Charlotte Motor Speedway kicked off its season on Wednesday with a press/advertising event for the Sprint All Star race at Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Whiskey River bar in Uptown Charlotte.
Speedway President Marcus Smith said during the event no changes would be made to the format (selection or otherwise) before the race in May.
I for one was thrilled. Seeing the constant rules changes with the All Star race (and Bud Shootout) has been maddening. Who can keep them straight?
Do you realize since 1985 (the first year of The Winston) there have been 10 different formats? Six of those have been in the last 10 years. That’s completely insane.
We finally have a couple of seasons of consistency with this race.
The bad news for some of you is that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has lost his eligibility. That 10 year exemption he had as a winner of the event came and went last year. Never fear though, NASCAR’s most popular driver has an ace in his pocket. Remember the fan vote? He’s all but a lock to win it.
Though I’m happy to see the status quo maintained momentarily, I can’t help but think there’s something to the whole fan voting thing. Dale Jr. fan or not, at least you have some say in who gets that last slot into the show.
NASCAR runs the All-Star race as an exhibition for the fans, but the fans don’t have much of a voice. I think there’s a strong case to be made for changing that.
Consider the fan involvement of some other major sporting bodies’ All Star games. Major League Baseball allows fans to select 17 of 66 players for its All Star game rosters and the National Basketball Association lets fans choose the starting players for both teams in its All Star game. Now isn’t that the way it should be?
I don’t think fans should a say over the entire field for the All-Star race, but I think it’s important for them to have a greater voice. Readjusting the selection format to more closely mirror that of other sporting bodies would also eliminate the constant need to adjust the process so there’s a decent field – or, so your most popular drivers are in the field.
So I’m happy things are staying the same for the moment, but realize there needs to be a better, more permanent solution for selecting our All-Stars. I’m not holding my breath though. What do you think?
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Race week in Charlotte is in full effect. Fans will descend on the QC this week to watch the Coca Cola 600 and to check out all there is to see in the center of the NASCAR universe. In case you are coming to town and are looking for stuff to do, we’ve put together a nice list to get you started (see it here). 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 Bill:
With Bruton Smith offering up $20M to run in and win both the Indy 500 and Coke World 600, I got to thinking… It obviously wouldn’t be possible to run the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo, the Indy 500, and the Coke World 600. But, could someone run in Monte Carlo and Charlotte in the same day?
Well the Monaco Grand Prix took place this year on May 16 (Red Bull’s Mark Webber won). Last year it was the day before the 600. If they fell on the same date would it be possible? The race starts at 8 a.m. eastern standard time (Monte Carlo is six hours ahead). If the race lasts, say two hours (and you figure another hour to get to the airport and take-off – flying private of course), and the flight is about 9 hours (so the Internet tells me) that would put you back in Charlotte at 8 p.m. – too late to make it in time for the start of the 600 (which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.). – Journo
2. From Sue:
Does it really make a difference for team morale when a driver shows up at the shop daily or weekly vs those who rarely do?
I certainly don’t think a driver coming into the shop regularly is a bad thing. Guys know the drivers are busy and some, like Montoya, don’t even live in Charlotte, so shop visits aren’t always realistic. But the occasional visit is good for everyone, I think. – T.C.
3. From Gabi:
The cameras at the track record in 720p format or in 1080i? Thanks.
I believe the cameras Fox and ESPN use shoot in 720p, but don’t quote me. Maybe someone else knows for sure? – Journo
4. From Bristol_B:
First of all, thanks for sharing your insight, and perspective. Your website is a must read for any race fan! Now, I’m confused about the All-Star Race eligibility. Is it the car or the driver? Brad Kesekowski won last year in James Finch’s #09, but that car is not entered. Keselowski is entered in the #12 Penske car. Red Bull has entered the #83 with Casey Mears as the driver in place of recovering Brian Vickers. So if it’s the car why isn’t the #09 entered, does Finch need special dispensation due to a driver change? Thank you in advance for clarification!
All Star race eligibility is based on the driver’s accomplishments, not the team or car’s. With the situation surrounding Brian Vickers, NASCAR made a special exception to allow Casey Mears to pilot Red Bull’s #83 in the race. That is why Keselowski is in the race, and the #09 Finch car is not. – T.C.
