Sunday, July 26, 2009

And they do it Again

 Jimmie Johnson…
 …won his second Brickyard race in a row today. He is now the only driver to have accomplished this. It was not another one Johnson’s dominant wins. In fact, he did not take the lead until less than 25 laps to go. Johnson took the lead on a restart from teammate Mark Martin and had to hold him off for24 laps to take the win. Martin was stronger in 2 and 3. Johnson was stronger in 3 and 4, but it was the clean air and smart driving that brought Johnson to the checkered first.

Juan Pablo Montoya…
…was caught speeding on pit road late in the race which opened the door for Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin to duel for the win. This is the second time this year Juan has been caught in this situation. And once again he claims it was a mistake on NASCAR’s part.

Joey Lagano…  
…surprised us all with another great finish. Due to an engine change, Lagano started 42nd. He drove his car to a 12th place finish battling with the veterans along the way. And to top it all off, his post-race interview was enjoyably humble. It seems that this rookie will be around for a while.

Dale Jr….
…suffered another poor finish today. However, the poor finish was not due to a bad car or a frustrated driver or a bad pit stop. Dale Jr. qualified the 88 Chevy 3rd despite an illness and kept the car in the top ten most of the day. It was looking the 88 team would get a more than decent finish, but with less than 40 laps to go a blown engine took the team out early. Dale Jr. calmly and respectfully claimed it was probably his mistake. But all in all today’s race shows great promise for the 88 team.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Testing Policy: Revisions?

    Being that this is the first season with the new no-testing policy, I wonder if NASCAR will make any adjustments to the rule. The multiple adjustments made to the chase formant demonstrate that NASCAR is not afraid of alteration. The policy was implemented due to smaller teams’ economic struggles. NASCAR hoped to level out the playing field. Eight races into the season, the new policy seems to be working. Although the list of winners does not show it, the competition in the races sure appears to be leveling out. For instance, David Reutimann, driver for a newer race team, is currently within the top 12 of the standings. The no-testing policy looks as if it has been a good thing, but are there any cons?

    My answer would be yes. Rookies with little experience need more opportunities to advance their skills. Practice sessions just a few days prior to race day is not enough. You have drivers going to racetracks they have never been to before. In this weekend’s Nationwide race, rookie Joey Lagano hit Michal Waltrip a bit too hard, sending him down the track taking Clint Bowyer with him. Lagano’s mistake could have been prevented with a little more track time. In a post race interview for ESPN, Lagano apologized to Waltrip and said, “learned my lesson on that one.” Bump drafting is a skill that takes drivers much time to master. Lagano recently received his clearance to race at restrictor plate tracks. This plus the no-testing policy have limited his opportunities to hone the skill of bump drafting. Something needs to be done to prevent incidents like Lagano’s from causing tragic results in the future Although the new policy has had a positive effect on the competition, NASCAR needs to take a look at the other effects it has had.

    My proposal to fix this problem is to alter the rule, allowing rookies to test. Provide the teams with a select number of test sessions at the more difficult tracks. In order to keep the competition between rookies as equal as possible, perhaps NASCAR could regulate the number of test sessions per team, keeping them all equal. Like the rest of us, NASCAR has had to adjust to the current economic times, but the safety of the drivers still needs to be their highest priority.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

NASCAR’s Most Exciting Track

Kyle Busch takesthe checkered flag this weekend in Bristol, Tennessee.  This Busch bother dominated the entire500-lap race leading 415 of the laps. Coming from his 19^th startingposition, Busch had the lead by lap 70. You can track the lead changes of therace by clicking here. At Bristol, it only takes about 20 minutes to complete70 laps.  Busch was practicallypassing one car for each minute of the race completed by that point! Kyle Buschhas dominated at Bristol before, but this year he was able to capture the everso elusive win.

Bristol MotorSpeedway is one of the shortest racetracks on the NASCAR circuit and definitelybrings about exciting racing. The track is half a mile in length. Ready for amath moment? If the track is half of a mile that means the track is 2,640 feetin length. Now, each car is 17 feet long. With 43 cars, at 17 feet apiece, alltogether they would equal 731 feet in length. Still following? The point I ammaking is this: the racecars themselves take up almost a quarter of the racetrack!Add that to top speeds of 125 miles per hour and you will absolutely getincredibly exciting racing!

