Two Chase races down, eight to go. While the Truck Series is off this weekend, the Cup and NNS cars head west to Kansas. While we work through another week, here is the 94th round of reader questions and answers. 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 Ric:
Was there any advantage to Tony coasting down the front stretch, versus turning into pit road?
Well, he still needed to cross the line to register on the scoring as having completed the last lap. And the turn in for the garage area is well before the start finish line at Loudon, so pulling down pit road wouldn’t have made sense. At the point he was at, there were definitely no advantages left to be had. – T.C.
2. From DMan:
At Loudon on the last lap, or rather I should say Stewart’s last lap, ESPN showed about a half second’s worth of Hamlin giving Stewart a little push. It was my understanding that it was against NASCAR rules to assist another car on the last lap. Why was there no penalty to Hamlin or Stewart? Or am I splitting hairs?
I think you are splitting hairs a bit. Hamlin had already crossed the line at that point, and Stewart wasn’t going to improve his position over another car by getting a little aid. So really, no harm, no foul. – T.C.
3. From Michael in SoCal:
How do spotters communicate with other spotters during the race? If they’re constantly watching out for and advising their driver, how do they find other spotters to talk to and get in a couple of words to pass along messages? Thanks! You’re a daily read.
The spotters stand isn’t exactly a large space, and you have to remember that for the most part, these guys spend weekend after weekend up there with the same 42 other guys. They get to know each other pretty well. So when there is a message to be conveyed, all they have to do is step over to the other spotter and make their point. Obviously if they are at Daytona or Talladega, or in a tight battle, the spotter probably won’t take the chance, but there are plenty of opportunities during a race to do so. – T.C.
4. From Joe:
I noticed one of the people on survivor called Chase is a jackman on a pro race team,do you know him? Since Bowyer’s car got caught why not check Harvick’s and Burton’s? I doubt there’s any difference between any of their cars. It may explain why Harvick is running way better this year than he was last year.
The guy on Survivor is Chase Rice. He was a linebacker for the University of North Carolina football team, and after he graduated, he joined Hendrick Motorsports. Before he went on the show, he was a developmental jackman who’d spent some time in ARCA and the Nationwide Series. And don’t worry, NASCAR is keeping a very watchful eye on all the RCR cars. Remember that RCR was warned following Richmond about some of the measurements, so NASCAR is well aware that they are trying to push the limits a bit. In any case though, it’s not fair to say that RCR’s performance gains have been made through cheating. I do believe they have made legitimate improvements to their program. – T.C.
5. From Lost in NASCAR:
Got to wonder about this penalty to the 33. i would like to know from NASCAR what the advantage was to the 33 car. I am not in favor of cheating, but there seems to be something wrong with this whole story. Do you think that someone “RATTED” out the 33 to NASCAR to start them looking in that direction? If not, how come they took the car to the research center? I have been around the sport as a fan long enough to have seen some real cheaters.
From what we know about the problem, it would appear that doing something like this would be to gain some sort of aerodynamic advantage. Don’t forget that NASCAR warned the #33 following the race at Richmond, that they were close on some of the measurements. This didn’t come out of nowhere. And Bowyer’s car wasn’t taken back to the R&D center out of the blue. NASCAR routinely takes the winning car back to Concord with them for a more in depth inspection. – T.C.
6. From BB:
Thanks for the great blog and frequent posts; still the best one for in depth information……..just wondering how things are going in terms of sponsors, stability, finances etc at MWR. They have come a long way in a couple of years, but still seem pretty low profile. Also, how likely is TRB to stick with Toyota?
Thanks BB! As far as I know things at MWR are pretty good. Raceworld USA (or I think they’re just calling it Michael Waltrip Racing these days) was an expensive venture that put the team in a bad position. With the involvement of Rob Kauffman and other business partners the financial stability of the team is much improved. They’ve got the sponsorship from NAPA (and they love Michael) and of course Aarons. They definitely have come a long way in the last several years – and lets be honest, look much better than their fellow inaugural Toyota team, Red Bull. I think TBR returning to Toyota next year is pretty good – I haven’t heard anything to the contrary. - Journo
7. From Christopher:
After hearing Bowyer’s “tow truck” excuse for being over the limit on size of part of his car by such a tiny amount, I got to thinking. After even minor bumping against other cars, which happens to everyone… I would imagine MOST cars are dented and banged up enough to technically be outside the rules, even though they started within the legal limits. I’d imagine, for example, after just a little bump drafting, you’d knock your car in or out 1/16 inch. How does NASCAR take this into account when testing cars post-race?
