It’s back to the Tricky Triangle this week. The Cup Series makes its second stop of 2010 to Pocono, along with the debut of the Truck Series. The Nationwide Series is off to race in front of what hopes to be a sold out crowd at Iowa Speedway. While another week rolls along, we’ve got more reader questions for you. 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 Allen:
I’m going to try and make this easy to understand, but back in March I was attending the Kobalt Tools 500… well I noticed about 50 laps in when certain cars went by the engines sounded a little different. Some had a “BUZZ!” rather than a “ROOM!” if that makes sense… I believe it was the Toyotas though I’m not 100% sure. Was this just from letting off the gas or what?
Teams have some freedom when choosing the type of exhaust components they use. To get the optimum horespower out of the engines, teams will try different headers and exhaust pipe combinations. Between that and the differences between each manufacturer’s engines, you will have some different sounds for each engine. – T.C.
2. From Garry:
…another Chicago question…I did not want to “hog up” the thread, so I wrote them down, and only ask one question per week. Why dont they let/make them practice and qualify under race conditions. If they race at night, why dont they qualify at night? PS swamisez … ummmmmprediction…. Jeff Gordon wins the 2010 Brickyard 400 (posted on July 21,2010)
It really depends on the scheduling for each weekend. Remember that very often, NASCAR must fit in practice and qualifying sessions for more then just one series. Also, some tracks have noise ordinances that go into effect at certain times at night. Often though, while they may not get to practice at the exact same times as the race, they usually get close. – T.C.
3. From Tom:
After seeing the fine NASCAR hit Carl Edwards with, I got to wondering something. When a driver, owner, crew chief (etc) gets fined, where does the money go ? It also seems to me that a points penalty would hit home to a driver much more than a monetary one.
All money collected from NASCAR fines is given to the NASCAR Foundation as per NASCAR policy. Certainly points penalties are far more damaging than monetary fines (unless you’re an underfunded driver or team). – Journo
4. From Kate:
What happened between Jeff Dickerson and Kyle Busch? Why isn’t he spotting? I will miss his dry humor on the radio. Is he still his agent? Being a fan of both, I hope it was an amicable split.
All we’ve heard about the situation is what’s been reported. Jeff Dickerson is no longer Kyle’s agent, or business manager, though Kyle is still with Motorsports Management. Was it amicable? I’m not privy to their personal relationship, so I won’t speculate. Dickerson is a very good spotter though. - Journo
5. From KathyCalculates:
We’ve seen the Parade of Haulers at Vegas and here in Indianapolis and wondered if they do this coming into all the venues and whether or not they travel across country in a sort of caravan or if they meet up near town in order to arrive together. It is so thrilling to witness!
No, they don’t do those in every city – they are very cool though. As far as travel goes, some teams require their drivers to run together, others don’t. Most of the time, regardless of company policy, hauler drivers will run with a couple of others. No big caravans normally, though during NASCAR’s run in Mexico they did run in large caravans with police escorts into Mexico City. And to your last question, the haulers are required to be at the track at a certain time on a certain day, usually Thursday morning (for the Cup Series) where they are put in order and brought into the track. – Journo
6. From Jerry:
Guys where did all this talk come from about a triple crown that includes the Indy 500. This kind of TV promotion seems to take away from the importance of our on Nascar triple crown.
I have no idea where it came from – and I’ll be honest, I don’t think the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 constitutes a “Triple Crown” of American motorsports. It seems to me you’d need to replace the Brickyard 400 with the 24 Hours at Daytona or the maybe the US Nationals. I don’t think it diminishes anything in NASCAR but even if it didn’t make a “triple crown” it was still a big accomplishment for Chip Ganassi, and his organization. – Journo
7. From Sterling:
Hi there… great blog. Keep up the great work I found it to be a curious comment made early during the broadcast about the lack of fans in the stands at the Brickyard and how the commentators wouldn’t be getting into it on air. After they made the comment I couldn’t stop looking at how empty the seats were all over the track. I know times are tough and fan attendance has been down at some tracks but can you shed some light on the Brickyard specifically and why they would reference this on-air with no follow up explanation.
