Love it or hate it, fuel strategy is going to continue being the name of the game over the next few weeks. The last two Cup races and the most recent Nationwide Series race were all decided on late race fuel gambles, and the next three Cup races are all at tracks conducive to fuel mileage races.
Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, and Justin Allgaier all picked up the most recent wins because they were able to stretch their mileage just a little bit more than everyone else. Their crews were able to squeeze every possible ounce of fuel into the cells during pit stops, and the crew chiefs and engineers burned up their calculators making sure they could make it to the end.
These races may not always be the most exciting to watch from the stands or on TV, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of drama anyway. Those responsible for making the decisions and figuring fuel mileage are always holding their breath as the laps click away. Adrenaline is flowing and there never seems to be enough Tums around.
The next three Cup races are at Pocono, Michigan, and Sonoma. Pocono and Michigan are both big tracks that aren’t known for a ton of cautions. The cars get spread out pretty quickly, and there is plenty of room to race. That means we’ll see a lot of long green flag runs and situations like we’ve had at Charlotte and Kansas will happen again. Teams running further back in the pack will gamble on track position and we could see more first time winners.
At Sonoma, everyone works their strategy from the finish of the race backwards. The teams will figure out what the earliest lap is they can come in to pit and still make it to the finish, and work their strategy from there. Track position is always a big key, and fuel mileage plays a big part. Marcos Ambrose lost a chance to win at Sonoma last season because he could not get his car re-fired under caution after he’d been riding around with the engine off to conserve fuel.
We haven’t seen a ton of fuel mileage hate from the fans up to this point because we’ve had some exciting finishes. But that doesn’t mean the hate won’t make an appearance over the coming days. Just remember that sometimes the driver wheels a strong race car to the win, and sometimes clever strategy from those on the pit box rules the day.
New Site Design It’s taken a little longer than it probably should have, but we finally gave TNI a much needed facelift! Take a look around and let us know what you think. And we are open for more suggestions if you have any tag line ideas…
TheNASCARInsiders.com Follow the Insiders on Twitter or be a fan on Facebook!
To anyone not sitting in the #00 pit, what initially transpired between Kyle Busch and David Reutimann was nothing more then a racin’ deal. Reutimann slipped up in the center of the corner, and Busch couldn’t check up fast enough. It was an accident, pure and simple. What followed was a classic overreaction. (In case you missed it, view the whole incident here.)
After getting his car back in racing shape, Reutimann went back on the track and waited for his chance. He would get it on lap 156. The two drivers were side by side out of turn two, and Reutimann took his shot down the backstretch. The #00 would again end up spun around, while Busch’s car sustained serious damage to the rear end and rear suspension. Reutimann would end up 35th, eleven laps down, while Busch soldiered home 21st.
You may agree or disagree with me, but I believe Reutimann overreacted terribly. I understand he and his team were upset by having their day ruined by the #18, but the contact was in no way intentional. So instead of trying to salvage a decent day for his team, Reutimann decided to kill Busch’s day as well.
What I think is interesting to note here is Reutimann’s deficit to 13th in the points. After Dover, Reutimann was only 173 points behind Ryan Newman for 13th (remember there is a big bonus for being the highest finishing non-Chase driver). A few good runs along with some trouble for the 39, and Reutimann could have been right there. Now, following the dustup at Kansas, Reutimann is 253 points out, and has basically eliminted himself from that bonus money. I hope the payback was worth the million dollars that he may have thrown away in the process.
I can understand wanting to get payback if an incident was intentional, or appeared intentional. This was neither. And obviously Busch has a reputation for these sorts of incidents, so I can see that side of the argument. Reutimann was trying to show that he is a driver that is not to be messed with (especially by Kyle), but in this case, his actions were not warranted. If he ended up choosing to not get payback, no driver would have thought less of him. In the end, all he really accomplished was making himself look like an ass.
Besides the unneeded retaliation, I also wanted to throw in my two cents about non-Chasers racing Chasers. I’ve written this before, but those outside have absolutely no obligation to treat the Chasers with kid gloves. If you are on the track, you are fair game. And you are especially fair game if you intentionally wreck somebody. The Chasers should not be given a free pass to rough up whoever they please just because another driver isn’t in the Chase. This isn’t necessarily what happened on Sunday between Reutimann and Busch, but I wanted to make the point anyway.
