Pit road has played a big roll in the outcome of races this season, and as the Cup and Nationwide Series search for their 2011 champions, an even bigger emphasis will be placed on the crews. Those drivers with the strongest pit crews will have a serious advantage as we come into the home stretch. Knowing that, some teams have made moves to strengthen their performance over the wall. Two recent pit crew shakeups have already paid dividends to their teams, and the moves could be crucial in the hopes of two contenders.
Saturday night in Richmond, Kevin Harvick re-emerged as a legitimate title contender. After spending much of the summer struggling to find some measure of mojo, Harvick and the 29 team showed they are ready to take a shot at unseating the 48. And what was a big key to Harvick’s fourth win of the season? A key pit stop late in the race. With 15 laps to go, a caution brought the field to pit road, and fast work by Harvick’s crew put the 29 ahead of Jeff Gordon on the ensuing restart. Harvick was then able to hold off Carl Edwards for the win, and secure his spot tied with Kyle Busch atop the standings heading to Chicago.
If you might remember, it’s only been a few weeks since Richard Childress Racing replaced it’s pit crew coach. And along with the coaching change came a new front changer for Harvick’s crew. Tim Sheets, who has spent the season changing for Elliott Sadler’s #2 team in the Nationwide Series, was brought up to help alleviate some of the pit stop issues Harvick has experienced this season. Needless to say, the move has worked.
In the Nationwide Series, the battle for the driver’s title is a tight one. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. only has a 16 point cushion between himself and second place Elliott Sadler with seven races remaining. In order to give Stenhouse the best possible chance to win the championship, Jack Roush has pulled out all the stops. After a tough night at Atlanta, Stenhouse’s entire pit crew was replaced with the #6 Cup crew of David Ragan. The change provided immediate results. With the double duty #6 guys servicing his race car at Richmond, Stenhouse never ran lower than seventh in the race, and finished a very strong third behind Kyle Busch and Edwards.
Because racing has become so tight out on the track, teams have discovered that it is often easier to make passes on pit road. And in order to do that, they need the quickest six guys they can put together. As the Chase gets ready to kick off this weekend, expect pit road to be a big factor in who takes home this season’s Cup.
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NASCAR® driver Tony Stewart will race a special “Honoring Our 9/11 Heroes” paint scheme on his No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala during Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series™ race at Richmond International Raceway (Saturday, Sept. 10, 7:30 p.m. EDT, ABC).
As the world marks the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, Stewart’s red, white and blue scheme will honor the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day.
“Like so many others, September 11th, 2001, is a day I will remember forever,” Stewart said. “I’m humbled and honored to help pay tribute to the thousands of heroes we lost. Their stories and acts of courage live on, and we will never forget them or the families, friends and loved ones they left behind.”
Stewart’s “Honoring Our 9/11 Heroes” paint scheme will be produced as a Lionel NASCAR® Collectables diecast car for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to The Stephen Siller “Tunnel To The Towers” Foundation. The Foundation’s logo will be featured on Stewart’s car as part of the special scheme. Siller was a firefighter who lost his life on 9/11 after bravely running through the tunnel into the World Trade Center towers to rescue people who were trapped. His family created the Foundation in his memory, which works to support firefighters, children who have lost a parent and military who have been seriously injured in the line of duty.
Tony Stewart Special Paint Scheme is a post from: Awesome Race Fans
Awesome Race Fans
For Tony Stewart, Saturday night’s Cup race at Bristol was one to forget. After qualifying a dismal 42nd, Stewart rode around in the back all night and finished 28th. He was never higher than 28th on the leaderboard, and of the drivers that ran the entire race, Stewart had the seventh worst driver rating. It was his second finish outside the top 25 in his last three races. Smoke’s performance was almost surreal to witness, as watching the Office Depot Chevy fall three laps down in a race simply because it was too slow is not something we are used to seeing. Remarkably, Stewart is still clinging to the last spot into the Chase, but 2011 could go down in history as the worst of his career.
Through 24 races this season, Stewart has only two top five and nine top ten finishes. His average finish to this point (15.0) is the worst of his Cup career, and he remains winless. Keep in mind that Stewart has never had a winless Cup season in his career. He’s won as few as one and as many as six races every year going back to his rookie year in 1999.
