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Superspeedway racing tends to bring out the worst in everyone and this weekend in Talladega was no different. We had accusations of team orders, then subsequent denials, crew chiefs telling drivers to wreck on purpose, blatant cheating and complaints from everyone on track about the driving. There has been shock and outrage from the NASCAR press corps and the sport’s fan base. After all, who knew any of this went on?!
We’re Shocked Someone May Have Been Cheating
SBNation’s Jeff Gluck posted a story yesterday with audio from #48 crew chief Chad Knaus. Knaus is heard telling Jimmie Johnson to “crack the back of the car” if they win. Presumably they were beyond the allowed tolerances for whatever reason.
Knaus admitted the intention saying he was, “ Just being proactive, I just told Jimmie, ‘Look, man – we’ve just got to make sure there’s a tire mark or some type of visible damage.’ Just because cars do move when you race them like that.”
This ended up being the story du jour on Wednesday. It was unbelievable that a team could be working in the gray area – no one does that! Of course we already knew Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus were cheaters…
The Roush Team Orders
Jack Roush telling his drivers to stick with Ford teams!? Ridiculous.
This was the outrage of the weekend after word seeped out that Ford and Roush had, at the very least, made it clear that their teams should stick together at Talladega.
Ford and Roush both denied “orders” were issued, but it was pretty clear what the expectation was.
The way the talk was this weekend though you would have thought Roush was the only one that made this expectation clear. Of course anybody with two eyes and a basic understanding of the sport could see every other team on track had done the same, and why wouldn’t they? As I wrote on Monday, you draft with who brought you.
You Feel Double Crossed?
Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon were both beside themselves after the race Sunday. They had committed dancing partners who they felt abandoned, or sabotaged them in favor of teammates. It’s a cruel world.
Stewart told SB Nation:
“It’s a shame, because I’ve never seen more politics in a race go on in my life than what I saw this weekend…I think the car owners are to blame, the manufacturers are to blame and the fans don’t deserve that.“
Gordon echoed Stewart, saying after the race:
“I don’t think [Trevor Bayne] really ever had any intentions of pushing me, and if he did, the Ford folks told him to do something different. It’s politics, that’s part of it.”
As they say, it’s business, it’s not personal. And of all people I would expect Gordon and Stewart to know that. It’s true it’s unfortunate for the fans, it stinks for those who got the shaft, but the fact is it’s reality. Welcome to NASCAR boys.
Hey Trevor, Cool It With The Hyperbole
Speaking of distraught, Trevor Bayne. He’s young and apparently doesn’t know when to go light on the hyperbole. In an interview with SceneDaily he said:
“I was caught in the worst situation I could have ever been in.”
Devastating. I’ll bet there was some cringing at Roush after that interview.
He did go on to say that he wasn’t forced to switch drafting partners but felt it was his role as Kenseth’s teammate. Either way, nobody can fault him for making the decision he made – not even Jeff Gordon. He’s in a precarious position at Roush and needs to do what he has to do to keep the bosses happy and his butt in a ride.
A lesson though (not for our interests but his own) when you’re trying to make a good impression, toe the company line.
This whole week has left me shaking my head and rolling my eyes. While we don’t necessarily get to be witness to some of this stuff on a weekly basis, it happens that often. No one should be surprised about ANY of this. Consider this week a window into NASCAR reality.
Now on to Martinsville and a decidedly less controversial setting.
After Sunday’s dominant performance at Kansas, Jimmie Johnson is once again the talk of the Chase. After a rough start to the playoffs, Johnson has rebounded to close within four points of the lead. But right behind Johnson, who sits third in the standings, is Brad Keselowski. Following a third place finish at Kansas, Keselowski is now only 11 points behind leader Carl Edwards. And since the Loudon race in July, he’s on one hell of a run that may just carry him to the head table in Las Vegas.