If you cannotalready tell, Bristol is my favorite racetrack. The track facilities are verysimilar in both size and shape to a bowl football stadium. This allows for thechance to be up close and personal with the racecars.  Every lap is filled with sliding cars, flaring driver temperand simply good racing. I believe everyone would be a NASCAR fan if they couldexperience a race at Bristol.

From Bad Boy to Good Guy?

This weekend inAtlanta, Kurt Busch captured his first win of since June 29^th, 2008in Loudon. From the moment he entered the Cup Series in 2003, this Busch waslabeled the "bad boy." He was cocky and not afraid to say what was on his mind.He continuously talked poorly about the more experienced, veteran drivers. Hesimply showed no one respect. Now, six years later, he appears to havecompletely changed. Is this possible?

            Forthe last three seasons, Kurt Busch has uncharacteristically flown below theradar. He has not been nearly as successful as he was in the past and has kepthis arrogance in check. This is quite a drastic change. During interviews, hesays just the right thing, complementing other drivers and even NASCAR's leadershipskills. At first I was skeptical. Is this just really good PR work? Or has he changed? Up until these last fewweeks, I was sticking to the former. I thought that the perfection of hisinterviews was deceiving. I often wondered if he knew how obvious he was. But,I am beginning to think this really is the new and improved Kurt Busch. I amvery close to believing his change is sincere. I never would have allowed thosewords to come out of my mouth a year ago, but I do not think someone canflawlessly pretend to be good for over three years.

            However,I still cannot completely believe he is changed. It seems that all the currentfacts point against me, but I cannot let go of what happened in the past. Isthis wrong?  I am beginning tothink it might be. If I had gone through a change like it appears Kurt Buschhas, I would long for acceptance. I would get tired of the boos I no longerdeserve. I would begin to question if anyone would give me a second chance. So,should I and the rest of the NASCAR world believe in him and give him a secondchance? Or is there still good reason to be skeptical?

More Than Just Fan Friendly?

  This week I wasblessed with the opportunity to travel along with the NASCAR "city" to Las VegaMotor Speedway. I toured the track a few years ago, but I have never been tothis track for a race weekend. I arrived Friday afternoon and was overwhelmedby the number of people present. Never, in my NASCAR weekend experience, have Iseen so many people in attendance on a Friday. 

To give you abetter idea of this abnormality, I thought I would briefly explain the eventsof any given NASCAR weekend. Typically the NASCAR teams arrive early Fridaymorning to unload and set up and then, spend the early afternoon and evening inmultiple practice and qualifying sessions. Fridays are open to the generalpublic for a low ticket price. I have been to six or seven Friday events and Ihave watched even more on TV. The typical crowd present for this day usuallyfills 20% of the grandstands. Saturday morning is spent in more practice andqualifying sessions leading up to the Nationwide, the lower division, race. Thecrowd on hand at the start of the race typically fills 75% of the grandstands.And then comes Sunday, the big race! Sundays almost always have a sold outcrowd.

With this in mind,you can see why I was surprised to see the crazy number of people present thislast Friday. The same proved to be true on Saturday. What is different aboutLas Vegas Motor Speedway? Is it the facilities? The fans? As I thought aboutthis throughout the weekend, I came to some conclusions. Las Vegas MotorSpeedway is overall very fan friendly. I have been to 8 NASCAR race tracksthroughout the country and Las Vegas was definitely the cleanest and most up todate. On top of this, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has a unique infield set up,very much like a theme park. They call it the Neon Garage. The driver's garagesare set up in a circle and each garage can be viewed through windows up top ordown below. Fans are charged to enter the garage area, but are able to watchthe drivers and teams at work in their element. To have this experience at all othertracks, fans must have a hot pass, essentially a press pass and they areincredibly difficult to get unless you are a journalist or know someone whoknows someone. I wonder if the Neon Garage will catch on at the other racetracks. 