With twelve races remaining, Stewart certainly has plenty of time to turn his year around. Smoke is known for being a much stronger competitor during the second half of the season and he’s got three career wins each at Atlanta and Richmond (our next two races). But as frustration mounts, especially with teammate Ryan Newman getting hot (five top tens in the last seven races), don’t expect Stewart to remain patient. This season’s dismissal of competition director Bobby Hutchens showed SHR isn’t afraid to make changes, and more are not out of the question.
Plenty of other notable drivers have struggled this season (see Jeff Burton), and I’m sure all would gladly trade places with Tony Stewart and his current hold on tenth place. But when expectations are as high as their are for Stewart, tenth place just isn’t good enough.
If there is one thing you can always be sure of, it’s that no matter what changes with the cars and drivers, the short tracks will always provide a good show. Saturday night’s race at Richmond was no exception, and it gave us everything we’ve come to love about short track racing: beating and banging, tight battles, and flared tempers.
Montoya v. Newman Whether you believe it was warranted or not, Juan Pablo Montoya predictably retaliated against Ryan Newman because of the incident between the two earlier in the race. Montoya has shown in many previous cases that when he feels he’s been wrecked, he will retaliate. Denny Hamlin’s post race comments made it clear that every driver knows it too. And as part of NASCAR’s “have at it” policy, neither driver was penalized or called into a post race meeting with NASCAR. Both drivers were clearly still upset after the race, and with no penalty coming from NASCAR, don’t be surprised if Newman and Montoya tangle again in the future. Both drivers felt wronged, and it’s hard to blame either side.
Martin Truex Jr. The troubles for MTJ continued at Richmond, when his race was effectively ended by a bad pit stop. Truex had to come back to pit road after the front changer had lugnut issues (clearly a loose wheel), and his frustrations exploded into a tirade over the radio in which he “fired” his entire pit crew. This comes only a few weeks after Truex was angry with his team over a hung throttle that ended his day at Martinsville. I wrote a couple years ago about drivers and their love/hate relationship with pit crews, and in this case the hate was on full display. Hopefully front changer Corey Quick doesn’t lose his job over the incident, but if he does, he won’t be the first to be replaced this season (see Denny Hamlin).
Jimmie Johnson On a night when he didn’t have a particularly stellar run, somehow 4-time 5-time again found a way to finish in the top ten. You really have to hand it to this bunch because they never give up. But what I really wanted to say about Jimmie, is that he proved on Sunday that social media is a beautiful thing (and entertaining too). When a fan thanked him for “running over the 20″ on Twitter, Johnson responded with “he ran me across the apron. I’m sure it looks easy from the couch.” Nice.
Now it’s on to Darlington, where the “Lady in Black” will make sure 2011′s drama continues.
The Chase is now upon us! This weekend’s race at New Hampshire marks the first of the ten race playoff. While we work through another week, here’s the 92nd edition of your questions and our 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 Joe:
I read somewhere that Kenny Wallace said that NASCAR is banning the $1700 seats he uses and that they are going to be required to use a $4000 seat – which he needs five of. Have you heard anything about this ban?
I’m not aware of this specific instance, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. NASCAR is always making changes to the rules, and if this is true, it sounds like they’ve decided the type of seat he uses isn’t as safe as they would like. I know it sucks that this will probably cost Kenny or the team more money, but racing is a business and it isn’t cheap. – T.C.
2. From Marc:
I’ve been meaning to ask Journo a question similar to Garry’s crew-related question last week. What is life like for journalists in NASCAR? How many beat reporters are there? Are there a lot of free-lancers? Do columnists travel to every race or work from a home base? What are the different travel schedules like? What’s it like for those who have to try to cover all three series? In a nutshell, how do the routines of the reporters whose names we see in the bylines (and as well as those we don’t see as often) compare?
Honestly the answer to all your questions is, it varies. These days there aren’t a ton of regular NASCAR beat reporters and not everyone travels every weekend – it gets expensive. The reporters you’ll regularly see at the track are Lee Spencer, Jim Utter, Dustin Long, Reid Spencer, Jenna Fryer, the NASCAR Scene reporters, of course the guys from PRN or MRN and the TV regulars, among others. From city to city there are bloggers and local reporters who come to the track. The life of a NASCAR journalist is hectic and constantly moving. Between blogging, and tweeting, you’re expected to produce regular content from the racetrack. This is on top of the content you’re expected to produce during the week. As far as travel schedules, they’re very similar to those who work in the sport. To your final question, the routines during the race weekend are similar. You pound the pavement (talk to people, work sources/contacts, build relationships, etc.), go to press conferences in the media center and behind haulers, you do interviews for longer features, and of course watch the race. I hope that answers your questions. – Journo
3. From Richard:
Do the teams use the sim programs for changing set-ups between the last practice session and the race. Do they ever use the sim programs during a race?