Consider this, over the last 11 races, Brad K. has finished outside the top ten only twice (12th at Richmond, 20th at Dover). And, of those nine top ten finishes, seven are actually top five finishes including two wins. He’s gone from 23rd in the standings to fourth. Needless to say, he’s been the hottest driver in NASCAR over the last few months.
Looking ahead, the final six races of the season are Charlotte, Talladega, Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead. We’ve already raced at five of those tracks, and Keselowski had finishes of 19th, 33rd, 19th, 18th, and 15th respectively. That’s not a good omen, until you look at how Keselowski has improved at tracks he’s seen for the second time this year. Of the eight race tracks we’ve already raced twice this season, Brad has improved his finish from the first race to the second six times. He didn’t improve at Dover, 13th to 20th, and he didn’t improve at Kansas. But it’s important to note that he won the first race at Kansas, and finished third the second race.
With six races still remaining, literally anything could happen. That is especially true with Talladega looming. At this point, we can realistically say that the top eight drivers probably still have a decent shot at the title. Everyone from Dale Earnhardt Jr. in ninth back is 43 or more points behind, which will be nearly impossible to make up. But of those still in it, Brad Keselowski just might be the guy. With the run he’s currently on, I certainly wouldn’t bet against him.
Jimmie Johnson had a rough few weeks. He was involved in an on-track altercation with Kurt Busch at Richmond – he finished 31st. He went on to Chicago and had a respectable, but not overwhelming 10th place run. Then he struggled at New Hampshire, finishing 18th.
The driver found himself 29 points back in 10th, the farthest back he’d ever been in a Chase at that point. And to top it off, it looked like there was trouble in paradise between Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. Surely Johnson was done for – or so some would have had you believing.
Barring another miraculous comeback – which is not out of the question – Jimmie Johnson’s five-year reign as NASCAR Sprint Cup champion may finally come to an end this season.
And then we got to Dover. Johnson qualified sixth, led 157 laps and ultimately finished second. That seemingly insurmountable 29 point deficit was cut to just 13 and Johnson picked up five spots in the Chase.
Not a surprising feat for this team.
For the last several seasons the “is Johnson done for?” parlor game has been especially popular for the NASCAR press corps – this year, with Johnson not quite as hot as he has been, the speculation has been just as strong (fair disclaimer, we’ve admittedly been guilty of it). But it seems, just when everyone starts counting them out, team #48 starts making its ascent.
It’s happened a couple times mid-season over the last five years when the team soured, and it happened during Johnson’s inaugural championship run in 2006 when he overcame four straight finishes under 13th (including a 39th and 24th). Still Johnson and Knaus always got it together and came out on top.
We’re just three races into the Chase, and we have one of the strongest Chase fields we’ve ever had, but if last weekend was any indication, this year may not be any different. The fact is, Knaus and Johnson are good, very good. They’ve proven that season after season. And despite the occasional bickering and disagreement the two have chemistry like few before.
For me, after five straight, I’m done counting Jimmie and Chad out. That is until we’re sitting in Las Vegas with someone else at the head table. It’ll happen sooner or later.
Chase Media Day Discussion All About Stopping Jimmie Johnson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2011) – NASCAR’s Chase Media Week ended Thursday, with all 12 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers converging on Chicago’s LaSalle Power Company for the annual Chase Media Day.
Drivers were ushered from television to radio to print media to a fan Q&A during the day-long session, and a familiar theme dominated each conversation: Who’s going to end five-time champion Jimmie Johnson’s unprecedented reign?
For his part, the typically cool Johnson sounded confident, despite entering the Chase with just one win – the fewest of any of his previous eight Chases. Said Johnson, “We’re in a good spot. Our win total isn’t what it’s been in the past, but we’ve had opportunities.”
Jeff Gordon ranks among the top candidates to unseat his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. Gordon, a four-time champion (1995, ’97, ’98, 2001), won all four of his titles in the pre-Chase era. A runner-up in 2007, Gordon believes this might be his best shot in the Chase. “I’m excited about going to the race track every weekend. When I won my four championships, it was under the old format. You had to be consistent, and yeah, you had to win, but at the end you were trying to beat two or three guys. With this format you’re going up against 11 other guys. But I do think this is the best chance we’ve ever had at winning the championship [in the Chase].”
