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The responsibility over the past two or three seasons we’ve given back to the drivers came I think with a very clear understanding that there could be a line that got crossed. As annoying as the comments that I’ve made personally in the past about ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ might have been, we saw it last night. Obviously after the event, a lot of folks put their heads together to decide what, if anything, we would do. Then what I’m telling you today is our reaction. - NASCAR President Mike Helton
The responsibility over the past two or three seasons we’ve given back to the drivers came I think with a very clear understanding that there could be a line that got crossed.
As annoying as the comments that I’ve made personally in the past about ‘we’ll know it when we see it’ might have been, we saw it last night. Obviously after the event, a lot of folks put their heads together to decide what, if anything, we would do. Then what I’m telling you today is our reaction. - NASCAR President Mike Helton
Since the implementation of NASCAR’s more lenient on-track policing policy began last season we’ve been waiting for this moment. Waiting for NASCAR to give some definition to, “we’ll know it when we see it.”
While I don’t think we got a whole lot of clarity with the penalty this weekend, I can’t say I’m surprised that was the moment. Count me among the legions who didn’t expect NASCAR to act as strongly as they did, but again I wasn’t surprised.
Kyle Busch was out of his mind Friday night – out of his mind like seldom few I’ve ever seen on a race track. He not only wrecked Ron Hornaday’s repairable truck, he wrecked his own even more repairable truck all because he was upset Hornaday got loose and forced him up the track. The championship contender was apparently supposed to back down for Busch. It was mind-boggling.
And then NASCAR’s decision was not. Busch has repeatedly been involved in incidents this year. Most notably with Kevin Harvick and subsequently with Richard Childress. He, if you’ll remember, also had that 126 mph speeding ticket during the summer.
If this had been the first incident you may not have seen NASCAR act with as much gusto. But it wasn’t. This behavior has become all too frequent for Busch.
I’m hopeful this will be a moment of clarity for the driver. An opportunity for him to realize that maturity and temperance are important steps in becoming the great racecar driver he’s capable of becoming.
But I don’t blame NASCAR. In fact, I applaud them. This was a long time coming. It was unfortunate for Busch’s sponsors and increasingly I feel bad that Joe Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing are forced to make excuses for behavior I know they don’t find acceptable.
Kyle Busch got exactly what Kyle Busch deserved – and we’ll see if more is coming on Tuesday.
Last weekend at New Hampshire was a big weekend for Ryan Newman. Not only did he pick up his first Cup Series win of the season, but he also took down his third straight Whelen Modified win at the track. Newman won in a car owned and prepared by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion. Besides being their third straight NHMS win together, the win was also their fourth in four tries with that particular race car. Following the race however, Newman’s race car was impounded by NASCAR and taken back to the R&D Center in Concord, NC. On Wednesday last week, we learned why. The car was found to have an illegal intake manifold, and as a result NASCAR stripped Newman and the team of the win. This situation begs the question that if NASCAR will take lower series wins away, why will they not do the same for violations in the upper divisions?
We’ve seen plenty of examples over the last few years where drivers won a race, had race cars deemed illegal post race, received penalties, but were allowed to keep the wins. In most cases the points and monetary penalties issued pretty much erased the benefit of winning, but the wins were kept nonetheless. But apparently what’s okay for Cup, Nationwide, and Trucks isn’t good for the rest of NASCAR’s divisions.
I do applaud NASCAR in this case for one thing: making an example of Newman. If they’ll strip other drivers of wins, then Cup guys shouldn’t be subject to a different set of rules. Drivers like Newman are already full of talent, and they’ll come equipped with the best cars and crews, they shouldn’t think they can cheat too. My problem here is NASCAR’s different application of the rules for a lower series. They have the power to penalize as they see fit across all series, I just think they need to be consistent. I know many of you have begged for the same on countless occasions in the past, and this is just another example.
This situation really looks bad for all involved. NASCAR looks bad because they can’t seem to be consistent, and Newman and Bono look bad because they appear to be cheating to beat guys with a lot less resources. Hopefully this will be a lesson for all involved.
