There was an interesting piece today on NASCAR.com where Joe Menzer and Bill Kimm faced off about whether or not Chase teams should be allowed to make pit crew changes. They referenced the changes that have happened to Kevin Harvick’s team the last two years, and the mid-race change for the #48 at Texas last season. Kimm was against allowing changes, saying that no other sport allows changes to playoff rosters. I disagree, and instead side with Menzer in the debate. Teams should be allowed to make whatever changes they see fit, and at whatever time. NASCAR is a performance based business, and teams must be able to make changes when they are needed.
If NASCAR instituted some sort of roster rule, I believe it would actually create more problems than it would solve. First, when is the deadline for roster moves? If its something where teams can’t make changes before the Chase starts, everyone will just make their changes before hand. Second, what does a team do if they have an injury to a pit crew guy during the Chase? They are going to have to fill that spot. So if the roster rule has some sort of provision that allows for backups at each spot in case of injury, what’s to stop a team from reporting an injury or two just to make a change? NASCAR teams are known for finding ways to circumvent the rules, and we’ve seen a recent memo from the NFL regarding faking injuries, so you’d know it would happen in our sport.
From a team standpoint, it’s important to understand that they are trying to do everything possible to give their Chase drivers a shot at the championship. And at every multi-car team, there is going to be one pit crew that is better than the other(s). So if they can slide guys around to strengthen a team, they are going to do it. It certainly sucks if you are on the crew that gets replaced, but this isn’t little league racing. There is a lot at stake and we are all grown men. If you don’t like it, go find something else to do.
I also want to point out that I don’t think these moves give the affected drivers some sort of advantage. It isn’t like these Chase teams are sacking other teams to put together some sort of super pit crew. Everybody has contracts these days, and changes are just happening within organizations. And as close as the competition is on pit road, there isn’t a huge difference in the skill and ability of the top pit crews. Swapping the 33 guys to Harvick’s team might mean more consistency during stops, but he isn’t magically going to get 10 or 11 second stops. That bunch is still the same group that has pitted Bowyer’s car all year.
I think fans need to remember that races can be lost on pit road, but they cannot be won there. The crews can help put their drivers in the right position, but there is no finish line at the end of pit road. What a solid, consistent pit crew does, is allow their driver to be the reason why a race is won or lost. That’s really all we are asked to do.
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Pit road has played a big roll in the outcome of races this season, and as the Cup and Nationwide Series search for their 2011 champions, an even bigger emphasis will be placed on the crews. Those drivers with the strongest pit crews will have a serious advantage as we come into the home stretch. Knowing that, some teams have made moves to strengthen their performance over the wall. Two recent pit crew shakeups have already paid dividends to their teams, and the moves could be crucial in the hopes of two contenders.
Saturday night in Richmond, Kevin Harvick re-emerged as a legitimate title contender. After spending much of the summer struggling to find some measure of mojo, Harvick and the 29 team showed they are ready to take a shot at unseating the 48. And what was a big key to Harvick’s fourth win of the season? A key pit stop late in the race. With 15 laps to go, a caution brought the field to pit road, and fast work by Harvick’s crew put the 29 ahead of Jeff Gordon on the ensuing restart. Harvick was then able to hold off Carl Edwards for the win, and secure his spot tied with Kyle Busch atop the standings heading to Chicago.
If you might remember, it’s only been a few weeks since Richard Childress Racing replaced it’s pit crew coach. And along with the coaching change came a new front changer for Harvick’s crew. Tim Sheets, who has spent the season changing for Elliott Sadler’s #2 team in the Nationwide Series, was brought up to help alleviate some of the pit stop issues Harvick has experienced this season. Needless to say, the move has worked.
In the Nationwide Series, the battle for the driver’s title is a tight one. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. only has a 16 point cushion between himself and second place Elliott Sadler with seven races remaining. In order to give Stenhouse the best possible chance to win the championship, Jack Roush has pulled out all the stops. After a tough night at Atlanta, Stenhouse’s entire pit crew was replaced with the #6 Cup crew of David Ragan. The change provided immediate results. With the double duty #6 guys servicing his race car at Richmond, Stenhouse never ran lower than seventh in the race, and finished a very strong third behind Kyle Busch and Edwards.
Because racing has become so tight out on the track, teams have discovered that it is often easier to make passes on pit road. And in order to do that, they need the quickest six guys they can put together. As the Chase gets ready to kick off this weekend, expect pit road to be a big factor in who takes home this season’s Cup.
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.
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.