Kevin Harvick, who finished third after battling to the bitter end in last year’s Chase, says the No. 48 team is still the favorite. When asked if Johnson was more vulnerable this year, he said, “I heard the same conversation last year. They’re still the team to beat. They’ve won it so many different ways.”
Kurt Busch, who has tangled with Johnson throughout the season, spoke about the rivalry between the two past champions. Said the 2004 champion, “The Chase is intense. Every year you have your rivalries. I have a sibling rivalry with my brother Kyle, too. But you have to put that stuff away.”
But Chase newcomer Brad Keselowski might’ve uttered the most sound reason why Johnson’s end might be near. Said Keselowski, simply, “He is human, right?”
Every Driver Gunning For Jimmie Johnson is a post from: Awesome Race Fans
Awesome Race Fans
I’m going to start this off by saying that this post is just speculation on my part. We haven’t heard this is happening, but I wanted to explore it anyway because I think it’s a real possibility. Even though Jimmie Johnson came back to finish fifth on Sunday at New Hampshire, he was clearly not happy after the race. He took the time to voice his disdain for Juan Pablo Montoya’s driving (a topic for another day), but he also expressed his frustration with their pit crew issues. With the Chase only a few short races away, and Chad Knaus’ recent history, I’m wondering if another crew swap might be coming.
Late in Sunday’s race, Johnson was forced to pit twice under caution after a lugnut was left off during his initial pit stop. In his post race interviews, Johnson told reporters:
“If there is anything major that has to change, we need to do it before the Chase starts. I have no clue what that means. And obviously I’m speaking from frustration with a bad day. We’ve been working, we’ve been patient as a group trying to mature some guys and get stuff ready. But we can’t have these mistakes anymore. We are way to close to the Chase, and we need to be right.”
Johnson’s 48 team is in the situation they are with the pit crew, because following a rough end to the 2010 season, Knaus cleaned house. They brought in a group of younger guys and basically make them tryout for their jobs every week. I wasn’t convinced early in the year about Knaus’ plan, and as I wrote a couple weeks ago, things haven’t gone well all season. Sunday’s race was just another example of their struggles.
So what options does Knaus have? Barring a drastic turn around in the coming races before the Chase, it appears he has two. The first would be to try and find even more new guys to plug into the crew. I have heard they are looking for more guys, but I’m not sure there are really talented, experienced guys just out there floating around. And even if they were to bring in some new pieces, it would take a few races for everyone to gel.
The second option would be another crew swap. We saw last season at Texas that Hendrick didn’t have a problem swapping the 24 and 48 crews, and we may be on the brink of seeing that again. This time though, it won’t be the 24 and 48 swapping.
Since the 48, 24, and 88 are all (at least currently) in the Chase, it would appear to me that the 5 crew might be ripe for poaching. Mark Martin currently sits 20th in the points, and it would take a dramatic turn around to make up the 70 points that he is currently out of the Chase. Martin’s pit crew would be exactly what Knaus needs to get Johnson his sixth straight title; very solid and experienced. The current 48 crew would be sufficient enough to get the 5 through the remainder of the season, and then Knaus could form a new plan heading into 2012.
Now again, remember this is all speculation on my part. But don’t be surprised if something like this happens if the 48 crew continues to struggle.
None of the three things I mentioned in the headline are connected, I just decided to write a hodgepodge post with a few different thoughts and observations. Feel free to comment on one or all (or not at all).
Fuel Injection The new fuel injected engines were on display for the first time on Thursday at Kentucky Speedway. The Cup teams were allowed to bring extra cars to an open test session in order to gather data on the new EFI systems. There is no shortage of information about fuel injection, and it sounds like the testing was pretty uneventful. Outside of the manufacturers using the new systems to develop technology, and the obvious marketing benefits, don’t expect much to change. The cars shouldn’t drive much different than they do with a carburetor, so the racing action should remain unchanged. Still no word on what this means for the superspeedways and restricting horsepower.