5. From Christopher:
Cup teams generally bring two cars to a race, correct? What if they outright total both of them during practice? I know this is a stretch, but I could see it happening at Talledega, where you do have to practice dangerous drafting moves. Secondly- has this ever happened?
If I remember correctly, this happened a couple of years ago when Casey Mears was driving for Hendrick. He wrecked both his backup and primary at a race. I believe he ended up using one of his teammate’s backup cars in the race. This also happened to Ryan Newman at Daytona last year. He wrecked his primary in the 150 qualifier and his backup in final practice. I believe a third car was brought from Charlotte for Newman to race with. So if they are close enough, a car could be brought from the shop, if not, a teammate’s backup would work. - T.C.
6. From Steve:
Your thoughts on Vickers/Red Bull/Mears? Given the investment Red Bull has in both Vickers and Speed, would you agree that Red Bull needs Mears to do badly, at least worse than Speed does and worse than Vickers was doing? Any better, and it raises the question of why they wouldn’t keep Mears next season. And yet while Red Bull doesn’t want Mears doing too well, Mears knows this is a great shot at impressing people to earn a ride next year – a bit of a conflict, perhaps?
I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Casey Mears has seven full Cup seasons under his belt (all together 255 series starts) and one full Nationwide season (with a total of 93 starts). Scott Speed on the other hand has 52 Cup starts, 13 Nationwide starts, and 16 Truck starts. I would hope Casey performs better than Scott. Speed is very much a driver in development (not at all the case for Casey), so I think it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Speed still has the potential for growth – with Casey I think what you’ve seen is what you get. It is true however that this is Casey’s fourth opportunity with one of the sports top teams (recall Ganassi, Hendrick and Childress) to show he can be competitive (I’m not holding my breath). – Journo
7. From Melissa:
Between the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 weekend do the haulers return to their shops or do the crews replenish what they need and switch out cars using other transports?
Being so close to home, and seeing as how there is no track activity all week, the haulers go back to the shops. The Cup haulers will return to the track on Thursday to park for the weekend. – T.C.
8. From Emanuel:
When we’re watching the race at home, they allow us to “ride along” with the car, with the roof mounted cameras. Sometimes junk ends up on the lens, and you can see the lens rotate, and tada!, no more junk. Does the lens constantly spin, or does it “sense” when it get junked up, and then rotate itself to get the junk off the lens?
There is a little tape mechanism inside the cameras (it’s clear and in front of the lens) that allows the production crews to ensure the view from the camera is always clear. Check out this great NASCAR.com article for everything you wanted to know about onboard cameras. – 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!
On Wednesday last week, NASCAR announced a revised set of criteria for drivers who are eligible for the 2010 Budweiser Shootout. The exact criteria can be found here. In the article linked, near the bottom you will also find the list of drivers who are actually eligible. After looking the list and the criteria over, and remembering how this went last year, is anyone else having a problem keeping up with how these races work?
If you might remember, the 2009 Shootout featured some combination of drivers from each manufacturer, and the eligibility requirements were about as confusing as they are this year. And just when we start to maybe think we have things figured out, they change the rules again.
I don’t know about you, but I miss the days of the Shootout being the the pole winners from the previous year and the past winners of the race. It was so much easier to figure it out, plus it gave those pole winners a bit of a reward for their achievements from the previous season. It was always an elite field of drivers, plus a few guys who were able to get up on the wheel for a couple laps.
With this new set of criteria, what we have now is basically another All-Star race, but this one happens before the season, and is at Daytona instead of Charlotte.
I understand that since Coors took over the sponsorship of the pole award for NASCAR that Budweiser can’t be associated with an award sponsored by their competition. But maybe part of the pole award sponsorship should be that the company also sponsors the Shootout so the format can remain the same.
I’m not usually one to be nostalgic about things, and I hate to complain about this fun race that opens the season, but I simply don’t understand why Derrike Cope, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, and John Andretti should be allowed to enter this race. This should be a reward for those who are currently at the top of the sport, and these drivers haven’t been competitive for many years.
So please NASCAR, bring back the Bud Shootout of old.
DJ Richardson On Christmas Day, pit road lost one of it’s stars. DJ Richardson, a tire changer for Richard Childress Racing and Braun Racing died of complications due to the H1N1 virus. DJ was a veteran on pit road, and will be missed by many. Both myself and Journo want to extend our condolences to his friends and family.