What Makes a Driver Popular?

  This weekend theNASCAR "city" traveled across the country to race in our backyard. I had theopportunity to visit the track in Fontana, California and watch the carspractice and qualify for Sunday's race. I have been to five Sprint Cup races atthe Auto Club Speedway and as much of a NASCAR fan as I am, I find the racingat this track not that exciting. Now, I would not pass up any opportunity tofeel the intensity and hear the rumble of a race car live, but I do wish the racingwas more exciting at my home track. 

 

With that in mind,I decided to take a different angle this week. Instead of covering the highlightsof a not so exciting race, I have selected a different aspect of this weekend'sNASCAR happenings to discuss. During the previous week, Dale Earnhardt Jr. satdown with Darrel Waltrip for an interview. While discussing the aggressive driving Dale Jr. displayed lastweekend, the subject of Dale Jr.'s popularity came up. Dale Jr. made adistinction between the drivers who know and respect him and those who don't.Speaking of the drivers who do not respect him, Dale Jr. said, "they don'tunderstand what the popularity is all about because the popularity and theresults don't match up. They have a problem, I guess, with a guy having thatmuch popularity and not being able to have the same kind of results. So, youknow that's just the way it is." Dale Jr. has been NASCAR's most popular driver consistently for the past six years, but sadly his success has not been asconsistent. What then makes Dale Jr. so popular?

 

Some say Dale Jr.owes his popularity to his father, the infamous Dale Earnhardt. Although thefame of Dale Jr.'s father adds to his popularity, I do not believe this is all.Dale Jr. did not receive the award until two years after his father's tragicdeath. Some would also say that success is a key part of driver popularity, butas Dale Jr. touched on in the interview, he has been lacking in the successarea for a while now. I believe these aspects are definitely a part of DaleJr.'s popularity, but I think there is something more. Dale Jr. has respect.Most every driver and journalist in the NASCAR garage respects Dale Jr. andrightfully so. He is polite and considerate, but at the same time he allows forhis true personality to shine through. When you are interacting with Dale Jr.,you know you are getting the real him and that is worthy of respect. I believesuccess definitely has something to do with driver popularity, but if successis not matched with respect can it really be considered success?

Controversy Opens the Sprint Cup Season!

    

  The moment arrivedafter drivers and fans alike waited three months with no racing, but now the2009 Daytona 500 has come to a close. Who was added to the prestigious list ofDaytona 500 winners? Matt Kenseth, driver of the number 17 Ford, is the luckydriver. And yes, I say lucky. The race was filled with controversy, crashes andworrying weather conditions. Matt Kenseth was the fortunate driver to steeraway from the crashes and keep in time with the weather.

            A500 mile race, particularly at Daytona, can feel like a life time. This particularrace had enough action to fill a life time and the race was not even completed!Because of a bad Florida storm, the NASCAR officials decided to call the race toofficial end after 152 of the 200 scheduled laps. In NASCAR, if a race isred-flagged (paused), it is considered an official race if the drivers reachthe half way point. At the point NASCAR red-flagged the 500, Matt Kenseth wasin the lead and is therefore 2009's Daytona 500 winner. Depending upon whetheror not you are a Matt Kenseth fan you will either agree or disagree withNASCAR's call. This was just one of the multiple controversial calls NASCARmade during the Daytona 500.

            DaleEarnhardt Jr. seemed to be at the center of the most controversial decision ofthe weekend. Thirty laps prior to the end of the shortened race, Dale EarnhardtJr. and Brian Vickers, driver of the 83 Toyota, were racing hard because theywere both aware of the coming rain. They knew there was a high possibility thatthe race would be shortened. Vickers jetted down the race track to block acharging Dale Jr. and as Dale Jr. came back up the track, he clipped the rearof Vickers' car. This sent Vickers up the race track taking many cars with him.The hard racing of these two drivers took many cars out of contention for thewin, but was it wrong? Both of these drivers were a lap down and needed to makethat lap up quickly because of the coming rain. Many drivers would say and didsay the hard racing of these two possibly caused them a win and therefore DaleJr.'s and Brian Vickers' actions were wrong. I disagree. Put any two driverswith a longing to win in the position of Dale Jr. and Brian Vickers and Iguarantee you they would race just as hard. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a talentedand aware driver that would not intentionally take out an entire field of cars.Race car drivers have to constantly make spilt second decisions and it isimpossible for them to always make the right call or judgment in such a shortamount of time. I believe the ability to make these decisions is a key trait ofsuccessful drivers. So, all this to say, the outcome of Dale Jr.'s and Vickers'hard racing was definitely undesirable, but if they and all other driverslighten up on the throttle a NASCAR race would be nothing but 43 cars playingfollow the leader.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Crazy finish to kick off the NASCAR Sprint Cup season!