Jimmie Johnson Still think JJ is too vanilla or too corporate? Over the last five years, as he was running away with championships, one of the biggest criticisms of Johnson was that he didn’t have enough personality. He isn’t controversial like Kyle Busch or beloved like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Instead, he’s always polite and friendly in interviews, gets his Lowe’s mentions in, and has a hot wife and new baby. But this boring image might be starting to change a little bit. And it’s all thanks to Twitter. This season, Johnson has become quite active on his @JimmieJohnson account. He’s done everything from tweeting photos of himself in blond wigs to taking on fans who criticize him. There have also been tweets about golf and adult beverages, and he’s always good for a giveaway… or 10. He’s been able to show that he actually does have a personality and likes to have a good time. It’s just unfortunate that it’s taken this long for the public to see it. If you are active on Twitter, and don’t follow JJ, I’d suggest checking him out.
The Brickyard We got the official announcement this week that neither the Truck nor Nationwide Series will return to Lucas Oil Raceway Park (formally ORP and IRP) for the 2012 season and beyond. The NNS cars will become part of the Brickyard 400 weekend and a replacement event for the trucks is TBA. Journo wrote last week about how this move would be a mistake, and our fears have been realized. It’s a shame because racing at LORP was always great, and the stands were always full. Now, we are stuck with yet another companion event. Cup races at the Brickyard are usually not great, and Nationwide races will be even worse. If this were Twitter, NASCAR and the track people would get a big fat #fail.
By now, I’m sure you know by heart the story behind Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew. The team struggles at Texas, gets replaced by Jeff Gordon’s crew for the remainder of the Chase, and all but a few are gone at season’s end. Coming into 2011, Chad Knaus decided to go in a different direction with his pit crews. Over the off season, the team held a ton of tryouts and brought in a big group of younger guys. His plan was to send the fastest six guys from the week’s practices over the wall during that week’s race. It would be the ultimate earn your spot crew. I told you in January that I thought it was a bad idea, and I’m being proven correct.
Before this last week’s race at Michigan, Johnson had a few quotes and comments about the situation and how it’s going. To hear him and Knaus talk, you’d think things were going well. In reality though, race fans have watched the team struggle at times this season. There have certainly been some bright spots, but there have also been some missteps. And those missteps have led to Knaus making changes. The front changer and front carrier were swapped out a few races back, but we’ve seen the new tandem make some mistakes recently. If that continues, expect more changes.
Like I said in my post back in January, the really good pit crews are those that have worked together for a while. Really tight pit stops only happen when guys know each other really well, and can anticipate each other’s every move. If a mistake happens, the team rallies, makes a correction, and keeps digging. Teamwork like that only comes from continuity. Knaus has dismissed this completely.
What every smart pit crew coach and crew chief understands is that mistakes are going to happen on pit road. There is just too much happening very quickly, and in very tight spaces for things to go right all the time. The guys who stick around on pit road for many years are those who are able to quickly forget about mistakes and get right back to business. A guy who is constantly worried about making one small mistake and getting replaced won’t be at the top of his game. He’s too focused on not screwing up, when he should be focused on staying loose and doing things right.
The pit crew situation at Hendrick Motorsports is really an interesting dichotomy. On one hand we’ve got Knaus with his brilliant plan, and on the other we’ve got the rest of the teams using the traditional method. The 88 and 5 pit crews consist of veteran guys who’ve been together for some time. The 24 crew has a mix of veteran and younger guys, but they have been kept together. You know the result.
At the end of the day, I feel bad for those six who strap up and don Lowe’s firesuits each week. In some sense, they are behind before they even start. They are already responsible for servicing the race car for the reigning five-time champ, but because of their leader’s plan, they are subject to an extra helping of pressure. Instead of hearing “hey, we’ve got your back and we support you,” they get “hey, don’t screw up or you’re out.” Not a great message. And everyone in the garage sees it, except for Chad Knaus.
fleet·ing ex·ple·tive a non-scripted verbal profanity or obscenity expressed and broadcast during a live television broadcast or radio broadcast. The term appears primarily in discussions of United States broadcasting law.