I’m not 100% up on the engineering side of racing, but I believe the engineers are working through the weekend to find any little gain. I’m also pretty sure they don’t use the sim programs during the race. The teams are getting real time information from their driver, and I’m not sure how much simmed data would help. – T.C.
4. From Gene:
Richmond’s surface used to be very dark because of a sealer that was applied. What was the purpose of the sealer, and why did they stop using it?
I’m not sure I know the answer to this question. They repaved the track in 2004. Perhaps that’s the change you saw? Sorry I don’t know, maybe someone else better knows the answer to this question? – Journo
5. From Billy:
How you assess John Wes Townley’s return to the Nationwide Series after the three races that he has run so far?
I think John Wes is better. I think he definitely improved some in his time with RCR, though I don’t think it helped his confidence – quite the opposite in fact. I think he is capable of keeping a car in the top-30 in points and running consistently. He’s a field filler, and likely always will be, but he’s running better. – Journo
6. From Christopher:
For the Richmond qualifying, I noticed Bobby Labonte got in on a Champion’s Provisional. But his brother, Terry, did not. But Terry was a champion too. What gives?
Only the most recent past Champion who fails to qualify for the race gets the provisional. Bobby won his championship in 2000, Terry won his most recent championship in 1996. Both needed it, but Bobby gets it because his was most recent. – Journo
7. From Steve:
Saturday night, Jeff Gordon got a lucky dog, he was running 18th (or so) at the time, but ended up restarting somewhere further back in the line (maybe 8 cars from the back). Why, if he was the last driver on the lead lap, wouldn’t he have started 18th. As it was, he had to spend a lot of time passing guys he was already ahead of just to get to the next driver ahead of him.
When a driver is given the lucky dog two things are required. First, the driver must still make any pit stops with the lap down cars on the second lap that pit road is open. And second, the driver must then restart the race at the tail end of the longest line. That is why Gordon restarted behind cars that were a lap down and subsequently had to pass a bunch of lap down cars. – T.C.
8. From Tina:
Why is it drivers have the same numbers for Nationwide & Sprint Cup & some don’t? Do the spotters go to victory lane if their driver wins?
NASCAR assigns numbers based on requests from the teams. Sometimes a team owner requests the same number in both series, sometimes they don’t. Remember also, some Cup drivers don’t drive for their Cup team owner in lower series (Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle for instance). And yes spotters generally go to victory lane if their driver wins the race. – Journo
9. From Justin:
Terry Labonte took over the 55 and the scenedaily article says his crew worked on changing the setup from a s&p set to a race set. I thought this wasn’t allowed? What is the difference between going full blown qualifying set at Talladega, making the race, then putting in a race set and starting at the back and racing?
The difference between the Talladega races and the second Daytona race with everywhere else, is that those races are impound. Every other race on the Cup schedule doesn’t not invoke a post qualifying impound. Since Richmond isn’t an impound race, Labonte’s team was allowed to take the 55 after qualifying and turn the straight qualifying setup into a race setup. At the superspeedway races, the cars must start the race with the setup they qualify on, and any changes after qualifying will be viewed as unapproved and the team will then start in the back. – T.C.
10. From Mike:
Hello, please explain in detail the process of gluing the lugnuts to the wheels. What keeps the studs from forcing the lugnuts to the ground? Thank you.
Prior to the race, all the wheels will be prepped and cleaned. Teams use various brushes, a degreaser (usually SD-20) and something like brake clean or Acrysol to prep the wheels. Most teams then use a weatherstripping glue from a company called Norton to glue the lugnuts to the wheels. A bead of glue is run around the tapered edge of the lugnut, and the lug is placed over the stud hole. The gluing usually takes place around three hours prior to the start of the race. This allows the glue to dry to the point where it isn’t brittle. When the carrier hangs the tire, the glue actually stretches so that the lugs don’t fall off the end of the stud. If the glue is allowed to dry for too long, it will become brittle and lugnuts will pop off easily. – 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!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for this weekend! Both the Nationwide Series and Cup Series are headed to Darlington, and if you are like me, you can’t get enough of the “Track Too Tough To Tame.” Don’t worry though, this week’s round of reader questions shouldn’t be too tough to tame. 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 Ella:
What has happened to Carl Edwards and his team this year? Seems he has been lagging behind his teammates as well as other top drivers. Will he stay with the same crew chief?