Now it’s your turn, should NASCAR have taken the win from Newman? Should they ever take any wins away? Are there certain instances where maybe that is too drastic of a penalty? The floor is yours…
With all eyes focused on the Montoya/Newman feud and Trevor Bayne’s health this weekend, you may have missed a NASCAR Series Director admitting they made an officiating mistake. Crazy, but true.
Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said that penalizing Carl Edwards for “servicing outside the box” in Friday’s race wasn’t correct because Edwards was within the three stall limit of his box even though he was past the end of pit road. Though the rule says you can’t push a car beyond the end of pit road, Balash said they need to give those teams who have stalls at the end of pit road, the benefit of the doubt.
Now that is refreshing. Balash said they looked at the penalty and it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway, but the sanctioning body admitting it’s not infallible says a lot.
In an age where everyone is a loveseat official and DVRs allow for instant playback (as if the playback the networks do isn’t enough), analyzing penalties, and then disagreeing with them has become a favorite past time of fans and journalists alike (we’re certainly guilty). This was a situation where there really wasn’t much controversy and Balash still admitted the call wasn’t right. You may not respect them all the time, but that you’ve got to respect.
This obviously didn’t get much run this weekend, but I think it’s a story worth repeating. NASCAR has a credibility issue with a portion of its avid fan base and I think moments like these can do a lot to restore that credibility. I personally think they get it right most of the time. Just like you and me though even the most informed people are capable of making a mistake every now and then. The important thing is admitting when those mistakes are made.
I know I’m probably going to get called out for being a “NASCAR homer” on this one, but I see a sanctioning body that’s moving into an era of openness. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR VP of Racing Operations, is on twitter and we’ve seen him regularly answering questions and interacting with people. Even NASCAR as an entity is doing a fabulous job of talking to people on twitter. Never before have fans had this kind of access – and you certainly don’t get that from other major leagues or sanctioning bodies.
To quote English poet Alexander Pope, “to err is human, to forgive divine.”
During Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500 at Bristol, there was a sequence of pit stops in which it was shown on TV that Jimmie Johnson was actually passing cars on pit road. There was some question and discussion about how it could be possible that he would be able to pass cars and not get caught for speeding. In accordance to NASCAR’s rules though, what Johnson and a ton of other drivers do is totally legal. They’ve found a loophole in the system that allows them to legally speed on pit road.
I’m going to attempt to explain how this works, so try and follow along. If you get lost at any point, leave your question in the comment section below and I’ll answer. Here goes…
NASCAR measures the speed of the cars on pit road by segment times. Each pit road is broken into several timing segments. The car’s transponder along with timing & scoring sensors at the beginning and ending of each segment determine segment times. At legal speeds, it takes a certain amount of time (X) to complete a segment. If a car completes a segment in less time than it should legally take to do so, then that car is guilty of speeding. Follow so far?
Okay, now that we’ve established how it works, here’s how they can legally speed. The smart drivers and crew chiefs have figured out at each track where the segments are. They then pick a pit stall in between two timing lines. This means a driver must maintain legal speed until he crosses the timing line before his pit stall. Once over that line, he can hit the throttle and drive into his pit stall over the legal speed limit. Once the pit stop is complete, he can then race out of his stall at a speed over the legal limit, until he reaches the next timing mark, where he then must be at legal speed. What allows for the speeding? The pit stop.
Because a four tire pit stop takes 13ish seconds, it screws up the time for that specific segment. When you take the time it takes for the driver to complete that segment, and add to it the time it takes to complete a pit stop, you’ve got an amount of time that will be way over the legal segment time. Still follow?
I’ll give you an example with some ridiculously hypothetical numbers. Let’s say we are at California, where pit road is 2200 feet. And for our example, let’s say there are ten timing segments (I don’t know how many there are exactly). That means each segment is 220 feet. If pit road speed is 45mph, that means a car can travel 66 feet a second. At 45mph, a car will complete a legal segment in about 3.3 seconds. Now add to that a pit stop that takes 13 seconds. That means a car will be in that specific segment for over 16 seconds. There is no way to illegally “speed” in that segment now. A driver could technically do 200mph into and out of his pit stall and not be guilty of speeding. Crazy right?
