With road course racing in the rear view, both the Cup and NNS cars head north to Loudon this week. After what transpired at Infineon, the Magic Mile may play host to a little payback for some drivers. While they ponder their revenge, we’ve got more 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:
Do teams inform the NASCAR Pit Road Inspectors what they might be doing to the car so they are not in the way?
It’s certainly not a rule, but often times one of the pit crew guys will let the officials know what’s going on. There are a few that don’t pay attention sometimes, and it’s not uncommon for an official to either get hit, or come very close to getting hit. – T.C.
2. From Christopher:
Maybe this is a little off-topic, but I’ve been watching Inside NASCAR on Showtime this year. I noticed in the first bunch of episodes none of the track radio chatter was censored. Lots of swear words made it through, which I thought was kinda neat- gave you a little more reality than what you hear during the race. All of the sudden, they beep out anything offensive. Not a big deal, just wondering if anyone knows what gives?
You know I noticed that too. And I honestly don’t know why they all of sudden started censoring it. I think it’s probably the only show on Showtime that has any censorship. Perhaps people (within the garage) were complaining about being uncensored, but I don’t know. Sorry. – Journo
3. From Bob:
Here is a question that only Rick Hendrick and NASCAR can answer, but how can Hendrick have Kasey Kahne under contract for 2011 and not be considered his car owner? I can’t think of any scenario that would not somehow include arranging for a sponsor and/or paying the salary directly. Will NASCAR really go for this? Help me out here.
Oh yeah NASCAR will go for this. The issue isn’t Rick Hendrick employing people (he could employee every driver in the garage). It’s Rick Hendrick owning more than four cars. If Kasey is contracted out to someone else (even if Hendrick is still paying him), they are well within the rules. – Journo
4. From John:
Hey guys, love the site. Say a Nationwide Series team gets a sponsor last second during the weekend. Because the series has impound rules, do they have to get permission to wrap the car and when the car has to have the decals applied is there a NASCAR official supervising the process to make sure there’s nothing done to the car on the side?
If it happens that late in a game, all the team has to do is get permission from Joe Balash and the officials to put on decals. And if they are allowed to do it (which they would be), there will most certainly be at least one official there to supervise the team. – T.C.
5. From Floyd:
What was your take on the way Jeff Gordon was driving?? I think that some other drivers would of been penalized for rough driving.
I think the proper penalty would have been for stupid driving. But seriously rough driving isn’t really applicable in this situation. I don’t think he was being malicious, he was just making very poor decisions and unfortunately other teams paid the price. I’m sure Martin Truex Jr. won’t soon forget though. NASCAR wasn’t giving Jeff Gordon any special concessions. He certainly wasn’t alone in his stupid driving this weekend. I heard guys afterward comparing the amount of damage to the cars in the field to Martinsville and Bristol – something you don’t normally see at a place like Sonoma. – Journo
6. From Steve:
The last caution Sunday was (seemingly) due to Keselowski backing onto the racing lane instead of moving forward, a move that I viewed as his attempt to draw a caution which would keep him from losing as many positions than if the race stayed green. The caution likely cost Ambrose the win. I know Ambrose has no recourse but does NASCAR ever take action against drivers who game the system? On road courses, do you know why NASCAR doesn’t use yellow flags the same way the other road racing organizations do, where the yellow applies only to the specific area and not to the entire track? I like Jeff Gordon but to whine one week about somebody pushing him around and then to do the same to others. Am I wrong to think that the standard seems to be simply ‘if it’s done to me, it’s a crime, it I do it to someone else, sorry, but that’s racing’?
To your first question, NASCAR will (and have) penalize cars who they feel intentionally bring out cautions. I think though NASCAR made the right call with Brad K. To the caution question, it’s just the way it is. They do give quite a bit of leeway to cars straightening themselves out, but I agree it can be a bit daunting with larger courses (Road America for instance). The policy does make it safer for all safety crews involved however. And to the Jeff Gordon question, well, I’m not going there. – Journo
7. From MS:
What is NASCAR’s rationale behind using carbs instead of injection? Are teams in favor of going to injection?
This is one of those “we’ve always done it this way” situations. There is not a rational reason for why NASCAR hasn’t changed. And I think it doesn’t really matter to the teams whether they use carbs or injection. Injection will certainly cost the engine builders a little more money, because they need to re-tune engines, but it won’t be a huge deal. – T.C.