Jack Roush is a big fan of moving crew chiefs when things aren’t going right. I’m not saying I’ve heard anything, but if Bob Osborne doesn’t turn things around soon he may very well be out of a job. Roush as a whole had performance issues last season and Carl just hasn’t overcome his slump. It’s hard to say exactly what the issue/s is/are, but something is wrong. If their performance doesn’t improve soon, expect changes on that team. – Journo
2. From Kevin:
TC, regarding Woogeroo’s question about impound races, is Richmond (my favorite track – bit biased on that) an impound race too. If so, why? I guess I will find out in a couple of days.
I don’t know if you found out during the race broadcast or not, but Richmond is not an impound race. I believe only the Talladega races and the July Daytona races are impound races. – T.C.
3. From Mike:
I’m wondering if you can tell me if Marcos Ambrose will be back in the #47 car next year, 2011?
I don’t see him going anywhere. JTG and Waltrip are certainly pleased with him and there aren’t really any open rides for him to go to, so I’d expect him back there next season. – Journo
4. From Brad:
Any discussion of the Dale Jr. story in the National Enquirer? I’m interested to know if you guys have any scoop….
We don’t know anything more than what was reported. While it certainly could be classified as “inside” info, even if we did know something more, we wouldn’t share it. Both myself and my partner leave that type of stuff alone when it comes to writing for the site. Want rumors and info about the sport and the competition? We are the right place to stop by. Rumors and gossip about people’s personal lives is probably best left alone. – T.C.
5. From Allen:
Do you think the Camping World Truck Series is going to eventually become the IROC Series? (i.e disappear)
I don’t think NASCAR will abandon the series, but I do think they need to consider making changes to it. If you remember 10 years ago the stands would be packed at races (that was partly because they were racing at smaller venues in smaller markets), not the case today. The TV audience is good, but the series has its issues. It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR is willing to try and breath new life into it. – Journo
6. From Marcus:
Is the Air National Guard really sponsoring the #26 Latitude 43 Motorsports car driven by David Stremme? I remember when they 1st ran it at Bristol they said it was for showing what the Air National Guard can do. But 5 races later the decals are still on the car and they have pit suits and everything. Also they are starting to run full races. Just wondering if you guys know because i’m curious. Thanks!
As far as I know, the Latitude 43 team is still not being sponsored by the ANG. The “tribute” that was run at Bristol was officially extended to include Martinsville as well, but no further announcement has come out regarding their involvement. You would think that if the ANG did in fact come on board as a sponsor that the team would put out some sort of release, and they haven’t done so. Maybe they are hoping that by showing some good will towards the ANG that eventually they will help out. – T.C.
7. From BJ:
Watching the truck race on Sunday, with Johnny Benson & his glasses, got me wondering if any other drivers in the big 3 NASCAR divisions have less than 20/20 eyesight. Are there drivers there with contact lenses or laser-corrected vision? What about other kinds of everyday impairments that they have to deal with like diabetes, severe allergies, hearing loss? (I’m not asking you to ‘out’ anybody; just curious if things like that tend to winnow down the talent pool.)
The two examples that come immediately to mind in terms of any kind of impairments are John Wes Townley and Steve Wallace. Townley used to wear glasses when he drove, but doesn’t anymore. I believe he has had laser surgery. And Wallace suffers from Tourrette’s Syndrome. I’m sure there are many others, but as you might imagine, making that kind of info public would be a tough thing to do. When it comes to these types of conditions, if it’s something that severely limited a driver’s ability to perform, or could potentially be life threatening, I doubt they would have made it to this level. - T.C.
8. From Michael:
Two questions for you guys: 1) Why do the COTs sometimes have white plastic pieces sticking up from the splitter at times, mostly during practice? What purpose do these plastic pieces serve? 2) Why does Darlington have two pit roads? Thanks TC & Journo!