We are hearing today that Nationwide Series driver Trevor Bayne, the former Michael Waltrip Racing prospect, has signed on to race for Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne’s new team will waste no time in getting him on the track, as RFR is expected to bring out a fifth NNS car for Bayne to race this weekend at Kansas. The rest of RFR’s NNS lineup will still include Carl Edwards, Paul Menard, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Colin Braun. Expect Bayne’s car to use the #17.
Details about Bayne’s deal and which car he may compete in for future races is not yet available. We will keep you posted as we hear more…
It’s official… NASCAR has released the schedules for the 2011 season, and seasons of speculation are finally over – both Kentucky and Kansas got their long-anticipated Cup dates.
I’ve never been the biggest advocated for giving Kentucky a Cup date and Kansas a second Cup date. They’re really just more of the same. That said, I’m glad NASCAR, ISC and SMI are bringing racing to fans who appreciate it.
Though I haven’t been the biggest proponent of adding dates to those two tracks, I (and TC) have been a proponent of taking a date away from California. The racing is never very good and for whatever reason the crowds just couldn’t be maintained. Some markets just cant support two dates.
I believe that’s the story in Atlanta. Though I like the track and the racing it produces, it too was having issues with attendance. From a business prospective it made more sense giving its second date to Kentucky – a place I think will be able to support the event.
Other welcome news was that SMI didn’t pull a date from New Hampshire – I thought for sure Bruton would use the police issue in Loudon to give Las Vegas a second date. The man in the gawdy sunglasses surprises.
Overall, while the 2011 schedule does bring us changes, there aren’t really a ton of surprises. As always, the internal politics of NASCAR, ISC and SMI keep the possibility of changes to a minimum. I’d certainly like to see a Chase that was more representative of the whole schedule, but I’m good with what is hopefully just the beginning of a truly improved schedule in NASCAR.
Some Thoughts on the Truck Series Schedule
With 24 scheduled events for the 2011 season, and another one TBA, the Truck Series schedule is much improved over this year’s. Gone is the three week break between Daytona and Atlanta, and the two week break between Atlanta and Martinsville. Those successive breaks were a little excessive – not to mention they killed the momentum of the season.
There are a couple of two week breaks early on in 2011, and a month long break in the middle of the summer, but all in all they’ve done a much better job keeping the series flowing.
As far as filling that TBA date, why not have a triple-header at Richmond in September? There might be some logistical issues with the haulers, but who wouldn’t love to see the trucks make their RIR return?
I’m not sure what NASCAR is working on for that date, but my plea is that they keep them at a short track.
And finally a couple of disappointing spots. Pocono is back on the schedule. I think we all know my thoughts on that. And I don’t really understand the reasoning for moving the Phoenix date. It’s going to be weird for them to have an off-weekend before the season-finale at Homestead – and we’ve had such great end of season showdowns there.
What are your thoughts on Kentucky and Kansas and all three schedules for the 2011 season?
I’ve taken a little grief from the readers regarding my post from last week about Joey Logano needing a short memory after wrecking big at Dover. Some of you thought I was reading too much into his post wreck comments (to be honest, Journo thought I was too), and that you thought he would be fine. And now that Logano has raced, and won, I’ve had a few more folks call me out over the post.
I think it’s funny that I’m catching some flack over the post, because I never said Logano wasn’t going to get it done. I never even said I thought he was afraid, or that it was going to affect him. All I said was that it worried me that he admitted some fear, because fear will paralyze a driver. And I also said that he he was going to need a short memory and be able to move past it.
And guess what?
He did just that.
On Saturday in Kansas, Logano made a dramatic closing laps pass to get by his teammate Kyle Busch and score the Nationwide Series win. He didn’t fare as well on Sunday, finishing 28th in the Cup race, but he didn’t seem to show any ill effects from the tumble he took the week before. I even heard that he told reporters that the Dover crash made him more confident in the cars he is climbing into every week.
Moving forward, I think it’s big for Logano’s confidence that he was able to climb back into his car and prevail. He showed that he still has that fearless mindset that teams look for in young drivers, and the ability to bounce back from a little adversity. Chalk this one up as another learning experience for Logano in his rookie season.
Kudos to you Joey Logano.