So, because pit road speeds are based on these timing segments, and not what a car’s actual speed is at any point on pit road, one can actually legally speed. That’s why Jimmie Johnson was not busted for speeding at Bristol, and why any number of other drivers who do it regularly don’t get busted either. It’s actually quite an art form, although it can be a little unnerving as a pit crew guy to see the car accelerate right before it enters the pit stall.
There are a ton of really smart people who work in this sport, and no matter the rule, somebody will always find a way around it. Welcome to NASCAR.
NASCAR issued the inaugural fines of the season on Tuesday – in fact they were the inaugural fines for a newish team too. If you missed the penalty announcement or the act itself, NASCAR found:
The No. 15 truck driven by Michael Waltrip was to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20B-3.1.2E (rear spoiler did not meet specifications in post-race inspection) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, crew chief Doug Howe has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Owner Billy Ballew has been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points.
This of course is for the spoiler “issue” the team had toward the end of Waltrip’s emotional Daytona win. After initially saying it looked like a part failure, NASCAR apparently decided something different because they don’t generally issue fines for part failures – and if they do the team generally appeals.
Now in the interest of fairness how do you award a win to a driver or team that is found to have been in violation of the rules at the time of that win?
The NCAA certainly has a take on that. Ask USC. NASCAR though never really has been in the business of taking wins away from drivers who fail post-race inspections. They see it as a matter of a team deciding to push the envelope and a driver not necessarily being involved. Why punish the driver for an action of the team?
The argument though runs into trouble because the driver is ultimately given an unfair advantage over a competitor. In the Michael Waltrip spoiler situation, Elliott Sadler said in the post-race:
“I mean, it definitely helps his truck as far as drag. When he pulled out, he went by me. I was like, ‘Wow, he’s fast.’ I tried to side draft off of him and I couldn’t… It definitely helped him.“
Though he concedes that he thinks Waltrip would have won anyway, who knows? And shouldn’t it say something that NASCAR likely would have black flagged the #15 if this had happened on lap 10 as opposed to the last lap? I’m not really sure how many of you feel about this but I have a lot issues with it.
Lately NASCAR’s been stepping up the point and monetary fines given to teams found to have violated the rulebook. In the last several seasons record fines have been doled out. The thing is, if NASCAR really wants for teams to play by the rules they need to give them incentive to do so. Taking a win or two away from drivers whose teams don’t follow the letter of the law will send that message.
I have a feeling that won’t be happening in the near term though.
Filed under: Kyle Busch, NASCAR
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What we saw on Sunday is why we continue to watch this sport. There were a record number of leaders, beating and banging, pit road missteps, triumphs, heartbreak, fights and fingers. That was a race I don’t think anyone will soon forget.
Don’t Mess with NASCAR
Kyle Busch learned this lesson Sunday. After getting spun early in the race, Busch was penalized for speeding on pit road. Angry about the penalty Kyle displayed his displeasure to the official assigned to their stall with a middle finger. After exiting pit road NASCAR again called Kyle down to serve a two lap penalty for his trangression.
The moral of the story? You may not like what NASCAR does, but don’t disrespect them. On a side note, I have to say the video from the incident was pretty entertaining. Kyle may not be your favorite driver, but you have to admit, he fills his role very well.
There’s a Fight on The Backstretch!
Of all the guys to get in a fight, those were probably the last two I would have named. Still, that was some emotion like we haven’t seen in a while.
As Jeff Gordon launched toward Jeff Burton all I could think was, “there’s a fight on the backstretch!” And there was.
The impetus for this fight may or may not have been accidental. Clearly some tempers flared prior to the incident, but Jeff Burton isn’t the kind of guy to end someone elses day and his own. Either way, that was entertaining.
The Pit Crew Change Heard Round the World
The #48 pit crew had a bad day… a very bad day. Add to their screw-ups on pit road the embarrassment of getting yanked off the job in the middle of the race in front of millions of people. I’d be willing to bet that was an uncomfortable flight home.
Unfortunately, this is a performance based business and if your driver is in the hunt for a championship, there is zero room for error. They learned that the hard way today. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are changes to that crew before next weekend.