Those white plastic pieces you see are wear indicators. It helps the team figure out how low the nose of the car is getting in the corners. Teams will also spray paint the bottoms of the splitters, so they can see if and where it’s rubbing through the turn. And Darlington used to be like Bristol is today. Some cars would pit on the frontstretch, and some on the back. But in between the 1999 and 2000 seasons, the track extended the frontstretch pit road to include all 43 stalls. When they did that, they just didn’t take out the old pit road. – T.C.
9. From windowlicker:
As we get close to our first Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I wonder about some of the inductees. In baseball there are tons of Hall of Famers who are considered to be jerks. What do people in racing think of Richard Petty? Is he a nice guy? Good to work for?
I’ll say this, there are people that love Richard Petty and there are people that don’t. I’ve never worked for the man, so I can’t say how that is. He’s certainly a fan favorite, and very good at glad handing. I think it’s important to point out though that Richard Petty isn’t getting into the Hall of Fame because he is universally liked; he’s there because of what he has done in the sport and done for the sport. I don’t think you’ll find anybody who’ll disagree with his inclusion in the first class. – Journo
10. From BJ:
Everyone at my workplace knows who my driver is. I am definitely not a neutral observer of NASCAR. My question is: Do the journalists who cover NASCAR have favorites? I don’t mean does a writer skew his/her pieces to favor a particular team. I mean that with 10 laps to go and a GWC looming do journalists turn into fans? What’s it like to walk that line between remaining an unbiased reporter & secretly needing to stand and cheer for your guy to take the checkers? Without blowing your cover, Journo, can you share any anecdotes of your experiences in balancing work vs. being a fan.
After you’ve been in this sport, or any sport for any length of time athletes lose their luster. In reality they’re pretty normal people. Personally I love NASCAR, and racing in general, so I like a good show and a good story. I can’t speak for everyone, but I think that’s pretty universal. Certainly there are teams and drivers that are more pleasant to work with, but as far as people rooting for someone in particular, that kind of goes out the window. As a result I can’t say I personally have any anecdotes. Sorry. – Journo
11. Neon:
How many more TNI followers were hatched after the Mike Joy plug?
You know, that’s a tough question to answer. We definitely saw a traffic spike after the mention, and we’ve had several folks send emails and leave comments saying they came to the site because of the mention, but it would be difficult to put a number on it. Even if it’s only one or two, we’re glad they are here! – T.C.
Lost amid the Talladega chaos was the story of JR Motorsports newest driver, Steve Arpin. On Friday, Arpin went out and promptly put his Chevy in the second row during qualifying. Not bad for a kid who’d never driven an NNS car before. Once the race got started, the young Canadian ran as high as second, but was caught up in the last lap “big one” and finished 26th. He will again pilot the #7 Chevy for Dale Jr. on Friday night in the BUBBA Burger 250 at Richmond, a race that will put his skills to the test.
A racer from a young age, Arpin excelled in go carts and dirt late models. In 2008, he also won Rookie of the Year in the USAC Silver Crown Series driving for Carl Edwards. For 2009, Arpin moved into stock car racing, where he competed full time in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for owners Eddie Sharp and Bill Venturini. In 21 starts, he had four top five and eleven top ten finishes in route to finishing seventh in the final points standings.
A successful rookie campaign afforded Arpin the chance to again run for the full ARCA season with Venturini Motorsports. Through five races this season, Arpin already has two wins, Salem and Texas, and is second in the points standings.
Arpin’s success this season and last attracted the attention of JR Motorsports, and after Kelly Bires was released earlier in the year, JRM brought Arpin aboard. JRM is looking for a driver to fill open slots in both its #7 and #88 cars for later in the season, and if all goes well, Arpin might get more races.
While he proved at Talladega that he isn’t afraid to get up on the wheel and drive, his real test will be this weekend at Richmond. Anymore, doing well at ‘Dega is more about luck (see Johnny Borneman) and having a good car than it is about real driving skill. Richmond will test even the best drivers’ abilities.
Different at both ends, success at Richmond is determined by how well a team and their driver can get their car handling. In this week’s Chevrolet pre-race notes, Jeff Burton said:
“Richmond is one of the places where handling means everything. The key factors in running well is getting through the center of the corners and throttling up without losing rear grip. It sounds simple to do, but the one that wins did it the best.”
Besides having a good handling car, a driver must avoid the carnage that comes with short track racing at Richmond, and get to the finish.
