change in their points standing. Was Erwin the problem? You tell me.
Jeff Burton
Todd Berrier Average Finish: 20.8 Average Start: 19 Place in Points: 25
Lucas Lambert (9 races this season) Average Finish: 18.1 Average Start: 20.7 Place in Points: 24
Todd Berrier joined Burton at the end of the 2009 season after stints with Casey Mears and Kevin Harvick. The two looked great at the end of 09′ and had a decent year last year including a Chase appearance and six top-fives. Then came this season. After 19 races without a single top-ten RCR’s leadership had seen all it needed to see.
Lucas Lambert’s performance in the top job has looked pretty similar to the 19 races prior. One thing Lambert was able to do that Berrier wasn’t, was help Burton to a top-ten finish. This is an interesting one to watch.
AJ Allmendinger
Mike Shiplett Average Finish: 17.1 Average Start: 15.1 Place in Points: 16
Greg Erwin (9 races this season) Average Finish: 16.3 Average Start: 15 Place in Points: 15
Mike Shiplett had been through a slew of drivers (and owners for that matter), during his time with RPM and its predecessor organizations. And during that time there was only fleeting success.
Erwin’s addition was interesting, but color me surprised performance hasn’t picked up much. Erwin has proven himself to be a capable crew chief, but things are apparently not quite working at RPM. We’ll see if they improve.
It’s interesting none of the moves made so far this season have had much of an impact on performance. Like all things though changes in leadership sometimes take a while to have an impact. I think the jury is still out on all of the crew chief swaps so far this season but after 9-15 races the picture is becoming clear. Stay tuned.
Turns out the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t look too kindly on people doing 128MPH in a 45MPH zone. Well, they’ll let you drive away, but they will issue you one heck of a citation. What’s three times the legal limit, right?
If you live in the Charlotte area this has been THE story for the last couple of days. It made the front page of the state and local section of the Charlotte Observer yesterday morning, and at least one local TV station led with it at 5pm. Apparently there isn’t much going on.
From local coverage to national sports radio, the oddity of this story has been much talked about all over. And while not too many of us have done 128MPH in our personal vehicles, this is hardly the first time we’ve had drivers behaving badly out on public roads. In the last two seasons there has been two separate drivers popped for DUIs – Michael Annett and AJ Allmendinger. Both were put on probation by NASCAR.
The issue of off-track indiscretions raises a lot of questions about the limits of the sanctioning body. Other sports punish their athletes for off-field issues, but other sports also have codes of conduct athletes agree to adhere to. NASCAR doesn’t have one.
In situations like this, that lack of a policy leaves them without much leverage. Sure they’ve got the all encompassing “actions detrimental” at their disposal, but without laying out to the drivers just where they stand, severe penalties are very likely out of the question.
It’s interesting when these issues pop up (and yearly they pop up) to see what the reaction is from the fans and media. I recall being surprised from a post on the Allmendinger incident and from comment sections on websites throughout the internet how strong the feelings were about the probation handed down from NASCAR – actually in Allmendinger’s favor.
It’s always hard to gauge though just where people stand until they are forced to take a stance. But if we want to start early, from precedent we can suspect NASCAR may hand down probation to Busch – I’d assume a continuation of the probation he’s already on – but there won’t be any suspension.
Is it time for a personal conduct policy in NASCAR? I kind of think so.
Feel free to use this as your “Kyle Busch Speeding Ticket” sound off post. Talk amongst yourselves.
If there is one thing Red Bull Racing has shown over it’s short time in the sport, it’s that they have yet to create a decent strategy for properly developing racing talent. AJ Allmendinger was bounced right as it appeared he was making strides, and the team is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Allmendinger’s replacement, Scott Speed, over his ouster from the team. Journo wrote recently about RBR’s driver situation for 2012, and whether or not young Cole Whitt might be next in line for a Cup ride when Kasey Kahne departs. But recent comments from Whitt show that Red Bull may not be doing everything necessary to give him the best chance to succeed.
On March 29th, NASCAR.com ran an interview Joe Menzer did with Whitt as he competes in his first full season of the Camping World Truck Series. Menzer covered a few different topics with Whitt, but one of the questions and the subsequent answer has to be a bit disconcerting if you are a RBR fan:
Q: Have you been able to interact with some of the veteran drivers from Red Bull and elsewhere? Whitt: Not too much, really. We’re all kind of off doing our own thing. I didn’t even get to talk to Kasey at Darlington, and our trucks were lined up starting right next to each other. I’ve pretty much been doing it by myself, I guess.