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When it came time this year during the annual media tour for NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France to address the gathered crowd at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, he made a very unfortunate flub – he called the Camping World Truck Series the “Craftsman World Truck Series”. This slip was, in hindsight, foreshadowing for a season that’s been a little forgettable so far.
It took four weeks for a series regular to win a race – which meant, for three weeks we had a points leader who had no wins. Between the top four drivers in the points, there are only four top-fives to go around. 357 of 647 total laps (about 55%) have been led by guys who can’t win the championship. And half the wins this season have come from Kyle Busch owned trucks (don’t worry, he’s only taken one of the wins).
The trouble this season hasn’t been fields dominated by Cup regulars, but a few good Cup regulars in great equipment. And they’ve all been good for the most part.
To their credit, the Thorsport trucks have been regular contenders (in fact Johnny Sauter became just the second non-Cup winner of the season along with Trevor Bayne – he’s the only one in the Nationwide and Truck Series). And we’ve seen some young talent show up out of nowhere – does the name Cole Whitt ring a bell?
Ron Hornaday Jr. has been back in old form, three top-tens in four races, and immediate past champion Todd Bodine is looking ok. Austin Dillon’s been competitive too.
The Randy Moss Motorsports trucks, or I’m sorry, truck, has been terrible with a new engine builder – a real disappointment with series vet and past champion Travis Kvapil. And the Turner Motorsports teams have been hit or miss. I still can’t believe James Buescher missed a race.
This series is always the most enjoyable to be around and watch. It’s been good to see some lesser funded teams actually competing this year. But lately it’s been lacking that tough trucks, tough racing mentality that always produces solid events.
All the above said, I’m optimistic the season will rebound. Hopefully that starts this weekend at Nashville.
Coming off of a season that saw a pot hole mar the opening race and then rain and other issues combine to make for a less than stellar start, 2011 has been nothing short of a breath of fresh air in the Cup Series. And consider this, with Jimmie Johnson’s come from behind win Sunday in Talladega this season has produced seven different winners in eight different races – not a bad start to the season.
Add to that solid start four different championship points leaders and six different lead changes and you’ve got a season that hasn’t really had a stand out driver or team through the first portion.
Our current top-ten in points have had some good stats to back them up – all have at least four top-tens, and with the exception of Kurt Busch, all have at least two top-fives. Half of them have wins. All – with the exception of Kurt Busch – hold the distinction though of having at least one finish of 24th or worse. Some have finishes a lot worse.
The only guy to score repeat wins? Well so far, Kevin Harvick has a DNF at Daytona and two sub-17th place finishes on top of that. His season has so far been a bit of a roller coaster.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the only drivers to have any measure of consistency are the top-three. Carl Edwards is averaging a finish of 8.2 (with blemishes at Phoenix and Martinsville); Jimmie Johnson is averaging a finish of 8.9 with one bad run at Daytona; and Dale Earnhardt Jr., though he is winless, is channeling that classic Steve Letarte consistency, averaging a 10th place finish with just one DNF (a 24th place finish) at Daytona.
Even with the brighter spots in the top-ten, the points are still close enough for drivers to have big swings in and out. Both Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth jumped five spots (in opposite directions) this past weekend.
The fact is, and I think this speaks to the level of competition we have right now in the sport, there just isn’t a dominate team. Going into race nine, it gets harder to turn seven out of eight into eight out of nine, but with the way this season has gone, anything could happen.
So what do you think? Has anybody stood out to you? Who’s most likely to make an early run?
I’ve been a big advocate through the years of removing California’s (or should I say Auto Club’s) second date. I’m just not a fan of the track. So I of course thought it was nothing short of a brilliant move last season when ISC took that second date and gave it to Kansas. As we’ve all seen through the years, the racing at California has been, well, sub-par. I was pleasantly surprised though on Sunday to find a race that wasn’t as spread out as usual and didn’t have a run away winner.
Through the first 75 laps of the race, the chatter on twitter was noticeably in favor of a caution, somewhere. And finally on lap 76 debris (somewhere) brought out the first caution of the race. From there, there were three more cautions through the remaining 121 laps. That meant closer fields and tougher racing situations.
Through the shortened 200 lap race (last season it was a 250 laps, though the fall race was the same) we saw 18 lead changes and 10 different leaders. Oh and did you see that finish?
With just nine laps to go, Kevin Harvick, who hasn’t had a spectacular season thus far, managed to make up four spots on four teams that had been running very well all day. Out of the last turn on the last lap it was Harvick who came up victorious – as they say, if you’re only going to lead one lap, that was the lap to lead.
