Jun 10th, 2009 by T.C.
We’ve got a ton of questions this week, so I’ll just get right into it. If you don’t know what this post is, until further notice, we will be answering 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 Nathan in Washington:
Is it common knowledge in the garage area that you two are doing this blog, or do you keep it a secret even from your fellow hard-carders?
As far as we know, nobody knows our identities. And we work pretty hard to keep it that way. The anonymity allows us to reveal information to you that you won’t find anywhere else. - T.C.
2. From Fred:
To follow up on Melissa’s question, are NASCAR officials assigned to the Cup, Nationwide or Truck series for the year, or do they rotate from week to week as needed?
Some are assigned, and some aren’t. I know of some officials that will do all three series in a weekend. It depends on the official and their responsibilities. - T.C.
3. From Peter:
What would be the KEY components of a NASCAR racing game? What is the essence of NASCAR - is it the claustrophobic nature of the pack, the constant battle to balance the car or the feeling of speed due to been close to something all of the time? If you accept that NASCAR games have always lacked something - what would make a new version the computer game that everyone HAD to have?
I think you could probably work on adding more of all of those things. Making a racing game realistic would require some way to “feel” the racecar. And by “feel” I mean the handling, the speed, the wrecks, etc. Right now, manufactured feel can be had, and that is through force feedback wheels. But even those don’t feel correct. Without a force feedback wheel, all you actually feel is the tensioning system. - T.C.
4. From Gary:
Hey guys as members of pit crews would you rather have a fiery driver that you know cares so much about racing that he will do anything to win ie Stewart ,Harvick, Kyle Busch but sometimes can also be a pain to deal with or the ” nice guys” that always says the right thing? Foyt and Stewart are my favorite all time drivers but i’ve never worked for them…
Their outward personality to media and fans is something I could care less about. I want a guy who is absolutely a competitor and is focused 100% on trying to get better and win races. If that means the occasional rant on the radio, so be it. - T.C.
5. From Jennifer:
Hi Guys! I love the site and can’t wait for Ask Wednesdays. I have a question regarding the Nationwide race at Charlotte. When qualifying was rained out they set the grid by order of the qualifying draw. I thought the rule stated that if qualifying could not be completed the lineup was set by owners’ points. Can you explain why NASCAR used the qualifying draw instead? Thanks and keep up the awesome job!
Qualifying for the Nationwide Series race at Charlotte wasn’t rained out. They got trials in before the rains came. But you are correct, if qualifying is canceled then the field is set by owner points. - T.C.
6. From Mandy:
Seeing Kyle Busch working on his own cars during practices made me wonder: are most drivers that comfortable under the hood, to work on their own equipment? Are there any drivers whose mechanical knowledge you find particularly impressive?
I think guys like Kyle Busch are becoming few and far between. I feel like the new generation of drivers don’t have quite the mechanical knowledge of their predecessors. And that comes from having to work on your own racecars coming up. Kyle might actually be the most impressive. I’ve seen him set up his own truck for a Truck Series race. - T.C.
7. From Bryan:
Great site, guys! Why doesn’t NASCAR have a dedicated safety crew similar to the Indy Car Series? It seems that everyone would benefit from having a safety crew that was more familiar with the cars and how they are built.
That is a very good question and one I don’t have a good answer for. I personally am an advocate of a dedicated safety crew. Not to take anything away from the safety crews who help on the weekends, but they just aren’t adequately prepared to respond to emergencies and crises. Perhaps it is an issue with money, I don’t really know. The line you’ll get from NASCAR is that they are OK with the way things presently are. - Journo
8. From Benjamin:
Would it be possible to send me a typical food menu that would be availabe at a nascar race? I’m interested in seeing what types of foods, snacks, drinks, etc. are sold.
The food at a NASCAR race is just like the concessions sold at any other sporting event (except for maybe some of the fancier ball parks). It’s hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ, soda, candy etc. It’s the standard fare. - Journo
9. From Dot:
While watching the pit crew members sweep the water out of the pit stalls at Lowes, I thought of this question. Why didn’t someone think to put in some kind of drainage at the edge of the pit wall? Would it be difficult to install something like that? I’m thinking of some kind of small trench with a grate/screen over it.