Q: Have you been able to interact with some of the veteran drivers from Red Bull and elsewhere?
Whitt: Not too much, really. We’re all kind of off doing our own thing. I didn’t even get to talk to Kasey at Darlington, and our trucks were lined up starting right next to each other. I’ve pretty much been doing it by myself, I guess.
What?! How is this even possible?
When a team has drivers like Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers on their roster, how are they not facilitating time for these guys to mentor a development driver? You would think the insight and advice that these guys could offer would be huge for a young driver like Whitt. And you have to think it would help Whitt’s confidence to know that if he ever had a question, he’s got two solid resources that will be available to him.
What’s worse, is if this is how they are approaching Whitt’s development, you’ve really got to wonder if they did everything they could for ‘Dinger and Speed. Maybe if they would have done more with the drivers they had, they wouldn’t be in situations where they become desperate enough to take on lame duck drivers. There is just too much at stake with these kids to not do everything possible to help them be the best they can be.
Hopefully it’s not too late for RBR’s management to rectify this situation, and get these guys involved with bringing Whitt around. Because I know that if it was me that was in charge over there, I’d have this kid hanging around the drivers and teams as much as possible at the track and at the shop. I’d tell him to pay attention, listen to everything, and not be afraid to ask questions. Whitt appears to have a ton of talent and potential, and if Red Bull plays their cards right, he could be the face of their race team well into the future.
Entering its fifth season Red Bull Racing yet again finds itself with an uncertain future. Brian Vickers returned to the team this year after spending most of 2010 sidelined with health issues and Kasey Kahne joined the team on a one-year visa.
With a couple of promising runs so far this season, 2011 could shape up to be a good year for Red Bull Racing. But with only one driver in place for 2012, what happens at the end of the year is anybody’s guess.
The potential of Red Bull was abandoned last year in favor of Kahne. Scott Speed lost his job at the end of 2010 after months of speculation about his future. He joined AJ Allmendinger in the category of Red Bull drivers pushed too soon and abandoned too early.
Now when Kahne jumps ship for Hendrick next year, what are the odds Red Bull does it again? Consider the options for the team. They could sign up a driver already in the sport – not too many great free agents available though. Or, they could tap the existing talent they have. Does the name Cole Whitt ring a bell?
The young driver, a former USAC champion, has 16 NASCAR starts to his name (10 of which came in the K&N Pro Series East last season). He’s currently running the full Truck Series schedule for Turn One Racing. If this sounds familiar, you’re not going crazy.
Scott Speed, a former F1 driver, ran a full ARCA and Truck schedule before being thrust into AJ Allmendinger’s seat. And lest we forget, Allmendinger had three starts in a Truck before being pushed into a Cup car with the new Red Bull team. Both drivers had two full Cup seasons with the team before being booted.
To say Red Bull has a bad track record developing its talent would be an understatement. While I have yet to hear anything substantive about the future of Red Bull, a scenario where they plop Cole Whitt into a Cup car is not completely out of the realm of possibility.
With Whitt they have a talented young driver with a world of potential in front of him. Whether they allow that talent to grow and prosper remains to be seen. So you tell me, what does Red Bull do next year?
If you watched the Sprint Cup race at Dover two weeks ago, you caught a glimpse of what might be the future for AJ Allmendinger. And if he continues to run like he did, that future looks very bright.
It’s been an up and down ride for Allmendinger through his short career. From getting the opportunity to come to NASCAR with Red Bull Racing, to getting booted for another unproven open wheeler (Scott Speed), and then getting a rare second shot in the Cup Series with Richard Petty Motorsports. And now this season, Allmendinger appears that he has made strides and could be right on the edge of becoming a contender on a weekly basis.
Allmendinger, currently in his fourth year in the Cup Series, has had his best season to date. He’s improved in every statistical category including points position (19th), laps led (176), and average finish (17.8). He’s picked up one top five and seven top ten finishes this season, and earned his first career pole at the spring Phoenix race. And in his last four starts, Allmendinger has four top 12 finishes.