Thanks for the love! Without much empirical evidence, my own personal opinion is that attendance was down at the Brickyard for a few reason. First, and most obvious is the economy. Fewer fans can afford to attend races than in the past. Second, I think the tire debacle at Indy in 2008 is still having an effect. That race was a complete nightmare, and many fans haven’t forgotten. Third, I just don’t think the racing at Indy is all that great. The track wasn’t really built for stock cars, and it’s difficult to pass which means not a ton of action. And finally, I believe the novelty of stock cars at Indy has ended. While the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is still absolutely hallowed ground, it’s just not as big a deal anymore that NASCAR goes there. And I believe it wasn’t fully explained on TV because ESPN wanted to focus on the racing in their first race of 2010. More of a glass half full stance. – T.C.
8. From Phil:
The Chase…I realize that NASCAR is attempting to create season ending excitement. But I hate the orginal Chase, the revised current chase, and the anticipated elimination style chase. Here’s my reason, which may I add, I’ve never heard anyone raise. Unlike all other sports, NASCAR participants can be victims of circumstances totally beyond their control. Flat tires, failure of a part that causes the engine to blow, a caution just after you’ve made a green flag stop, another driver makes a bone head move and takes you out, etc. Under the pre-Chase 36 race format, these should even out between drivers and a true deserving champion determined. With the 10 race Chase and even more so under an elimination format, these factors are more likely to impact and determine the championship outcome. Other sports do have to overcome injuries beyond their control, but otherwise their play dictates the championship. Like I said, I understand the reasons for the Chase, however the excitement NASCAR is trying to create seems forced, artificial and contrived. Just my own opinion but I’m curious the hear how insider’s feel, if you agree or disagree. BTW, love your column!!!
First off, thanks also for the love! I’m not personally against the Chase in it’s current form. The whole reason the Chase was implemented in the first place, was because we’d seen many drivers run away with the title, and guys like Kenseth win it while only winning a single race all season. Nobody seems to remember this, but fans used to complain about the old system like they complain about the Chase now. The Chase certainly creates some season ending drama, which I think is good. I think the elimination style Chase that has been proposed is a mistake however. In my opinion, I think NASCAR needs to get as much feedback as possible from all involved (fans, drivers, media, teams, sponsors, etc.) and completely rework how the points are awarded. The current system rewards consistency, and I think they need to figure out what they want a champion to be. – 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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From the last to the first! Yes, it’s the first Ask The Insiders Wednesday of 2010, so lets get this year started off right. 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 yankeegranny:
I was very surprised to hear that the over the wall pitcrew member who recently passed away from h1n1 possibly was a “contract” employee and didn’t have health insurance. Is that common with race treams? It seems to me that the only contract employees would be the drivers. Is it common for race teams to offer health insurance to some employees (shop workers) and not others?. Seems to me that could be a PR nigntmare for Childress as far as sponsorship is concerned. Who wants to be associated with a team that doesn’t offer basic things such as health insurance, but makes millions, or appears to be.
Yes, there are certainly crew members who are contractors just like the drivers. The guys who are just weekend warriors are the ones treated as so. Full time guys who work both in the shop and/or at the race track are usually provided with benefits. But contract employees are paid a flat rate for their services, and that is it. RCR is not alone in it’s hiring of contract workers, as most race teams use them at one time or another. And I believe that contract workers in any industry are not provided with benefits, so this isn’t a practice just found in racing. – T.C.
2. From Dan:
Hey Journo after reading your “Undeniably A Decade Of Change” and seeing Casey Atwood’s name I was wondering what went wrong on his drive to the top. He seems to have fallen off the radar. Did he not meet expectations or was he just shoved aside by some other shining star? If I remember there were high hopes for him. What happened? Any info? Thanks.