Yep, he did. If you watched the Coca-Cola 600 all the way through Sunday night, you were treated to a little fleeting expletive courtesy of Chad Knaus. As Jimmie Johnson’s engine expired with about five to go the Fox production crew cut to the team’s radio traffic. In that brief moment Knaus is clearly heard saying, “You’ve got to be f$*#ing kidding me.” (Fair warning - video here).
Fox’s Mike Joy promptly apologized for the profanity. But unfortunately, what was done, was done.
This isn’t the first time this season (not even this month) we’ve talked about profanities and the sanctity of radio chatter. Interestingly enough, Kurt Busch (the topic of our first radio traffic post of the season) took time during his media availability on Thursday to criticize the way the media has handled language on the radio. He said:
“I always laugh and sit there and listen to you guys contradict yourselves, saying you want us to be more colorful,” [Busch] said. “But also what you want to do to a driver is just thrash him when he shows personality. That’s what I’m going through with this radio.”
No doubt, interesting bookends to the weekend.
Obviously this wasn’t a moment that should have found its way to network television. That said, it was an understandable ‘fleeting expletive’ given the situation – a frustrating end to what had been a pretty good day. I can’t say I would have reacted much differently.
One has to wonder though the logic behind putting, what I assume was live radio traffic on the air. Fox, as far as I know, isn’t using any kind of a delay, despite several past incidents. The potential for getting burned is quite large.
We’ll see Tuesday if NASCAR does anything about this incident, but it would be very unfortunate if Knaus does get fined. Other than not using the radio to vent frustration, there wasn’t anything he could do about this being broadcast to millions of people. Perhaps we’ve come to a place where that should be the expectation any time the radio is keyed.
Every time this becomes an issue, I find it unfortunate for the fans who enjoy listening to the radio. The access is truly one of the great things in NASCAR and these moments can have a chilling effect on what does and does not get said over open channels (i.e. emotion). We’ll see if there’s any fallout.
Weekend Fun Fact
Did anyone else notice in both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600 this weekend both National Guard sponsored cars lost the race by literally hundreds of feet on the last lap? Strange coincidence.
Sunday’s Cup Series race at Dover was the perfect example of good strategy overcoming speed and handling shortcomings. Matt Kenseth did not have the best race car over the course of the race, but the right call by his crew chief at the right moment put him in position to win. And Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson are left wondering “what if.”
When the cars come to pit road following a shorter than normal run, crew guys know that anything is possible. Crew chiefs can call for anything from four tires, to fuel only. And often times you won’t get more than a few seconds warning. The crew chief will start counting the driver into the stall, and then make a last minute audible. For many teams on Sunday, that’s exactly what happened. Guys like Johnson, Edwards, and Clint Bowyer who had been the cars to beat all day, were neutralized by two tire stops.
Besides the winning Kenseth, good pit strategy was the key to good finishes for Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, and Brian Vickers. Martin stayed out, and Ambrose and Vickers both got two tires.
Along with the late race pit strategy, another surprising element of Sunday’s race was the lack of cautions. Dover isn’t referred to as the “Monster Mile” for nothing, but there were shockingly few on track incidents. Compared to both the CWTS and NNS races the previous two days, the Cup race was tame. Especially on a day when track conditions were treacherous (see track rubber issues).
Finally, I was really disappointed to see how sparsely attended the weekend’s races were. I know a constant threat of rain probably turned off some fans, but to see entire sections of grandstands completely devoid of spectators was sad. Dover always puts on great shows, and there are plenty of largely populated areas nearby to draw from. Hopefully TV ratings were up.
Now it’s your turn. Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on the weekend’s action. I heard a late race move by FOX to show commercials in a split screen was quite the hit…