The Chase heads west this week for a little racing action, California style. While we dream of surf and sun, here are more of our answers to your NASCAR questions. 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 Christa:
I don’t normally bash the race broadcast, but the coverage by ESPN on Sunday was HORRIBLE!! Cutting to commercial during green with 10 to go is inexcusable. My question is this, any chance NASCAR can pressure them to put on a decent show? Or do you think outcry from the fans is the only solution? I’ve already sent them an angry email to do my part, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
NASCAR can certainly put pressure on them to change things, but at the end of the day it’s ESPN’s call. I really hate to say this, and I’m not necessarily advocating it, but the best way to show ESPN you don’t like their product is to tune out (or DVR it). The emails and letters don’t hurt. They’re looking at it right now anyway thanks to the large ratings declines over the last three races. You aren’t alone in your feelings on this – if you ever check out The Daly Planet this has been a constant complaint from many viewers. In fact JD did a writeup on the ESPN ratings issue today. – Journo
2. From Jeanette:
Hi guys. Perhaps you can settle a discussion that took place while my boyfriend and I were watching qualifying recently. When a crew chief tells the driver after his lap “P-4″ or “P-whatever”, does the P stand for position? provisional?
Whoever said it stood for position is the winner. The crew chief, or spotter will tell the driver p whatever to let them know where they stand in qualifying, practice, or the race. – Journo
3. From Anonymous:
Hey guys, love the website! Keep doing what you’re doing! This may seem like a silly question but I often notice after a race that when pit reporters are doing postrace interviews, many times the drivers are already changed into street clothes. Are the drivers fast in the shower in addition to being fast on the track or do the TV producers ‘collapse time’ and make things look like they are happening quicker than they really are? Many thanks!
Thanks! No silly questions here. No time collapse, the drivers you see who have changed have enough time to go back to the hauler (generally they do it in the lounge) to change out of their firesuits. – Journo
4. From brian:
Years ago Petty put Wilson in the 44 car after he retired. He had to change the number back to #43 b/c the NASCAR rule was if you don’t use it you lose it. Why isn’t the same with the #3. It is always said Childress has the #, but if he isn’t using it why can’t someone else use it?
Technically, no team owns a number. NASCAR owns all the numbers and grants permission to the teams to use them. So really, if somebody wanted to use the number, they could petition NASCAR to get it. However, I think nobody asking to use it is more of a respect thing than anything else. – T.C.
5. From Michael in SoCal:
Hi guys. I just watched this week’s Whelen Southern Modified race on Versus and there was mention of Langley Speedway winner, Tim Brown, who was going to race at Tri-County Speedway. Jack Arute & Jimmy Spencer mentioned that Brown, who works for Michael Waltrip Racing, was called out to Phoenix by MWR for testing there. I thought testing was banned at any track where the top three series race? Any insight as to what this was all about? Thanks.
Just because he was called to Phoenix to do a test doesn’t necessarily mean they were at Phoenix International Raceway. I don’t recall any Goodyear tire tests there this season, so I doubt that’s where they went. I would imagine that the test was at the Toyota Proving Grounds in Wittman, AZ. The facility is about an hour and a half outside of Phoenix. – T.C.
6. From David:
With all the Nationwide series rookies getting the boot do you think that NASCAR needs to have contracts like the NFL or NBA???
You’ve got to feel for these guys, but the structure of NASCAR makes it difficult to have a labor union like you see in the NFL or the NBA. The drivers are independent contractors in NASCAR – they work individually for teams, who at the end of the day have no stake in the sport as a whole – which is quite different than other major American sports leagues where the owners make up the league. I think there is an argument to be made that these guys need more protections, but how exactly to do that I don’t know. – Journo
7. From Jon:
I have a few questions… but before I begin first I wanna say I love the blog, I’ve written in a few times and you guys always answer my questions! You guys do a 100x better job than NASCAR PR LOL. 1. I was looking at some old race results at racing-reference.info and noticed in ’95 and ’96, both races (when phx featured just 1 event) had 44 cars. why? when/how did nascar decide on the 43 car field # and what dictated the # before? 2. i’m pretty sure i’ve read this somewhere/heard it on a broadcast, but i’m not 100% sure. let’s say two guys tie at the end of the season w/ the same # of points. the driver with the most wins gets the better spot in the points, right? do they have tiebreakers to determine who takes the higher spot in points after wins (if they are still tied)? 3. why hasn’t nascar considered running more nationwide one-off events? if they want to get cup regulars out, woudln’t it make more sense to run the events in tandem with say a truck or arca or IRL event, at a venue where the cup series isn’t? if they did this more than just the 3 times a year (i think?) that they do this now, to say like, 9-10, wouldn’t it be way more likely a regular would win rather than a cup series regular? i’m just looking for slightly easier “fixes” for the Nationwide series, as opposed to some ridiculous idea of leaving Cup regulars out of the points championship.
