It’s back to the Tricky Triangle this week. The Cup Series makes its second stop of 2010 to Pocono, along with the debut of the Truck Series. The Nationwide Series is off to race in front of what hopes to be a sold out crowd at Iowa Speedway. While another week rolls along, we’ve got more reader questions 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 Allen:
I’m going to try and make this easy to understand, but back in March I was attending the Kobalt Tools 500… well I noticed about 50 laps in when certain cars went by the engines sounded a little different. Some had a “BUZZ!” rather than a “ROOM!” if that makes sense… I believe it was the Toyotas though I’m not 100% sure. Was this just from letting off the gas or what?
Teams have some freedom when choosing the type of exhaust components they use. To get the optimum horespower out of the engines, teams will try different headers and exhaust pipe combinations. Between that and the differences between each manufacturer’s engines, you will have some different sounds for each engine. – T.C.
2. From Garry:
…another Chicago question…I did not want to “hog up” the thread, so I wrote them down, and only ask one question per week. Why dont they let/make them practice and qualify under race conditions. If they race at night, why dont they qualify at night? PS swamisez … ummmmmprediction…. Jeff Gordon wins the 2010 Brickyard 400 (posted on July 21,2010)
It really depends on the scheduling for each weekend. Remember that very often, NASCAR must fit in practice and qualifying sessions for more then just one series. Also, some tracks have noise ordinances that go into effect at certain times at night. Often though, while they may not get to practice at the exact same times as the race, they usually get close. – T.C.
3. From Tom:
After seeing the fine NASCAR hit Carl Edwards with, I got to wondering something. When a driver, owner, crew chief (etc) gets fined, where does the money go ? It also seems to me that a points penalty would hit home to a driver much more than a monetary one.
All money collected from NASCAR fines is given to the NASCAR Foundation as per NASCAR policy. Certainly points penalties are far more damaging than monetary fines (unless you’re an underfunded driver or team). – Journo
4. From Kate:
What happened between Jeff Dickerson and Kyle Busch? Why isn’t he spotting? I will miss his dry humor on the radio. Is he still his agent? Being a fan of both, I hope it was an amicable split.
All we’ve heard about the situation is what’s been reported. Jeff Dickerson is no longer Kyle’s agent, or business manager, though Kyle is still with Motorsports Management. Was it amicable? I’m not privy to their personal relationship, so I won’t speculate. Dickerson is a very good spotter though. - Journo
5. From KathyCalculates:
We’ve seen the Parade of Haulers at Vegas and here in Indianapolis and wondered if they do this coming into all the venues and whether or not they travel across country in a sort of caravan or if they meet up near town in order to arrive together. It is so thrilling to witness!
No, they don’t do those in every city – they are very cool though. As far as travel goes, some teams require their drivers to run together, others don’t. Most of the time, regardless of company policy, hauler drivers will run with a couple of others. No big caravans normally, though during NASCAR’s run in Mexico they did run in large caravans with police escorts into Mexico City. And to your last question, the haulers are required to be at the track at a certain time on a certain day, usually Thursday morning (for the Cup Series) where they are put in order and brought into the track. – Journo
6. From Jerry:
Guys where did all this talk come from about a triple crown that includes the Indy 500. This kind of TV promotion seems to take away from the importance of our on Nascar triple crown.
I have no idea where it came from – and I’ll be honest, I don’t think the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 constitutes a “Triple Crown” of American motorsports. It seems to me you’d need to replace the Brickyard 400 with the 24 Hours at Daytona or the maybe the US Nationals. I don’t think it diminishes anything in NASCAR but even if it didn’t make a “triple crown” it was still a big accomplishment for Chip Ganassi, and his organization. – Journo
7. From Sterling:
Hi there… great blog. Keep up the great work I found it to be a curious comment made early during the broadcast about the lack of fans in the stands at the Brickyard and how the commentators wouldn’t be getting into it on air. After they made the comment I couldn’t stop looking at how empty the seats were all over the track. I know times are tough and fan attendance has been down at some tracks but can you shed some light on the Brickyard specifically and why they would reference this on-air with no follow up explanation.