At Dover, Allmendinger qualified second, and led 143 laps before a cut tire killed his chances to win. Before the tire problem though, Allmendinger had built up a several second lead and appeared to be the class of the field. Even with having to pit under green, and losing a lap, ‘Dinger still fought back to finish 10th.
If the proverbial light has come on for Allmendinger, it couldn’t be coming at a better time. It was announced only a matter of weeks ago that he would be returning to RPM for the 2011 season as the driver of the famous #43. And with the departure of Kasey Kahne, ‘Dinger now becomes the main guy for Petty and the Gilletts. He will be tasked with helping to not only revive RPM, but also bring the #43 back to prominence.
Allmendinger has proven over the course of his career that he can win, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before he and his team break through. A strong run to the finish of the 2010 season could well give this team the momentum they need to propel them to contending for wins regularly in 2011. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this team was in the Chase discussion come next summer.
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!
The Watkins Glen road course provided some great racing this weekend, but while the action on track was interesting, so were some of the rumors floating around the garage. We heard a few different bits this weekend that we wanted to share, and I figured I’d weigh in on them with some of my own thoughts.
First up, we reported on Twitter (follow us @nascarinsider) yesterday that we’d heard NASCAR took a box of lugnuts from Marcos Ambrose’s Nationwide Series team during the race. Word is that they were illegal in some way. Don’t be surprised if the team is penalized this week. I don’t expect NASCAR will take the win away however. Quick Update: Scenedaily.com’s Kenny Bruce reported via his Twitter page that NASCAR did indeed take lugnuts from the #47, but later decided there was no issue.
The most ridiculous rumor that we’ve heard on a few different occasions recently, is that Red Bull Racing is shutting down at the end of the season. I know the team’s performance has been abysmal this season, and question marks surround both of the team’s normal drivers, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed, but this is one I just don’t believe. There was even a report late this evening that Red Bull may be where Kasey Kahne ends up for the 2011 season. Some major changes are probably in order for this team internally, but don’t expect them to close down any time soon.
While Red Bull’s future is probably safe, we have heard that Kevin Conway’s days might be numbered at Front Row Motorsports. It sounds like the team has grown tired of Conway’s poor performance, and this group will struggle mightily to make races if the #34 falls out of the top 35 in owners points. They are currently 35th in the standings, only 182 points ahead of 36th. A few more bad finishes, and Conway will be on the outside looking in. To this point in the season, Conway has had a guaranteed starting position in every race, due to some fancy number wrangling by owner Bob Jenkins. With one team already outside the top 35 however, thanks to the tire debacle at Pocono earlier in the year, Jenkins can’t afford to have another team fall out. Word is that Extenze would continue sponsoring the team, but another yet-to-be-named driver would be brought in.
Richard Petty Motorsports officially announced on Friday that AJ Allmendinger had signed a multi-year agreement to remain the driver of the #43 Ford. With that settled, a number of other questions still plague this organization; namely sponsors and other drivers. With the rumblings that Paul Menard is taking his family sponsor to RCR, Kahne’s known departure for Hendrick, and Elliott Sadler’s apparent dissatisfaction, Allmendinger is short a few teammates for 2011. We are still hearing that Ambrose will probably end up in either the #9 or #19 next season, and a deal may be close between the two parties, pending sponsorship. Another name that has popped up as a potential replacement for RPM next season is Aric Almirola. Almirola has revived what appeared to be a fading career this season with a strong NCWTS campaign to this point that currently includes two wins. The young driver also impressed folks a few weeks ago with a third place finish at ORP driving for JR Motorsports #88 NNS team. If the team can find sponsorship, Almirola would be a decent addition.
Like I wrote on Friday, it’s certainly been a crazy Silly Season, and there are still plenty of dominoes left to fall. It will certainly be fun to see what plays out.
After six weeks, TNT’s turn at the helm of the Cup Series broadcasts is over. And if you ask me, it couldn’t have come any sooner.
From missed stories, to commercial overkill, TNT’s races were lackluster at best.
Thanks to the wonders of technology (the DVR) and Speed’s Wednesday re-broadcast, TC and I usually catch every race broadcast. Though it’s not something we often write about here (if you’re looking to talk NASCAR TV check out The Daly Planet) I felt the need to express my disappointment with what I saw of TNT’s coverage.
After dumping Bill Weber in the middle of last season, TNT had a hole to fill at play-by-play. While Ralph Sheheen was given an audition at the end of last season, the network settled on MRN and Speed Channel vet Adam Alexander.