For a much better explanation of why we have 43 car fields, and the situation you mention at Phoenix, check out this piece by Dave Rodman from the 2002 season. In regards to ties in the point system, the NASCAR rule book says that if two drivers are tied, the tie will be broken by which driver has the most first place finishes. If they are still tied, it then goes to second place finishes, third places finish, and so on and so forth. If a tie still remains after that, “the driver having the highest finishing position first during the current season prevails.” And to your question about more standalone events, I honestly have no idea. The Nationwide/Busch Series did used to run more events by itself, but over the course of the last decade or so, most of the schedule has been changed to run in conjunction with the Cup Series. It’s probably more about drawing more fans to the track and offering more entertainment for a weekend than anything else. – T.C.
8. From Craig:
Does NASCAR give directives to the broadcast teams about what to talk about or what not to criticize? Example, when it comes to 1.5 mile tracks, fans call them “cookie-cutters”, but I’ve seen broadcasters go out of their way to attack that term. I saw that again today with John Roberts on Speed saying “don’t call them cookie-cutters”. Is there some NASCAR PR campaign to defend 1.5 tracks, since they’re a focus of fan criticism?
If NASCAR hears something they don’t like they’re probably going to let the broadcast teams know, but there is no edict from on high telling the broadcast teams how to behave. I think more of what you’re seeing is the teams being hyper-vigilant about what they’re saying so as not to diminish the product that their employer is paying a lot of money to broadcast. With the way ratings are ESPN knows better than anyone they don’t need a negative narrative from their broadcast team. – Journo
9. From Robert:
If KBM closes, where do you think Rick Ren will go? No one in NASCAR, would let a crew chief like this go to waste.
It really depends on Rick Ren. I don’t know what his motivations are, or what type of position he would want (crew chief or director of competition like he is now), but I’m sure he could probably have any job in the Truck Series that he wanted. There would certainly be no shortage of teams beating down his door to get him. Don’t be so certain that KBM is closing next season though. Even if they don’t run every race, I wouldn’t be surprised if KBM still existed in some form next year. – T.C.
10. From Billy:
How does NASCAR’s approval process for new drivers work?
Drivers must submit a resume to NASCAR for consideration. Brett Bodine, who works as NASCAR’s Director of Cost Research makes most of the decisions about who gets approved for what. Usually, drivers must start out in a lower series on tracks a mile and under, then they will get approved for 1.5 to two mile tracks, and finally the superspeedways. It’s totally a judgement call on NASCAR’s part however – drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya and Danica Patrick were approved for bigger races much quicker because of their past experience. – T.C.
11. From Robert:
Any rumors or ideas as to what is going on at RCR in regards to a second truck team? Rumors had it for awhile that his other grandson, TY, would sit in a truck next season.
As far as we have heard, RCR is working toward having two Truck Series teams next season, one for Austin and one for Ty. It’s interesting to note though, that Ty won’t turn 18 in time to run Daytona. His birthday is February 27th, so he wouldn’t be able to make his series debut until the March 12th race at Darlington. – 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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If what Kyle Busch told Bob Pockrass is true, it sounds like the answer is yes.
In an article Thursday on SceneDaily.com Busch said if sponsorship doesn’t materialize for his Truck Series team for the 2011 season, he would have to shut it down. It’s quite a turn around from the beginning of the season when KBM was supposed to run two full time teams, and possibly a third part time, out of a new state-of-the art shop in Mooresville.