Some of the newer race tracks have drainage systems installed on pit road, but many of the older tracks don’t. I would imagine if you are building or re-doing a pit road, it wouldn’t be a difficult thing to do. - T.C.
10. From Gordon:
Hello. I was wondering if you could give me some advice about seating at MIS. I have a chance to buy tickets for the June race. The seats are in turn 4, sect 94 row 8. From the seating chart, sect 94 looks like a decent location, but i didn’t know if row 8 would be too close to the track to see much other than right in front of me. Any advice would be great. Thank you.
Row 8 may not be too bad, as I think some of the stands at MIS are raised up. But keep in mind that the higher you get, the better chance you have of seeing the whole track. Also, MIS is just like California in that there is a building with suites that runs almost the entire length of pit road that will obscure your view. - T.C.
11. From Savannah:
Do driver’s contracts have clauses that exclude their participation in other races? A few years ago, Dale Jr was participating in another race and he sustained injuries in the wreck. After that, he doesn’t seem to race in any other series except Sprint Cup & Nationwide. Then, you see other guys who will participate in charity races like Prelude to the Dream, Tony Stewart’s race at Eldora. Just curious to see if it is a contract issue or sponsor issue. Thanks for answering the question.
It is possible that they exist, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any drivers that have acknowledged having them. A lot of that comes down to what the individual driver wants to do. Ken Schrader for instance will race just about anything, anywhere. Dale Jr., not so much. Sponsors can have an affect on things too. A Chevrolet team driver is not likely going to be allowed to drive a Toyota or Ford in another series. Sorry for not having a more specific answer to this, but I just can’t think of anyone in particular. - Journo
12. From Fred:
Why, on some restarts, do cars start in front of the Lead car?
Those cars are “tail end of the lead lap” cars. They ended up behind the pace car but in front of the leader because they were a lap down at the time of caution, but they chose not to come to pit road and were able to get part of that lap back. But the new restart rule for the Cup Series eliminates these cars being in front of the leader. - T.C.
13. From Sharon:
Does anyone remember Bart Creasman that used to be the spotter for Suqare D Racing, Sterling Martin, and was also the Transport driver. Does he still work in Nascar?
I’m not sure on this one. Maybe a reader knows more? - T.C.
14. From Ric:
Would like to know how many workers (as in they have a job / reason they are there) are at the track on average for a given team. Could you please list some of the various positions / job duties?
That’s a tough one to answer, as every team is different. But most teams have probably somewhere around 20 or more people at the track each week. Jobs include crew chief, car chief, mechanics, shock specialist, tire specialist, pit crew guys, marketing and PR folks, engineers, team executives, truck drivers, a spotter, engine tuners, possibly cooks, etc. - T.C.
15. From Bobby#7Fan:
How is the person who sings the national anthem chosen? I know for the cup races it’s generally an established star or a military person. For the Nationwide and Truck races it seems it’s usually a local person. Do the tracks hold contests to choose the performer?
You know this is something I have never really thought about. I have heard of instances of advertised tryouts, but for the most part I believe they are actually local recording artists. In the case of the military people I would guess they participate in some sort of group within their respective branch and are selected from there. - Journo
16. From Newracefan:
What is the garage saying about the guitar smash at Nashville? The blogs have exploded in the negative but there is an awful lot of what appears to be positive PR spin going on too.
People within the sport are not different then those outside. You’ll find some who think it was cool, and others who think it was despicable (like myself). I don’t know if the garage as a whole swings one way or the other though. - T.C.
Just my two cents, but I happen to also think this was a pretty disrespectful act. Whether he meant it to be or not, it was of very poor taste on his part. - Journo
17. From Dan:
What is “short pitting”? What is it’s advantage and when is it most likely to be used? Is it any different then “gas and go”? Thanks for the great info.