Taking the Lead
Jimmie Johnson may have finally found a team as good as his. While Kevin Harvick continues his very consistent run, Denny Hamlin and his team are just that much better right now. Hamlin’s main obstacle is Gibbs’ spotty reliabilty. Hopefully, for his sake, it doesn’t bite him in his quest to bring Joe Gibbs his fourth championship.
The long and short of it is, we have got a heck of a points race headed into the final two weeks.
A Flying Brakepad?
To top off a very bizarre race, apparently a brake pad from one of the cars was somehow shot into the tempered glass window of Texas’ Speedway Club. Two people were injured, thankfully the injuries weren’t life threatening.
Please feel free to talk amongst yourselves about the weekend’s events.
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!
Combine a sanctioning body with no self awareness, select media members inflaming a penalty, an unclear inspection process and technical issue, and a driver who likes to speak his mind and you’ve got a lesson in public relations no-nos.
There is an old adage in PR: if you don’t tell your story, someone else will and you may not like how they tell it. This is something the folks at NASCAR could stand to learn.
In a media environment that is increasingly loud, swift and dare I say hostile, treading lightly around these penalty issues is very important.
In the wake of the Clint Bowyer penalties this past week, NASCAR used their weekly teleconference to explain the issue and answer questions – only they did a pretty bad job at both. Instead of making sure things were appropriately explained, and giving media members every opportunity to ask questions, they were unclear (even when asked to explain in layman’s terms) and limited them to one question (which some promptly started complaining about on twitter).
All told the teleconference explaining this thing took 21 minutes. What NASCAR needed to do was to take the car, get their video conferencing equipment and go through it – then they needed to let the media members ask as many questions as they wanted (whether that took 20 minutes or 2 hours). Of course all of this needed to be available for fans to watch.
The resulting inadequate explanations then got muddled when the story was told. Then RCR added to the story by essentially calling BS on NASCAR (NASCAR addressed in the teleconference what would later become RCR’s explanation and said given previous data they had, it was not likely). With the amount of trust fans have in the sanctioning body though it was apparent who they believed. As usual, the story got away from NASCAR.
This wasn’t helped by some media members who took to their respective websites and social media accounts to join the chorus of anti-NASCAR sentiment. Again, they, like RCR, told the story, not NASCAR.
What I find hard to believe though is that NASCAR doesn’t realize the implications these penalties have with the fans. If they’d do a reasonable job explaining the problem, this means going on TV and explaining in actual layman’s terms what the issue is (because most people don’t understand what goes into the inspection process, or what exactly a penalty is being issued for because they haven’t been involved in building a COT, or understand the engineering of it), and then debunking things, they wouldn’t spend two weeks defending themselves against (or doing what they normally do and ignoring) unfounded allegations.
This sporting body has trust and public relations issues unlike their counterparts throughout America. It’s to the point I believe it’s driving fans away. They though are tone deaf. Truly mind boggling. Let’s hope whoever takes this unenviable position of Chief Communications Officer convinces the leadership at NASCAR to do a better job of creating transparency (which they are under no obligation to do) for the sake of the sport.
NASCAR wasn’t alone in their communications missteps this weekend. Look no further than Denny Hamlin, a guy who is never afraid to give his opinion. During his Friday Chase press conference Hamlin said:
“In the garage, everyone has known it for months… It’s not two weeks old. They’ve been warned for a long time, way before Richmond. … They knew it was wrong way before that, and they wanted to get everything they could.”
Now I won’t comment on the validity of Hamlin’s comments, but they got him into trouble. As JD Gibbs later told him, sometimes it’s best to keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves.
Whether acting under team orders, or as a lone assassin, Kevin Harvick, during practice on Saturday, proceeded to let Denny Hamlin know that his comments were not well received. Afterward there was some intense discussion. NASCAR said ‘boys, have at it’ right? No doubt failed communications on all parts.
What we learned this week was that NASCAR still has a long way to go in regaining the trust of it’s fans and that is probably going to start with much more transparency to prove that they really have no agenda – other than maintaining their rulebook. And don’t screw with RCR, because they’ll get you.