8. From Marcus:
Being this is sort-of an opinion based site I have a different type of question for you guys. After watching what unfolded during the last 7-8 laps at Infineon do believe that NASCAR gives wins to Jimmie Johnson? Let me explain. When Brad Keselowski spun they called a caution with 7 laps to go. Now all day cars had been spinning and they didnt call a caution. Even after Johnson got the lead 3 more cars spun. Then under caution Marcos Ambrose stopped on track when he was trying to save fuel. NASCAR then pulls out this rule that NASCAR fans had never heard of but the NASCAR community has heard of. They put Marcos Ambrose in 6th I believe and then wind down the laps to 5 to go. Thus ensuring that Jimmie wins. So that is why I asked you, Do you guys believe that NASCAR gives Jimmie Johnson wins? Because after a situation like that I certainly do. And I did before. For Instance “Jimmie Cautions”? Just wondering.
As we have said here before, NASCAR does not benefit from Jimmie Johnson winning every other race and the last four championships. If anything, it would have benefited them more to have Ambrose win. A foreign driver gettting his first ever Cup win would have been a big story. So all this talk about NASCAR favoring Johnson is crazy. The officials just made the call they needed to make in this particular situation, and Johnson happened to be the one who benefited. There is no underlying conspiracy at work here. - T.C.
I agree with T.C. – Journo
9. From Michael in SoCal:
Nascar.com lists the owner of the 24 & 88 as Rick Hendrick, the owner of the 48 is Jeff Gordon, and the owner of the 5 is Mary Hendrick. That said, obviously all of these cars are ‘owned’ by Hendrick Motor Sports. So does the listed owner come into play in any way with the 4 car per team limit?
No not at all. All of Jack Roush’s cars don’t have Jack Roush listed as the owner either. Same at Childress, Gibbs, Penske, EGR etc. What matters is what organization really owns and operates the cars. – Journo
Sad to see what happened to Ambrose and I am not here to necessarily to defend him, but maintaining the pace car speed rule and its enforcement leaves me a bit perplexed. Marcos obviously stopped when the engine would not turn over momentarily causing him to fall below the pace car speed. As no warning was given by NASCAR like “hey 47 you better get up here and keep your position,” how is that any different than others that have exceeded pace car speed and actually passed the pace car, only to be told to back and get back in line, or else. Or better yet during the caution when the leader on an oval slows near the pit entrance commitment cone, is passed on track by one or more cars that stayed out, only to void his pit, stay out and accelerate back up to the rear bumper of the pace car.
Ambrose was not allowed to pull back into his original position because he pretty much stopped on the track and had to restart the engine. I’m not sure you can really compare this situation to the others you mentioned. I’m not sure I remember seeing an instance where a car purposely passed the pace car trying to gain some sort of advantage, only to be told to go back behind. Usually the only cars that need to pass the pace car are the lucky dogs. Also, when a car is faking to pit road, they don’t usually come to a complete stop. Ambrose was attempting to save fuel under the caution, and he got bit. It’s really as simple as that. – T.C.
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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The end of the NASCAR offseason draws ever closer, but to tide you over until Daytona arrives, we’ve got more 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…
How much accuracy do you have in tire pressure?
Most digital tire pressure gauges read pressures to the tenth of a pound. From there, it is about how accurate your gauge is. - T.C.
2. From Marc:
Happy New Year! Has there been any more talk about the disposition of the two “orphan” teams, the 26 from Roush and one of the Petty/Yates teams? I realize that NASCAR has to approve of any sale and nixed DEI selling their fifth team after buying Ginn, but they did let Teresa Earnhardt use the #15 points to enter Front Row’s #34 last year. Could another such deal be in the works for, say, the new Fords of #37 being “owned” by Max Jones, or will the two teams just disappear, allowing the 82 and 71 in the top 35 (and the 09 if the 07 disappears after Daytona)?
Good timing. Jayski’s reporting a Vermont businessman is buying the #26 equipment from Roush. I honestly haven’t heard anything about this deal, but it’s my understanding from the way NASCAR has done things in the past that they won’t be allowed to sell owner points. The problem arises because the past team owner would be listed as the owner. As Jack Roush already has four teams he can’t be listed as an owner on another car (this would be the same issue for RPM). This is very similar to the DEI-Ginn points situation (they would have exceeded the car limit). NASCAR allowed DEI to sell the points to RCR and Front Row last year because they didn’t exceed the car limit. You’ll notice Teresa Earnhardt is listed as the owner on the #34 and Bobby Ginn as owner of the #33. If NASCAR operates like they did in the past I would expect the points to disappear. Richard Childress though would be allowed to sell his points if he so chooses.- Journo
3. From Jeff:
My question is about car numbers. Back in 1993, Petty Enterprises ran the 44 instead of the 43, but the next year, they went back to the 43. If I remember correctly, this was because NASCAR told them that if they did not use the 43, it could be assigned to another team. Am I right or wrong about this, and if that is the case, why haven’t they done the same with the number 3?