If Arpin is able to communicate what he needs to crew chief Tony Eury Jr., and make it to the finish on Friday night, we just might be witnessing a star in the making. A solid top 20 finish would go a long way in getting him more races in 2010.
Vegas baby, VEGAS! The Cup and Nationwide cars head to Sin City this week, but before we take off for a little gambling in the desert, we’ve got another round of readers 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 Ed:
Guys, me and my friends are looking to go to Richmond for our first ever NASCAR race!! And we want to make the most of it, except we don’t know anything. For first-timers, would it be better to go cup or Nationwide or Trucks, and where is the best place to sit at Richmond?! I saw your comments page from last March for first-timers, and it was great. We are looking to mingle with everyone and be in the center of it all. Where is the best place to tailgate? Thanks!
Alright readers, this question is for you! If you’ve been to Richmond, chime in below in the comments section and help Ed and his buddies out! – T.C.
2. From Ric:
Previously you have mentioned another company transports pit boxes from track to track. Do they load and unload them? Where do you stop handling them and they start, and vice versa?
Yes, a company called Champion Tire & Wheel actually hauls most of the pit boxes for the Cup Series to the tracks. Champion unloads the boxes, places them in the correct pit stall, and then loads them after the race. Basically, all the teams have to do is show up, set everything up, race, then tear it all down. – T.C.
3. From Stephen:
Has anything been said about the IRL’s feelings toward Danica testing the water in NASCAR? I’m sure the IRL isn’t thrilled since I’m assuming the goal for her is to one day switch and drive in NASCAR. How hard was it for her to convince Andretti-Green to let her try NASCAR or was it? I’m assuming that Michael understands since his dad did it in the past. Also I was watching the Nationwide race at Daytona and noticed Kasey Kahne drove a Toyota instead of a Ford in the race. It seems he did that last year as well. How does that work? Does Ford care that he drives a Toyota on Saturday and a Ford on Sunday?
As far as I know there really hasn’t been much said on the part of IRL. I would imagine they’re thrilled she didn’t leap head first and leave the sport all together. As far as AGR, or I guess Andretti Autosport now, goes I would be willing to bet when she re-signed with them this past year, this was one of the stipulations made.
With the Kasey Kahne situation, these deals generally have to get approved by management at these teams, whether it’s the same manufacturer or not. Obviously it could be a problem depending on who he drives for and what his contract stipulates. In this case, it obviously wasn’t a problem. – Journo
4. From Dan:
I know the 66 team is a “start and park” team, but why did Blaney go to the back of the pack before the drop of the green flag after such a good qualifying run? Was this just a get out of the way move knowing he would be dropping out early?
You are exactly right. Sometimes you will see these teams drop to the back so they are out of the way of the pack trying to race, and it reduces the risk of getting caught up in an early crash. In some cases though, I’ve heard of NASCAR not allowing some cars to do this. – T.C.
5. From Anonymous:
How can a driver pit on green, a yellow is thrown, and that driver comes out ahead of the leading driver who pits on yellow????? I thought a yellow puts everyone back at a ‘registered’ position prior to the yellow.
In the case of Jimmie Johnson he was able to beat Jeff Burton to the scoring loop which kept him on the lead lap. Jimmie assumed the lead because he was on the lead lap and everyone went into the pits but him. The other guys that were in the pits were scored a lap down because Burton passed them. They obviously got the wave around and ended up at the tail end. As they say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. In this case, Jimmie is both.
As far as the rule change goes, it only applies if you don’t stop in your pit box. If you do pit you can still get caught a lap down. Remember in this case, all of these guys were on pit road while it was still open, before the caution came out. It was just a case of bad timing and really good timing. Here is another explanation of the situation. – Journo
6. From Woogeroo:
Howdy folks, I have two questions. 1) how do they measure the distance of the race tracks? At the top or the bottom of the track? I’m guessing it is at the bottom… 2) when the steam is coming out of the race cars when they get too hot, like I think it was Clint Bowyer? The steam was pouring out on pit road there. Is there a pressure release valve plumbed into the system there or what? Also, the cars have big water tank on them besides just what is in the engine block and the radiator, correct? Thanks!