He silenced all the RCR doubters, and showed he’s still here this season. Welcome back Kevin. And who would have thought we would see that at California? I certainly didn’t.
Harvick’s win made him the fifth different winner in five races – that’s a pretty solid start to the season if you ask me. California hasn’t produced solid races of late, but like everything this season, the race left me more than satisfied.
What did you think about the race? Did you like what you saw? Are you sad there’s just one race at California this season? Feel free to use this as your California open post!
An Owner’s Points Update
We’re five races in, so you know that means – our top-35 finally resets for this year. With competitive and full fields, that guaranteed spot is as important as ever.
Updating TC’s post from the other day, here are the five above and below that ever important top-35 mark.
30 Teresa Earnhardt 1 +30 31 Joe Gibbs 20 +26 32 Barney Visser 78 +25 33 Frank Stoddard Jr. 32 +10 34 Robby Gordon 7 +2 35 Bob Germain 13 0 36 Richard Petty 71 -6 37 Tommy Baldwin 36 -9 38 Brad Jenkins 37 -9 39 Bob Jenkins 38 -12 40 Roger Penske 77 -13
Richard Childress Racing entered the 2011 season with some serious momentum. All three of the team’s drivers finished last season in the top-12 in points – Jeff Burton in 12th, Clint Bowyer in 10th and Kevin Harvick in third – and they had five wins in between them. After a disastrous 2009 season, it was a quick return to glory.
Then this season started. And what have we seen from RCR? Well, not much.
Clint Bowyer had a decent run at Daytona, leading 31 laps, but ended up finishing in 17th. Add to that finishes of 27th, 35th and a season best 15th and Bowyer sits 30th in the points. His teammate Jeff Burton isn’t much better off. He’s averaging a finish of 25.8 – he hasn’t had a finish above 20th – and he sits 24th in the points. And how about Kevin Harvick? He’s had bright spots at Phoenix and Bristol (4th and 6th) but sits 15th in the points thanks to 42nd and 17th place finishes.
Then there’s RCR newcomer Paul Menard. This is a guy who’s in his fifth (full) Cup Series season. Prior to this year he had just two top-fives and seven top-10s in 147 starts. His best points finish? 23rd last season.
This year? One top-five and two top-10s so far. He’s sitting 5th in the points. Who would have thought after four races it would be Paul Menard who was sitting at the head of the table at RCR? I certainly didn’t.
Last year Richard Petty Motorsports brought together Menard and crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe. Menard saw big improvements over the season and when the driver announced his move, Labbe and a good portion of their crew weren’t far behind. Those relationships are paying dividends this season.
As the obligatory caveat emptor I’ll say there’s a lot of season left, but so far Labbe and Menard look pretty darn good (not to mention Richard Childress). With teammates like Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, Menard has a solid support system, not to mention some of the best equipment in the sport. All things considered, he’s definitely one to watch this year.
With all the hype leading into this final race we certainly had an exciting finish. Who wasn’t on edge after Denny Hamlin spun, Jimmie Johnson’s crew (continually) screwed up, and Kevin Harvick got caught speeding on pit road? I was on the edge of my seat until the final laps.
And so after 36 races and thousands of miles we have our 2010 champion – the same champion we had in 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006. This is an accomplishment Jimmie Johnson and his crew should be proud of and something we all should be celebrating. But I suspect most of us aren’t.
The fact is, despite the hype, that end was kind of deflating.
I struggled after the race to find a way to think about this positively. It really is an extraordinary thing. But the truth is, I wasn’t really all that excited about it. The only thing I could think was, “NASCAR and ESPN thought the ratings were bad this season.”
I can’t tell you, over the past two and half years, how many people have e-mailed or commented at their waning interest in the sport over the #48′s dominance. I fear this will only make that worse. And I can’t really blame people – I’m getting bored. I say this too feeling bad for thinking Jimmie’s success is hurting the sport, but I honestly believe it is.
While they would never admit it, I think the folks at NASCAR see it too. The changes to the points that they’re considering have got to be, to some extent, as a result of what he’s been able to do – and even with today, we had a different path, but the exact same result.
I write this with no ill will toward Jimmie Johnson. I think Jimmie is a great guy and I think he and the #48 team are to be commended for all of their success. But this isn’t good for this sport. That said, I’m just not sure there is anything NASCAR or Jimmie’s fellow competitors can do about it.
With that, we’ll be off for the next week taking a little vacation (we’ll be moderating comments though). Check back next Monday for a new TNI post and our off-season schedule. We hope you all have safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR
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