Now I think Adam is a great guy. He’s good on pit road, and really a genuinely nice person. Play-by-play however is not his forte. As ESPN learned with Jerry Punch, adeptness on pit road does not necessarily translate to skills at play-by-play.
Not helping Adam’s transition was the lack of communication between the booth and the control room (or trailer). How many times during their stretch did we hear the guys in the booth talking about a driver, wreck, or on-track action only to continue seeing something completely unrelated? This sort of thing is incredibly frustrating to watch (I found myself yelling at the TV) – yet it happened over and over and over.
Let’s not even get started on the commercial breaks either. SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck fully went through those in a post earlier this week.
So to recap, what TNT gave the fans was basically this: Commercials, commercials, commercials, a few laps of racing, commercials, commercials, commercials. Then the broadcast would come back on, play-by-play man Adam Alexander would say, “While we were away…” and TNT would show us the important moment we missed.
The man knows what he’s talking about – as does anyone who has watched these races.
Add all this on top of the missed stories (this shouldn’t surprise me though, TNT has a history of missed moments) – AJ Allmendinger v. Richard Petty comes to mind – and what we have are broadcasts that were nothing short of a disappointment.
Now I’m not saying the FOX and ESPN broadcasts are flawless. They most certainly are not (no live sports broadcast is). They are however better than TNT. If you can get past the cartoon characters, and the occasional over-the-top personalities Fox technically has a wonderful broadcast. This is thanks in large part to their Emmy award winning director Artie Kempner, and the best play-by-play guy in the business, Mike Joy. And if there is one thing the folks at ESPN know how to do, it’s how to broadcast a sporting event (though I’m not crazy about their golf coverage). I’d prefer Allen Bestwick at play-by-play too.
Is TNT unwatchable? I think that’s probably a little harsh, but they definitely have work to do to make their broadcasts better. As Jeff Gluck and John Daly have pointed out, hopefully NASCAR and their television partners begin to realize maybe it’s not the product, but the dissemination of the product that’s driving people away.
What do you think about the broadcasts? What are your likes and dislikes? Which section of the season is your favorite?
Last weekend at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Richard Petty and RPM driver AJ Allmendinger had a short confrontation in the garage area after the race. During the race, Allmendinger was involved in a wreck with Kyle Busch that sent him spinning off the track and into the inside wall. AJ went on to finish the race, but 36th position, 30 laps down wasn’t the result he and his team were looking for. Once in the garage, Petty had words with Allmendinger as he climbed from his race car.
I apologize for not having the video of the incident, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere online. In case you didn’t see it, Petty says something to Allmendinger as he climbs from the car that AJ doesn’t want to hear. ’Dinger attempts to walk away, and Petty grabs his arm. The two talk for a bit longer, with AJ attempting to escape again.
What exactly was said between the two I don’ t know. It does appear to me however, that Petty was attempting to teach or point something out to Allmendinger about the day, and AJ didn’t want to hear it. Either way, I don’t think anyone is to blame for the spat, and I don’t think it will have any lasting effect on their relationship.
Robbie Loomis, RPM’s VP of Competition, came out after the incident and tried to downplay the confrontation.
“I always say the car owner shouldn’t talk to the driver anytime after the race, especially after an accident,” Petty VP Robbie Loomis said. “I think Richard’s been here so many times, he’s been through this stuff and he was just trying to get him to loosen up and let the boys do their stuff on fixing the car and getting back out there. Anytime you talk to somebody at the wrong time, it always causes discussion that needs to be worked out. That’s all that happened.”
Richard Allen from RacingwithRich.com thinks that the confrontation may affect AJ’s future with RPM, but I disagree. Allmendinger was clearly upset about how the race played out, and you can’t blame the guy for being angry. And if anyone knows what it’s like to be disappointed by a race, it should be Richard Petty. Both are very passionate about racing, and that passion is going to boil over at certain times. In this case, Allmendinger let his temper get the better of him, and Petty just chose the wrong time to try and make his point to his young driver.
With it being Friday already, I’m sure Petty and Allmendinger have already sat down and worked out any issues they may have had. Both are passionate competitors, and I’m sure once calm, AJ will listen to anything Richard has to say. In the future, hopefully Petty will wait until their weekly meeting to offer any advice or thoughts to his drivers.