We saw it at both Road America and Infineon. Bent sheet metal and angry drivers filled the garage area after the races. You would have thought we had just raced at Martinsville or the old Bristol. Papis was angry with Villeneuve, Stewart and Vickers were at odds, and no NASCAR clash is complete without a JPM and Brad K. sighting. And wait, was that Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick shaking hands post race?!
Road course racing at the Nationwide and Cup level always seems to be a very tough proposition. The level of ability from the front of the field to the back varies wildly, and it always leads to a lot of on track action. Even for those who have a ton of road racing experience and talent, these races are no walk in the park.
The varied experience levels coupled with race tracks that can be very difficult to pass on means madness could ensue. Drivers often decide it’s easier to move a competitor than it is to set him up and make a clean pass. And as we saw today, often the “moved” driver gets angry, and then gets even.
There are also plenty of cases where guys end up wrecked simply because another driver ran out of talent. Trying to fit race cars into holes where there really isn’t a hole, or charging corners way too hard is usually a recipe for disaster.
All things considered, I thought both the NNS and Cup races from this weekend were wildly entertaining. There was plenty of action, drama, strategy, and “boys have at it” to satisfy any race fan. And because of the great racing we continue to see at these tracks, it’s about time NASCAR finally added a road race to the Chase. Our champion should be well rounded, and there are plenty of top flight tracks in this country that would serve NASCAR well.
Finally, I’ve heard some of you were less than pleased with TNT’s coverage on Sunday. It’s definitely a shame that the networks continue to struggle with what exactly the right formula is for covering NASCAR events. Things like RaceBuddy are a big step in the right direction, but they need to keep working. Let’s hope they work out some of the kinks before we head to Daytona this weekend.
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Every track we go to has unique challenges on pit road. At short tracks like Martinsville, the stalls are very small; Phoenix and Darlington have curved pit roads; Kentucky has the world’s thinnest pit wall; and at Watkins Glen we pit backwards. Until only a few short years ago however, nobody had a pit road situation like Infineon Raceway.
Before 2002, Infineon Raceway (then Sears Point Raceway) actually had two pit roads. As it is today, the entrance for the main pit road was entered on driver’s left as they came down the straight before turn 11. This pit road however, only had 34 pit stalls. The remaining drivers who qualified in positions 35-43 had to pit on what was referred to as “Gilligan’s Island.” This smaller pit road was on driver’s right as they exited turn 11.
I found a video on YouTube from the 1998 Savemart 350 at Sears Point that shows a great view of the Island. Scroll ahead to the 6:53 mark, and you will see Robert Pressley make an unscheduled stop for a flat tire. As you can see, on “Gilligan’s Island,” teams had to do pit stops backwards. On top of that, since the stretch was so much shorter, NASCAR would actually hold teams in their stalls for as many as 15 seconds after their stop was completed, before they would allow them to leave. This, in NASCAR’s view, equalized any advantage a team would gain by using the much shorter pit road.
Besides creating unique pit stop situations, the Island offered up other problems. First, being out there meant teams were really on an island. Once the race started, there was no way to get back across the track. This required teams to have any spare pieces in their stalls that they may need in case of a crash or other problem. There would be no running back to the hauler for that spare battery.
Also, if a team did happen to crash out or blow an engine, they had to stay on “Gilligan’s Island” until the race was complete. There would have been no early exit for you start-and-parkers either!
Thankfully, along with many other improvements, the track was reconfigured in 2002 to allow for all 43 cars to have space on pit road. The Island was thus gone forever, and that area inside the hairpin at turn 11 was turned into runoff.
Who’s ready for some road course racing?!
Filed under: Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup
Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Infineon originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Sprint Cup
FanHouse Warmup: Toyota SaveMart 350 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing
Edwards Repeats at Milwaukee Mile originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: David Gilliland, Jimmie Johnson, Sprint Cup
Saturday Practice Wild at Infineon originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:12:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Juan Pablo Montoya, Sprint Cup, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing
Montoya Talking Big Picture at Infineon originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Chase for the Sprint Cup, Speed TV
Surprising Teammates Face Crucial Test originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.