When teams get into green flag stops, it is because they are in the pit window. Pit windows are created by how far a car can go on fuel and tires. Short pitting means a team chooses to come to pit road before their pit window. If a team’s car is handling poorly, they will come early to get fresh tires and adjustments before they lose too much time to the leader. Also, if a team has a problem, they may have to come early to address it. Teams can short pit and still have a gas & go stop, but they aren’t one and the same. - T.C.
18. From Dragonfly:
Is the pit crew allowed to go off the pit wall as soon as the nose of the car crosses their pit stall pit line?
We can jump off the wall once the car’s nose crosses the back line of the stall directly behind ours. - T.C.
19. From Ross & windowlicker:
What’s the octane required for Cup cars? There’s a gas station by my house that has 100+ “racing” fuel. Licker and I debated what it’s used for: Race cars? Karts? High-performance boats?
The Sunoco Race Fuel we use is 110 98 octane. You can actually put race gas in your car, but I doubt you want to pay for it. I would imagine people use it for lower levels of racing and drag racing. By the way, I didn’t realize you two were acquainted… - T.C.
20. From Jan:
I hear that the guys who pit the cars are specialists who only do the pit stops and don’t actually work at the shop building the cars. If so, who fixes the cars at the track when they are damaged in practice.
Some guys are specialists and some guys are actual mechanics and fabricators for the team. Between the pit crew and the team’s mechanics, there are plenty of folks who know how to fix a damaged race car at the track. - T.C.
21. From Don:
Do the Nascar teams use their respective brand name engines?
Yes they sure do. Ford teams run engines designed by Ford, Dodge teams run engines designed by Dodge etc. This is one of the major sticking points in both the entry into the sport by new manufacturers and the loss of manufacturer support. They help out a lot when it comes to designing, engineering and testing these motors. - Journo
22. From Michael:
Could you please discuss the in-field care centers? I’d like to know how they are equipped. Is there a doctor, does NASCAR or the track provide, x-ray, trauma etc.? Also, do the track workers that remove cars and debris travel from track to track?
This is going to sound like a really big cop out, but rather than go into it in this small space I am going to redirect you to an ESPN article that does a great job explaining the medical procedures in the sport. - Journo
23. From Neon:
Pit road question: typically 1st pick teams choose pit stalls towards the end of pit road. I would assume mainly for easier exit and not having to gauge speed on exit. Correct me if I am wrong here. I would also assume that this gives a team the ability to see, via a spotter, what other teams do (i.e. 2 vs 4 tires, etc) before your car even arrives toward the end of pit road. Assuming, and that is a BIG assumption, this occurs, how often TC have you left pit wall w/ the intention of a 4-tire stop, only to be called off to a 2-tire stop (and visa versa) based on what other teams have already done further up pit road?
Picking pit stalls is actually an art form that some crew chiefs are ridiculously good at. What you want, is either an opening before, or an opening after your stall. That means you are either clean getting in, or clean getting out. The #1 stall is beneficial because all that driver has to do is roll over the end line. Each crew chief has their own philosophy about where is best. The main reason for pit stall selection is not necessarily to see what other teams are doing. I have had 4 tire stops called off before while I was over the wall, but in some cases its because a caution came out, or something went really wrong with the pit stop. But it has happened as a last minute strategy change. There is no hard and fast rule. - T.C.
24. From Amanda:
Hi, love the website, and was just wondering if you have any tips for a girl wanting to get into NASCAR journalism.
My best tips for you are to learn as much as you can about news and sports writing, and then find a good Web site covering the sport and find out what it would take to join them. If you’re interested more on the broadcast side, both Speed and NASCAR Images have internships available (the easiest thing to do would be to call them). This would be a good way to make contacts. Unfortunately the newspaper business is quickly dying within the sport, so that avenue is probably not a good one to pursue. Those with online media though are taking up the role the newspapers are giving up (in fact some laid-off newspaper reporters have moved to the Internet; and NASCAR and the NMPA are giving them more respect). If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. - 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!