When Busch started up his team, no expense was spared in putting together a top flight organization. He hired championship winning crew chief Rick Ren away from Kevin Harvick Inc. to lead his effort as Director of Competition, and brought in veteran crew chief Eric Phillips to call the shots from the pit box. Busch also opened up his wallet to build a modern 60,000 sq ft race shop to house his new operation. And then the problems began.
When it was announced that Miccosukee would not be sponsoring Busch’s team for the 2010 season like they initially thought, the countdown started. It was only a few short months later that KBM’s second team with Tayler Malsam was shut down due to lack of funding. And without Miccosukee, KBM has been left stringing together as many one off sponsorship deals as they can find to get the #18 team through the season.
It’s interesting to note that through all of this, the team has been able to have a great deal of success. Through 18 races this season, the team has amassed four poles, four wins, and sits only 82 points out of the lead in the owners points.
Knowing the little bit that I do about the situation, I’ve got to wonder how Busch’s business people allowed this team to be mismanaged as it appears it was. With all of the resources that were available to him (like boss Joe Gibbs) one would think that some better decisions would have been made along the way. I also have to think that the issues surrounding KBM probably helped lead to the demise of Busch and agent/spotter Jeff Dickerson’s relationship.
Besides JGR, if Kyle needed a good example of how to start and run a team the right way, he needed to look no further then fellow Cup and Truck driver Kevin Harvick and his operation. Harvick started small, running partial Truck schedules in 2002 and 2003 before going full time with Matt Crafton in 2004. When he started his NNS program, Harvick again started small, running only a few races in 2004 before having a full time team in 2005. And in most cases, Harvick was only putting out cars and trucks that were sponsored. Today, KHI not only has a successful CWTS and NNS program, but they also build chassis and hang bodies for other teams, which provides much needed revenue to keep the doors open and the lights on. There is no reason why KBM, if run properly, couldn’t have turned into the Toyota version of KHI.
Hopefully the combination of Busch’s star power and the continued success of his team will lead to a full time sponsor. It would certainly be a shame to lose another team, especially one so young in it’s existence.
After the 2008 season, we decided to look back over the season and see how we did in terms of reporting on rumors and breaking some news. In the end, we got eight correct, had two pushes, screwed one up, and had three rumors outstanding. With 2009 behind us, I thought it would be fun to again do the same thing. I’m going to start with the three bits we had outstanding, and then we’ll move into 2009.
Fastenal to RCR: After the info we heard, we thought this one was in the books. Even Jayski reported at one point that this was going to happen, even mentioning a driver lineup. But in the end, Fastenal ended up at JR Motorsports for the ‘09 season. Scratch this one.
Rule Changes Coming to the Truck Series: NASCAR did indeed make changes to the Truck Series rules for 2009, and we were close. We first reported they were only going to allow only four crew members over the wall and that they would initiate a hard card limit. They did indeed limit both, but we missed the crew limit by one. It was five members over the wall and not four. I’m still giving us the point here. Plus one for the Insiders.
BDR Employees Laid Off: This indeed was true, and what was left of BDR was turned into Triad Racing Technologies. TRT supplies teams with Toyota engines, chassis, and some other services. Plus one for the Insiders.
First Crew Member Tests Positive: In my post following the Daytona 500, I let you know that I’d heard NASCAR had caught it’s first offender of the new substance abuse policy. We found out a short time later that it was a Mayfield Motorsports employee, and he was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. It was strange foreshadowing for the summer to come and drug testing. Plus one for the Insiders.
RMM Cuts Salaries: Early in the season, we heard that Randy Moss Motorsports had cut it’s employees salaries by as much as 35%. While no official announcement was ever put out, this was indeed true. The budget for the #5 Tundra for Mike Skinner was limited at best, which led to the cuts. Plus one for the Insiders.
Trouble At Trail: 2009 was supposed to be the first season for minority owned Trail Motorsport. But what started off with much fan fare and press, fizzled before it ever got started. We first told you in April about the problems internally at Trail. On it’s own, the team never fielded a race car at a Truck Series, Nationwide Series, or Cup Series event. Plus one for the Insiders.