During the inspection process NASCAR takes into account on-track damage. Cars don’t have to fit templates in the post race inspection. They also have a ton of data that will help them in determining where things should be. In the situation of the tow-truck, NASCAR’s engineers actually looked at data from similar tow-truck damage incidents and determined it was unlikely the tow-truck could have caused this particular issue (this was actually addressed in the teleconference on Wednesday). - Journo
8. From Brent:
The 33 car did not pass the height stick measurement after the race. My question is, do the chassis adjustments made during the race affect this measurement, such as wedge (corner jacking), and tire pressure? Or do they somehow measure the body relative to the chassis instead of to the ground?
When did the #33 not pass height sticks? The penalty they were given was for a body measurement made at the R&D center, not for not passing height sticks. In any case, no, the teams must keep the height sticks in mind when making adjustments during the race. The measurement is taken from the ground to the car’s body. The car must pass both pre and post race. – T.C.
9. From old9fan
Hi guys, love your website! As a long time NASCAR fan, I noticed something recently. Most of the tracks have count down cones, 3-2-1, as a aid for drivers. Pocono has always had the number. But I haven’t recalled seeing them before this season. Is this a new practice for the tracks and are they adjusted for series that is currently running a race? If so, why? Thank you!
Thanks old9fan! You know I have noticed that too, but I’m not sure if it’s a new thing. The practice definitely helps drivers, and spotters – and it’s possible NASCAR has asked the tracks to start doing this. Sorry I can’t be of more help. – Journo
10. From Kev:
As a relative newcomer to studying NASCAR racing closely – I’ve had a casual interest for years – I need help understanding some of it. I thought the Lucky Dog and the run around were the same thing but in the Nationwide Dover 200 the commentators told who had the Lucky Dog and who had the run around. The difference is?
Okay, here we go. First, we will deal with the lucky dog. Instead of having cars race back to the yellow like in the old days, NASCAR instituted the lucky dog so that cars still had the chance to get laps back. When a caution comes out, the highest scored car that is a lap (or laps) down gets to pass the pace car and get a lap back, as long as they were not involved in the caution. They have to still pit with the lap down cars, and they must start at the tail end of the longest line. The wave around was brought in with the double file restarts. When a caution comes out, IF all the lead lap cars come to pit road, that leaves all the lap down cars behind the pace car, but in front of the lead lap cars after they exit pit road. If they choose, these lap down cars can not come to pit road, and with one lap to go under yellow, NASCAR will let them pass the pace car and get a lap back. So that is why you heard the TV guys talking about both the lucky dog and the wave around cars. – T.C.
11. From Michael:
“Now I won’t comment on the validity of Hamlin’s comments, but they got him into trouble.” Why won’t you? Failed communication is never good. By adding the “but they got him into trouble” would suggest that it was false. I see no reason you can not, or will not, comment on if the “everybody garage area knew what RCR was doing” remark. Maybe you are protecting RCR. I am not the “insider”. I want to know who was in the grassy knoll. When I read your newsletter, rarely am I left with more questions than answers. Monday’s issue left me scratching my head.
I knew this was going to bite me. Does it suggest that what Denny said was false? More than anything I didn’t want the discussion on the post to spiral into whether or not people believed what Denny had to say. I wanted to preface that I was not going to be talking about it. I promise you I’m not protecting RCR, my opinions on the matter were just irrelevant for the post. If it makes you feel better about the situation, just pretend like that section of that sentence isn’t there. - Journo
12. From Scott:
Hey Guys, As always, love the site and read all the posts. Fantastic job to both of you. My question is about Team Red Bull. Given Brian Vickers health issues this year and the questions about who will be the second driver or if a second car is even a possibility is Team Red Bull back to square one? Currently, both cars are locked into the points and probably will stay that way until the end of the year. This speaks volumes for the team behind the scenes however not having the presence of a veteran driver like Vickers race in and race out must have some kind of effect right? Will be the 2011 race season be a rebulding year or is there enough juice left to give that team wings?