I think there are a couple of factors here. First and most obviously sometimes drivers don’t pan out. Whether they aren’t given enough time to develop or just aren’t any good sometimes things just don’t work. Casey was also very young when he got pushed up to Cup. He had one full Nationwide season where he performed well and then was thrown into a brand new Cup team. When he didn’t perform well quickly he was booted down. Casey and Reed Sorenson are very similar in this respect. Reed was very young and performed OK in the Nationwide Series and then was thrown into a Cup ride. Neither panned out for whatever reason. Remember too, Dodge has struggled through the years to compete with the Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac and then Toyota teams. They had that good season with Sterling Marlin early on, but that was about it. I don’t think there was one thing though. – Journo
3. From Daddy Wiltone:
Ok I will pose this as a question. In a recent article about the Bud Shootout. These names were in question about thier relavency Derrike Cope, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, and John Andretti. A few of these guys still have a huge fan base not to mention name recognition. Do you think NASCAR added these guys to generate interest from the “discarded” fans of the 80,s 90,s base?
To be honest, no. I think they just happen to be eligible with the new requirements NASCAR has put in place for the race. Remember too, just because one of these drivers is eligible doesn’t mean they will actually participate in the race. It’s certainly possible you won’t see Schrader, Bodine, or Andretti run. – T.C.
4. From Willy:
Why is it that you guys have to be so secretive about your ID’s. FYI I definately love your site. It works so well on my dial up. I wish the whole internet was still like this.
Well I’m glad it works on your dial-up. I can’t imagine how hard it is to load a flash site. We’ve chosen to keep our identities secret because it allows to talk about things and bring you news without compromising ourselves professionally or anyone around us. Our anonymity allows us to bring you news and rumors that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to bring you. We understand it takes a little bit of trust in us, but it helps us protect ourselves. At the end of the day neither one of us needs any glory from doing this, we just have fun with it and sometimes it lets us get things off our chests. – Journo
5. From DexterMorgan:
Is there any hope that NASCAR will abandon its use of the phantom debris yellow? Very little ruins the credibility of this sport than mercy cautions.
Well, I don’t think you can definitively say they even exist. And for NASCAR to do away with them, you’d have to get them to admit they actually happen. I don’t disagree that there aren’t some very suspicious cautions at times, but I think no matter what happens there will always be caution flags that NASCAR fans don’t like. Remember too, the TV people don’t always show the reason for a caution. They may tell you it’s for debris, but don’t think it’s worthwhile to show you the debris on the track. – T.C.
6. From Ric:
Do Pit Crews try different routines in practice in hopes of finding a better / faster way method? Do you try different things just in case you need to do it at the race?
Teams and crews will experiment from time to time with different methods of servicing the car. The casual fan won’t notice, but many guys do things differently. There are three distinct methods in indexing a tire, changers have different ways of pulling tires and moving around the car, and some jackmen have little differences. Each guy has his own philosophies, as do coaches. In terms of trying things in practice, we do prepare for situations like flat tires, dead pit guns, and damage repair. – T.C.
7. From Kevin:
Hey guys, watching a football game I saw the ad for the 500, its coming fast!! Feb 12th is a little over a month away. What exactly is the stage of preparation right now for the cars that will go to Speedweeks? I know most guys take very little vacation, but when exactly will people hit the shop again full time 100% looking towards Daytona? PS-Is the Fox crew gonna be back fully intact this season? PSS-for Journo – What is Ricky Craven getting into, I saw that he left Yahoo, I like the stuff he did over there, he had a nice perspective on things. I hope he is gonna be writing somewhere else. Any idea?
Everybody is back 100% right now. Most teams give pretty nice vacations through the New Years holiday (though that’s not universal) and then it’s full steam ahead after that. Right now they’re building those cars that are headed to Speedweeks. Teams are testing, going to the wind tunnel, going to the k-rig. To your second question I believe so. There’s been nothing to the contrary. And to your final question I’m not 100% sure but I believe he’ll be back on NASCAR Now at the very least. – Journo
8. From Tony S.:
What is ask.com doing for 2010?
All I know is that they weren’t sure they’d be back. I would guess they’ve entertained some teams, but I honestly haven’t heard who those teams might be. They entered the team sponsorship arena to legitimize they’re involvement as an official NASCAR partner. If they were happy with growth and ROI, then they’ll probably be back. If not, obviously, they won’t. – Journo
9. From Ric:
At a track are you allowed to return tires if you feel there is a problem with them?
Certainly if you find a problem with a tire, it can be returned to Goodyear. If a tire is damaged, or won’t hold air, or has some other problem, they can be returned. – T.C.