Kyle Busch, Team Owner in 2010: We were the first to tell you about Kyle Busch’s plans to start his own NASCAR team for the 2010 season. In July, we reported that construction was ongoing on a new race shop for Kyle and that he, Johnny Benson, and Brian Ickler may drive for the new team. Busch will indeed have a team in 2010, with two full time trucks. One for himself and Brian Ickler, and another for Tayler Malsam. If sponsorship can be found, Benson may run a third truck. Plus one for the Insiders.
Parker Kligerman, Wyler Racing, & Michael McDowell: In September we told you that ARCA driver Parker Kligerman would run some NNS races for Penske, that Wyler Racing may be closing up shop, and that Michael McDowell would run at New Hampshire for Thorsport Racing. Kligerman ended up running at Kansas and Homestead for Penske Racing. Wyler did make it to the end of the season, but from what we know just barely. As of today, there is no word on Wyler Racing’s 2010 plans. And finally, McDowell did run at NHMS for Thorsport. He ran the #98 truck, that was painted up like a police car. We will call that plus two and minus one for the Insiders.
Your Favorite Team and a Funded Driver: While we did write a post mentioning a rumor, we wrote the post more as commentary then actually reporting the rumor. The post itself was about John Wes Townley and his impending move to Richard Childress Racing. Townley will indeed race for RCR in 2010, and will compete full time in the NNS in the #21 Zaxbys Chevrolet. Since we didn’t call the driver out, nor did we get anything wrong, I’ll give us a push.
Rick Ren Gone from KHI: We told you before Homestead that Kevin Harvick Inc. crew chief Rick Ren was leaving at the end of the season, possibly to take a managerial role at Kyle Busch’s new team. This rumor was actually denied publicly by Kevin Harvick, but in the end turned out to be true. Ren will serve as the Director of Operations for KBM this season. Plus one for the Insiders.
Eric Phillips to KBM: To add to this stout lineup for 2010, we were the first to tell you about Eric Phillips leaving Randy Moss Motorsports for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Phillips will serve as crew chief for the #18 truck piloted by Busch and Brian Ickler for this season. We were certainly all over the KBM stuff in ‘09. Plus one for the Insiders.
Biffle and Baker Curb: And last but not least, after it was reported by SceneDaily.com that Baker Curb was working on a deal with a Cup driver for the 2010 NNS season, we told you that Cup driver was Greg Biffle. Biffle will pilot the #27 Red Man Ford Fusion for Baker Curb this season in an undetermined number of races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Looking back over all the rumors, I think we had another pretty good year. We got eleven right, missed two calls, and had one push. So over the last two years, that makes us 19-3-3 on the scoreboard. We certainly don’t know it all or hear it all, and we also won’t report every rumor we hear. But I think this shows that when you hear a rumor from TNI, odds are pretty good it’s true. What do you think?
This year has been a particularly brutal one for car counts in the Camping World Truck Series. While there usually is a full field, many teams choose to start and park. Looking at 2010 though things are looking up for the truck series.
Richard Childress Racing is expected to field at least one team in 2010 for team owner Richard Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon. The last time RCR fielded a full time truck series team was 1999. There have also been rumblings that Tim George Jr. will drive a second truck for RCR. As the original championship team in the series, it is exciting to see RCR make a return.
Newcomer organization Turner Motorsports (they will make their debut this weekend) also has plans to run one full time and one part time team in 2010. Ricky Carmichael has said he will jump from Kevin Harvick Inc. to the team to run the full season. In addition to running the #1 car in the Nationwide Series, James Buescher is also expected to run at least 19 races for the team.
And then there’s Kyle Busch Racing (or whatever it’ll be called). While nothing has been announced they are rumored to be running at least two teams in 2010. We’ve heard they might also field a third part time truck for Kyle. With some of the talent they are rumored to be bringing in, this team could be a force very quickly.
In addition to the above teams, Mario Gosselin has said he will run the full 2010 schedule with sponsorship from MyTireMonkey.com. Gosselin’s a two time USAR Pro Cup Champion. This year’s ARCA Re/Max champion Justin Lofton has also said he will go truck racing full time next season with primary sponsorship from his father’s cattle company.It’s uncertain where he’ll end up.