The issue at Red Bull is not whether there will be two cars, it’s whether it will be three cars, and if it’s just two cars, who will be in them. Obviously Kasey Kahne will be in a car next year, but if Vickers’ health keeps him sidelined will Red Bull keep Scott Speed? Or if Vickers does return do they keep Speed and create a third team for Kahne? I personally think there are issues at Red Bull that start at the top. It sounds like the folks in Austria are starting to make changes there - whether that has a dramatic effect on the team’s performance remains to be seen. They certainly have the resources to be a good team, but there are issues that need to be remedied before that can happen. - Journo
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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When NASCAR announced today that they were dropping the hammer on Clint Bowyer and his team for violations following his win at Loudon, they showed the teams and fans that nobody is above the law. Big team, small team, in the Chase, or just trying to qualify, the rules apply to everyone.
Both myself and Journo have not been afraid in the two-plus year existence of this blog to both criticize and defend NASCAR. If we’ve thought one way or the other, we’ve said so. And in the process, we’ve often been called homers, kool aid drinkers, and worse. One very glaring example of such a case where we were accused of being homers was the infamous Carl Long incident. Over and over we had commenters who claimed that NASCAR was trying to hold the little guy back, and that they never came down hard on big teams (search Carl Long in the search box to the right to see the many posts and comments). We gave example after example that proved otherwise, but it didn’t matter. “If the same would have happened to Jimmie Johnson, the penalty would have been less severe.” So I have one question haters, where are you today?
In a statement from the team, Richard Childress said the measurement in question was off by 60 thousandths of an inch. So in effect, NASCAR just poured gasoline on Bowyer’s Chase chances (with the 150 point penalty) over the thickness of 15 sheets of paper (Thanks Dr. Diandra). Still think NASCAR only bullies the little guys?
It was very interesting today to follow this story as it developed and all the discussion via Twitter. We had everyone from drivers, to the media and the fans reacting as this story happened. For those upset by the penalty, it appears that the overwhelming reason is that NASCAR wouldn’t give exact details about what was illegal. I did see too the theory that NASCAR was doing this to Bowyer just to help out Jimmie, which I think is great, because dropping Bowyer from second to twelfth in the standings doesn’t benefit Johnson in any way. He’s still 92 points out of the lead regardless. What I didn’t see were any comments about the fairness of the penalty based on the status of RCR as a team in the sport.
I also want to point out that this penalty was announced on the same day as a penalty levied against little Whitney Motorsports for engine valves that did not meet weight requirements. They were fined $50,000, lost their crew chief for six races, and lost 50 driver and owner points. I sure didn’t see anyone piling on NASCAR for penalizing this small team. And they claim that it wasn’t their fault because the engine was worked on by Arrington Engines, which sounds awfully familiar to the story Carl Long gave about his illegal engine. Yet still no comments. Why? Because it’s tough to hate on NASCAR for being unfair on a day when they showed that it doesn’t matter who breaks the rules.
Over the last few years we’ve been fed all types of reasons why something was illegal on a race car. We’ve heard rogue crew chiefs, rogue engine shops, and rogue crew members were to blame. But a rogue tow truck driver? Now that takes the cake.
I don’t care who you are, if you didn’t think the end of the race at Loudon was good, then you aren’t a race fan. There, I said it.
As a whole, I realize this probably wasn’t the most exciting race of the season, but the last 15 laps were awesome. We saw Jeff Burton make a rare mistake, and two bump-and-runs for the win.
It all started on lap 289. Burton got into turn three too deep, slid up the track, and got into Kyle Busch’s left rear. At the time, the two were racing for third, and both had led laps. Busch ended up 11th, with Burton one spot back in twelfth. Apparently the New Kyle Buschwas driving today, as he was surprisingly calm after the race with his comments. Don’t forget though, these two crossed paths a few weeks ago at Charlotte, in an incident that ended with Burton yelling at Busch on pit road after the race. This burgeoning feud is far from over.
Just a few short laps later, Kurt Busch pulled the classic bump-and-run on Jimmie Johnson to take the race lead. Busch got under Johnson into turn three, and he made just enough contact to send Johnson up the track and scoot by. The elder Busch was able to get away for a few laps, but Johnson ran him back down, and pulled the same maneuver on Busch! Johnson would go on to win his second straight race.
In his post race press conference, Jimmie told reporters that after Busch got into him, he only had one thing in mind: ”wreck his ass.”
We’ve now had two straight weeks where a number of drivers were upset after the race. Last week, the common theme was Jeff Gordon. This week, Clint Bowyer was mad at Juan Pablo Montoya, Montoya was mad at Reed Sorenson, and so on. The drivers have shown that the gloves are off, and anything can and will happen during these races. And if you think these guys are going to forget what has happened over the last two weeks, think again. It might not happen right away, but scores will be settled.