Thanks for the love! Without much empirical evidence, my own personal opinion is that attendance was down at the Brickyard for a few reason. First, and most obvious is the economy. Fewer fans can afford to attend races than in the past. Second, I think the tire debacle at Indy in 2008 is still having an effect. That race was a complete nightmare, and many fans haven’t forgotten. Third, I just don’t think the racing at Indy is all that great. The track wasn’t really built for stock cars, and it’s difficult to pass which means not a ton of action. And finally, I believe the novelty of stock cars at Indy has ended. While the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is still absolutely hallowed ground, it’s just not as big a deal anymore that NASCAR goes there. And I believe it wasn’t fully explained on TV because ESPN wanted to focus on the racing in their first race of 2010. More of a glass half full stance. – T.C.
8. From Phil:
The Chase…I realize that NASCAR is attempting to create season ending excitement. But I hate the orginal Chase, the revised current chase, and the anticipated elimination style chase. Here’s my reason, which may I add, I’ve never heard anyone raise. Unlike all other sports, NASCAR participants can be victims of circumstances totally beyond their control. Flat tires, failure of a part that causes the engine to blow, a caution just after you’ve made a green flag stop, another driver makes a bone head move and takes you out, etc. Under the pre-Chase 36 race format, these should even out between drivers and a true deserving champion determined. With the 10 race Chase and even more so under an elimination format, these factors are more likely to impact and determine the championship outcome. Other sports do have to overcome injuries beyond their control, but otherwise their play dictates the championship. Like I said, I understand the reasons for the Chase, however the excitement NASCAR is trying to create seems forced, artificial and contrived. Just my own opinion but I’m curious the hear how insider’s feel, if you agree or disagree. BTW, love your column!!!
First off, thanks also for the love! I’m not personally against the Chase in it’s current form. The whole reason the Chase was implemented in the first place, was because we’d seen many drivers run away with the title, and guys like Kenseth win it while only winning a single race all season. Nobody seems to remember this, but fans used to complain about the old system like they complain about the Chase now. The Chase certainly creates some season ending drama, which I think is good. I think the elimination style Chase that has been proposed is a mistake however. In my opinion, I think NASCAR needs to get as much feedback as possible from all involved (fans, drivers, media, teams, sponsors, etc.) and completely rework how the points are awarded. The current system rewards consistency, and I think they need to figure out what they want a champion to be. – T.C.
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!
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Filed under: NASCAR
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Filed under: Carl Edwards, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR Fights, Nationwide Series, NASCAR
Filed under: Carl Edwards, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR Fights, NASCAR
Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR
Filed under: Carl Edwards, Sprint Cup
After a couple of days of what I’m sure was intense hand wringing and some serious questions, NASCAR announced Wednesday the punishment for Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski after their last lap melee at Gateway. As I’m sure most of you saw, NASCAR docked Edwards 60 driver points and fined him $25,000 and docked Jack Roush 60 owner points. Both Edwards and Keselowski were placed on probation until the end of the year.
After the announcement Twitter was a buzz with speculation about what this would mean for NASCAR’s ‘boys, have at it’ policy. Many decried this as inconsistency, others said it would have a chilling effect, and still some applauded it.
Wherever you stand on the penalty, I thought the insistence by some that this would kill the new, more open policy was interesting – especially after the intense discussion on the matter leading up to NASCAR’s Wednesday afternoon announcement.
I personally tend to think this penalty won’t have a great affect on the current atmosphere. Certainly I think Carl’s penalty will make guys think twice about paying somebody back on track, but in the heat of the moment I believe we’re still going to see retribution.