Most existing organizations while not necessarily locked up for 2010, are expected to maintain their truck counts. Just to name a few, Randy Moss Motorsports has said they will be back with Mike Skinner in 2010 and they hope to continue fielding a second truck. Kevin Harvick Inc. has said they will return next season with one full time and one part time truck. And Thorsport has re-signed Johnny Sauter for 2010 and will return with Matt Crafton as well.
Uncertainty does still remain with a few regulars though. Wyler Racing needs to find sponsorship to run the full 2010 schedule; something Stacy Compton says they’re still $500,000 short of. Circle Bar, which will lose James Buescher this year, may be down to just one team next season if a funded driver is not found. At Red Horse Racing the number of teams also looks heavily dependent on sponsorship. Team owner Tom DeLoach has said Timothy Peters will be back though.
Obviously the loss of Roush Fenway is difficult for the series. 2010 will be the first time since its’ inception that Roush won’t compete. Their scaled back efforts this season though made the loss, less difficult to deal with.
Perhaps this post is coming a little too early because there are still quite a few guys who don’t have anything locked up yet, but I’m optimistic 2010 will be a strong year for the series. With ratings up and competition consistently good, I’m looking forward to next season.
Rick Ren Leaving KHI?
We’ve been hearing quite regularly for the last few weeks that crew chief Rick Ren will leave Kevin Harvick Inc. at the end of the season. He’s rumored to be heading to Kyle Busch’s new team to serve in a general manager type role.
As we first reported in July Kyle Busch is expected to start a team fielding two or more Camping World Truck Series teams and possibly a Nationwide Series team in 2010.
Rick Ren joined KHI in 2007 after a stint with Johnny Benson at the now defunct Bill Davis Racing. Since joining the team, he and Ron Hornaday Jr. have racked up 16 wins and one championship (a second looks inevitable this season). He has more than 30 years experience in NASCAR.
What started out as a tension filled weekend between the likes of Kevin Harvick Inc. and Thorsport Racing ended up turning into a bizarre display of teammate on teammate crime. Hey Harvick, if there is one driver that you can be damn sure isn’t going to pull over for you, it’s Ron Hornaday.
After Thorsport driver Matt Crafton was involved in an incident at Gateway the weekend before that ended with point leader Hornaday in the garage with a destroyed truck, rumors began to circulate about possible payback at New Hampshire. Harvick entered himself into the race in a third truck and proceeded to harass Crafton in both practice and the race. But the big hit never came.
Instead, Harvick and Hornaday battled over the final laps while Kyle Busch ran away with the win. After the race, Harvick expressed his anger over Hornaday not letting him by. Harvick’s rationale was that his truck was faster, as he was on fresher tires, and if he could get by Hornaday he might have something for Busch. But Hornaday stood his ground and Harvick was not able to complete the pass. Harvick couldn’t understand why Hornaday’s spotter (Rick Carelli) and crew chief (Rick Ren) didn’t inform the veteran driver that Harvick wanted by.
You want to know why they didn’t say anything Kevin? Because Hornaday is racing for a championship. Isn’t that what you hired him to do? Win championships? You certainly don’t do that by letting people by.
Team orders don’t normally bear their ugly head in NASCAR, and are more often seen as part of the strategy in series such as Formula One (see Renault). In those cases though, teams have a clear number one driver. In this case, one would think that Hornaday is the number one driver for KHI. Apparently Harvick doesn’t see things that way.
What really shocks me about this whole situation though, is that Harvick really thought Hornaday should pull over for him. But if you know anything about Hornaday, you know that isn’t going to happen. This is a guy that has built his career on rootin’ and gougin’ his way to the front. He would just as soon wreck you as let you pass. He came up on the short tracks of the west and isn’t the most successful Truck Series driver ever for nothing. And Harvick, who followed a very similar path, should understand that better then anyone.
I’m sure the weekend recap meeting at KHI this week was probably an interesting affair. Hopefully though Harvick realized his error in judgement and apologized to Hornaday. But if he didn’t, and I was Ron Hornaday, I would politely (or not so politely) tell my boss to go pound sand.