And you know what? There ain’t a damn thing wrong with it.
Concord (verb) – when a race track/auto dealership magnate threatens a municipality with the removal of a race event, or entire racetrack, in order to get what he wants – refers to what happened to the city of Concord, N.C.
Last week Bruton Smith took his fight with the police chief of Loudon, N.H. public. The ever vocal leader of Speedway Motorsports and Sonic Automotive said he is considering moving a date from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway after struggling to negotiate what he felt was an acceptable bill for police protection. The fight between the two has even reached New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.
After hearing this I couldn’t help but think I’d seen this play out before with Bruton Smith. Turns out I have.
Let me take you back two and half years. The place: Concord, N.C. Bruton Smith wanted to build a dragstrip on the Charlotte Motor Speedway property. After protests from nearby homeowners, the Concord City Council voted against the dragstrip. Smith’s reaction? He threatened to bulldoze the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and move it somewhere else.
After almost two months of posturing and negotiation, Concord gave in and let Smith build his dragstrip. In addition, they gave him $80 million in incentives, and even renamed the road leading up to the speedway Bruton Smith Blvd.
How’s that for the having the upper hand? After Concording Concord, it looks like he’s Concording Loudon – though this time he may actually come through on his threat.
Since Smith bought NHMS three years ago there has been speculation that eventually the track would lose a date. While the track continues to be a favorite among fans, SMI would like to add dates to Las Vegas and Kentucky. And since Smith doesn’t have the emotional attachment to NHMS that he has to Charlotte, this could be a very convenient excuse (it also allows him to not have make the tough choice somewhere else within his organization).
We’ll see what happens in the weeks and months to come, but the police chief and town of Loudon are playing with fire. I know it’s a bad idea to give into a screaming child, but not doing so here could cost the city and state hundreds of millions of dollars – all over what amounts to about $100,000.
Unfortunately, the people that could stand to suffer most are the small business owners in and around Loudon who depend on the events, and the fans who love NHMS and the different racing it produces.
Here’s hoping this Concording has a happy ending.
Remembering Raymond Parks
NASCAR pioneer, and team owner Raymond Parks passed away Sunday morning. Parks, who was the last living person on hand at the meeting founding NASCAR in late 1947, won the first two championships in the sport – one with Fonty Flock and the other with Red Byron. Though he was not well known to the world, his impact on this sport was immense. Thank you for everything Mr. Parks.
Be sure to check out Ed Hinton’s eloquent eulogy of Raymond Parks.
With the Chase for the Sprint Cup in full swing headed to Dover, teams must bring their “A” game to the track every weekend to have a chance at the championship. The smallest mistake by a mechanic, or a slight misstep by a pit crew could cost their team everything. I was curious though just how good a team had to be over the final ten races to secure the championship, so I did a little research to find out (Racing-Reference.info is great).
A big story this week was Kasey Kahne’s blown engine at Loudon. Some suspected sabotage, but a broken crankshaft proved to be the culprit. Many have said this mechanical failure probably ended Kahne’s chances at the championship. But before you write him off, remember that Jimmie Johnson started off the 2006 Chase with a 39th at Loudon. But Johnson was able to win the Cup with a final six race stretch that included a win, four second place finishes, and a ninth at Homestead. Kahne and Co. are certainly capable of such a run, but with the inconsistency they’ve shown this year, fans have plenty of reason to worry.
The only other driver to have a finish outside the top 25 in the Chase and still win the championship was Kurt Busch in 2004. He finished 42nd at Atlanta, but powered to the Cup with eight top six finishes (including a win). In 2005, eventual winner Tony Stewart’s worst finish was 25th, while Johnson’s worst finishes in ‘07 and ‘08 were a 14th and a 15th respectively.
Since the Chase was introduced, the highest average finish for the champion came in that 2006 season with Johnson. He averaged a 10.8 over the final ten races. But Johnson needed an average finish of fifth in 2007, and an average of 5.7 in 2008 to win those titles.
Just by looking briefly over the statistics, it would appear that the competition for the Cup gets more difficult every year. While a team may be allowed one mulligan finish, odds are that one bad weekend could ruin their shot. Johnson’s worst finish last year was a 15th as I said above, and even with an average finish of 5.7, his margin over second place was a scant 69 points. Over ten races, that means earning 6.9 points more per race then the next guy, or finishing about two positions better on track.
How’s that for pressure?