To be honest with you, I’m not sure how tracks are measured. I’ve heard they measure the bottom, and I’ve also heard it’s a specified distance from the wall. Maybe someone else knows? And yes, cars have an overflow tube that usually either exits in front of the windshield on the right, or out the back of the car. Teams are only permitted to run a 1/2 to 1 gallon overflow container inline with the tube. No other tanks or containers are allowed. – T.C.
7. From AJ:
I have a question and and observation, first the observation. I thought it was intresting that Coors Light changed victory lane when Joey won the Nationwide pole to say 21 means 21 instead of the beer adverstising that was there for Jamie when he won the Cup pole. Now the question, there was a pit injury I think on Montoya’s team and they had a Red Bull team member fill in, was that person an extra person on the Red Bull team who at one point changed tires? How would you find a guy like that on such short notice?
Yeah, Coors Light has been doing that since they took over the sponsorship. They may even be required by law to do it for the under 21 drivers. For your other question, that Red Bull team member is actually at the track for the specific reason of being a backup tire changer. The changer you are referring to is Chuck Efaw. He is paid to back up the Red Bull teams, but apparently the Red Bull management approved him to go help out the #42. There was a story before the season started about how Stewart Haas would have a third pit crew at the tracks to pit Bobby Labonte’s car and back up their own teams. Many other teams have similar setups. – T.C.
8. From Eric:
I guess you guys were at the track this year. I havent been to ACS in a couple years my self. From what I remember in the past, the entire race was side by side racing, but when I watch TV its as boring as watching gold fish…. Am I missing something? Is it really that boring?
Well I’ll say I really enjoy racing, but when it comes to California, I could do without it. So yes, it was was pretty boring. – Journo
9. From Kenny:
What kind of preparation does a team do to clean the pit stall and prepare the surface to add grip? When I was younger, I remember reading an interview with a roadie who worked for Rolling Stones who said they poured Coke on the stage/platforms so that Mick wouldn’t slip.
Usually the stalls are just swept up. Many teams had been using the chemical VHT, which is usually used in drag racing to add traction to the starting line area, to add grip to the pit stall. But just recently, NASCAR decided they wouldn’t permit teams to do that anymore. Coke or another sugary soda has also been used in the past. – T.C.
10. From Simmy:
You’ve probably mentioned it already, but why wasn’t there a truck race in California this year?
NASCAR made the move to save teams money. A move that actually does make sense (it’s expensive to travel that far). They gave the extra date to Pocono at the end of July. – Journo
11. From Lost In Texas:
As I looked at the empty stands in CA this weekend, I wondered how hard is it for the teams to make the CA race and turn around and return to LV. It would make sense if the haulers and teams stayed on the West side for the two races, but I have been told that all return home after the CA race. How tough is this on the teams and hauler crews? Would it be better to have the CA race then maybe a race or two on the East side and then return to the West. I think this hurts attendance at CA. Any thoughts?
Actually, most of the haulers and even some teams are staying out on the West coast between the races. The teams will send extra haulers out to the West coast to bring in fresh cars and supplies, but the actual race haulers will stay. Many teams will either find a parking lot to do work in, use the garage at the race track or a spare shop. One example is Brendan Gaughan. He allows some teams to use his old Truck Series shop to do prep work before Vegas. - T.C.
12. From Scott:
Hey Guys, After watching the California races this weekend I get really confused about all the hatred and dislike for that race course. Personally, I love to see that type of racing and passing. Four and five wide through the corners is awesome. Why do you think California gets such a bad rap? Maybe because it follows Daytona and doesn’t have the same amount of crashes? Thanks!
I think this is a personal decision and one I can’t provide an explanation for. I’ll say this year was a little better than previous years, but what you generally get here is follow-the-leader racing. It’s boring. And twice a year is just way too much. I don’t really think it has to do with the placement on the schedule, I think it’s just the lackluster racing. But to each his own. – Journo
13. From Bob:
I’m confused. I know that the driver points and the owner points are not the same. But how is that Dave Blaney/#66 is behind Casey Mears/#90 in owner points? Both teams have attempted two races and Blaney actually qualified for the Fontana race. Must be weird NASCAR math!
Those teams that don’t make the race are still awarded owners points. If you look at the standings, teams are actually given points almost as if they would have run the race. For Daytona, the Keyed Up team was given 31 points because they were the first team to not make the race, while the 66 was only given 13 points because they were much further down the order. And the amount of points gained by the 66 team at California for their 41st place finish wasn’t enough to overcome the difference at Daytona. – T.C.