NASCAR holds all the rights to the numbers. No one technically owns any number. So if NASCAR wanted to, they could giveaway the #3. Would they do that? No. This is a courtesy to both Richard Childress and the Earnhardt family. Should Richard Childress decide he wanted to use it, he would certainly be allowed to. There isn’t a shortage of numbers so there really is no reason why NASCAR would allow someone to use the #3. – Journo
4. From Lyn:
Hey, after reading the last column, it seems as if you still have some hope for Reed Sorenson to do well. Is this true? Personally I think he has all the talent in the world, he was just thrust into Cup way to fast with a team that couldn’t provide quality equipment, even RPM couldn’t do that.
While I think Reed was pushed too fast into Cup, my confidence in his abilities are not great. Reed has had opportunities at decent teams, and just hasn’t done anything. His average finish actually got worse every year he was at Ganassi. At RPM he had even fewer excuses because AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne all out-performed him. Kasey Kahne even won two races in 2009 and participated in the Chase. I think the Nationwide Series is a good place for Reed. He’s always been competitive there. Maybe he’ll be ready at some point to give the Cup Series another try, but I don’t think he’s got it right now. – Journo
5. From Dennis M:
When will NASCAR wake up and shorten the caution periods for minor incidents like debris? We see the debris, we watch them pick it up and then we watch five to seven more laps of yellow flag parade. It would be a lot more interesting if you had to take your chances with a pit stop instead of knowing you had a yellow flag for X number of laps. Pick up the debris and put the green out!
With the rules the way they are, caution periods last a little longer because of pit stops, the lucky dog, and the wave around rules. I think NASCAR tries to use “quicky yellows” as often as they can, but sometimes cleanup crews need more time. With that said, don’t expect to see any changes here any time soon. NASCAR is always going to take as much time as they see fit to make sure the racing surface is as safe as possible. – T.C.
6. From Brian:
Here’s my question for Ask The Insiders: Does NASCAR require that a Cup team have a pit crew when they show up at the track? Can you qualify and start the race without a crew? Can you keep racing without a crew?
NASCAR doesn’t require teams to have a crew. In fact next time you’re at a race look for the start and park teams on pit road; they usually have one or two guys in the pit. You could keep racing without a crew but you’re going to have trouble when you need fuel or tires. The point of a pit crew is to service the car and do it quickly. Without one you can neither service the car nor do it quickly. – Journo
7. From Jerry:
Guys I responded to your question a few weeks ago about changes NASCAR should make. One of the things I said was get rid of the wing. Lee Spencer is reporting today that it looks like that is a change coming by Bristol. What do you think?
I’m taking a wait and see attitude with this one. I haven’t really talked to anybody about this one yet and I don’t know enough about aerodynamics to know how this will affect the COT. I’m also not sure if this is the magic bullet that will fix the “bad” racing everyone has complained about. What I do know, is that this change will cost teams thousands of dollars, because all of their old data will become useless when this change is made. - T.C.
8. From Anonymous:
Was reading an article that the rear wing will be replaced with the spoiler. Have you seen this change implemented yet? Now to get rid of the splitter and a more aesthetic nose! Enough of the off season. Come on Speed Weeks 2010!!!
I have yet to see a car with a spoiler on it yet. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time though. The teams won’t make any major changes to their fleets until they know for sure the change is coming. – T.C.
9. From Kevin:
Hi Guys, I have a couple of questions about RWR. Do Rusty’s long term plans include going to the Cup Series? Also, do you guys expect they will see great improvement with the switch to Toyota/JGR? Also, how much longer/how many cars will little Rusty get to wreck? That would be a good bet this year!! I know some people hate Rusty, and he can be a jerk sometimes, but I hope he has success b/c the sport needs owners like him.
I honestly don’t know what their long term plans currently are. There has been talk over the years about them going to the Cup Series, but like all things that takes money. It’ll be interesting to see how the JGR program works this time. Remember Hall of Fame had a technical alliance with Gibbs a couple of seasons ago and that didn’t turn out well. I think some changes have been made from that initial program though, so it might be a good thing. I know Rusty would like to see Steve in the Cup Series, so they’re in this for the long haul. – Journo