Perhaps if this had been the first penalty issued after NASCAR instituted the policy it would have not changed the way things operated. Guys would have seen that NASCAR wasn’t serious about the change. Consider though what NASCAR has allowed drivers to do this season.
Denny Hamlin was wrecked under caution after Clint Bowyer returned to the track – Bowyer got probation. Carl Edwards returned to the track after getting repaired at Atlanta and wrecked Brad Keselowski – Keselowski ended up on his top in the fence and Edwards got parked and put on probation.
Drivers have seen what NASCAR has allowed others to get away with. The key lesson to all of this is, if you have spoken with John Darby, Mike Helton or both already regarding an incident with a fellow competitor and they’ve told you to cool it, you better cool it. If something blatant goes down on track you’re probably going to have a harsher penalty as a result.
Still NASCAR knows what a success this policy has been, and how good the racing has been this season. The last thing they want to do is murder the thing that has helped them get to this point – and I think most drivers know that.
Some More Penalty Thoughts
I think it’s important to remember Carl is a repeat offender – and these two have a long history. Was this weekend’s wreck any more or less blatant than anything anyone else has done this season? I don’t really think so. I do think though at some point NASCAR was going to have to draw a line and say “enough is enough.” This just happened to be the point.
Was it inconsistent? Maybe in the sense that they’ve chosen not to punish offenders quite so harshly this season (Carl among those). It’s unfair to compare this to previous seasons though as NASCAR was operating under a different policy. That said, NASCAR could stand to use some consistency. At times they’re definitely making up penalties as they go.
It hurts the credibility of the sport when the sanctioning body isn’t consistently enforcing things, or drawing clear distinctions ahead of time for what is and is not OK.
I know we and everyone else has spent a lot of time talking about this, this week (and generally we hate to have two posts of similar topics on the same week), but we like to be able to foster and facilitate discussion. Overall I think this week has been interesting in the development of this new doctrine – though I honestly don’t believe anything will change.
Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes, Nationwide Series, NASCAR
Filed under: Carl Edwards, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR
“Boys, have at it” may have finally reached its limit.
In the final lap of the Nationwide race at Gateway this weekend, familiar foes Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards went at it…again. Each driver took a shot at the other, beginning with Keselowski into Edwards, and ending with Edwards into Keselowski (and Keselowski into the wall and Shelby Howard into him). The controversial end to the race is just the latest in a series of incidents since NASCAR loosened its grip on driver confrontations.
Overall, I think we can all agree the policy shift has been successful. Drivers are now settling their disputes between each other, and NASCAR is not affecting points or relationships. Like all good things though, there comes a time when too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing – we may have seen that Saturday night.
Perhaps the goal of these two is to see which can kill the other first – I don’t know. That said, I can’t necessarily blame either for their individual actions. Brad was utilizing the bump and run (it didn’t work), and Carl wasn’t happy about it (given their relationship that’s no surprise). What transpired just short of the start/finish line though should be yet another warning for all those considering ending a fellow competitors day on track.
Did you see how hard Shelby Howard hit Keselowski? The front stretch at such a small track is dangerous with the checkered flag in the air. Again, I don’t necessarily blame Carl for doing what he did, but I think we’re nearing the point when NASCAR needs to draw a line in the sand, and say “this is not acceptable.”
The problem with NASCAR issuing damaging penalties though is that it could have a chilling effect on the policy. If drivers see that there are limits, they might be more apt to keep their mouths shut and their frustration private – something NASCAR desperately wants to avoid.
NASCAR has to walk a very fine line with this (especially under the circumstances). Too much of a penalty they risk alienating a positive policy change. Not enough, they enhance the environment for something more serious to occur.
So far we’ve just seen probation given to those who have actively engaged in on-track retaliation this season. Could that change on Tuesday (NASCAR’s usual penalty announcement day)? I honestly don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
What do you think? Was the payback justified? Should Carl be penalized? What’s the limit for ‘boys, have at it’? Talk amongst yourselves.