Anticipation fueled an exciting race last Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Due to the economy, NASCAR decided to eliminate off-season testing. They hoped this would help balance competition between the higher income teams and the lower ones. Prior to this change, higher income teams were able to afford multiple tests that were of higher quality, giving them an advantage over the lower income race teams.

Without testing, NASCAR drivers were not able to take to the track during the three month off-season. Until Friday afternoon, during the first on track practice session, drivers and teams had no idea how their race cars would take to the 2.5 mile Daytona tri-oval. Drivers, crew members, journalists and fans were all full of anticipation. Everyone wondered about the outcome of Saturday night’s shootout. Would the no testing policy bring the balance NASCAR was hoping for?

Anticipation and excitement continued during all 75 laps of Saturday night’s shootout. Drivers were putting their cars 3 and 4 wide in the corners, spinning sideways and bouncing off the wall and each other. The excitement persisted throughout every lap. With only three laps to go, the 7^th caution of the evening occurred. This forced the race into a green, white, checkered finish. A “green white checkered” occurs when the caution laps exceed the number of laps scheduled for that particular race. Once the caution is cleared, NASCAR allows for one green flag lap, a white flag lap, which is the final lap, and then the checkered flag is waved to greet the race’s winner. During the white flag lap, as the driver of the number 26 Ford, Jamie McMurray, struggled to hold the lead, Kevin Harvick, in the number 29 Chevy bolted forward just as the eighth and final caution occurred bringing an end to the shootout. Kevin Harvick was definitely in the right place at the right time. After driving in this race for the fifth time, Kevin Harvick is now a winner of 2009’s much anticipated shootout!

There was definitely balance in competition during Saturday night’s race, but was this due to the no testing policy? It is certainly a possibility, but the rest of the season will tell. 

Monday, August 18, 2008

Kyle Busch: A True Champion?

    Just this season, Kyle Busch has won a cup race on every type of race track. Not only has he won on each race track type, but he has dominated at each. Kyle swept the cup road course races. Kyle has won at the fast tracks such as Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega. Kyle has also won on the smaller tracks such as Dover and midsize tracks such as Chicago. Kyle's domination in the cup series is incredibly impressive, but on top of that Kyle has shown domination if the other two NASCAR series as well. Solely based on the number of laps lead, qualifying positions held, and races won in all three NASCAR series, Kyle Busch appears to be a champion. But is that all it takes to be considered a champion?
    Despite Kyle's success on the track, the race fans and drivers do not seem to be falling for him. Even the broadcasters have difficulty speaking highly of the 23 year old. Can any driver be a true champion without the respect of the NASCAR community? I believe the answer is no. I think the NASCAR community would consider Dale Earnhardt a champion. Earnhardt definitely showed equal if not more talent than Kyle Busch, but there is one other thing Dale Earnhardt possessed that makes him a true champion and that is respect. Memories of Dale Earnhardt the Intimidator may be coming to many of your minds. NASCAR fans either love him or hate him.
    This love or hate relationship is what I believe distinguishes Dale Earnhardt from Kyle Busch. Most of the NASCAR community dislikes Kyle Busch, but Dale Earnhardt had respect for the other 42 drivers on the race track. He did not just drive to win pushing anyone out of his way and talking poorly of his team and fellow drivers. Kyle Busch, I believe, lacks this respect for others in the NASCAR community. This is not only evident on the race track, but off the track as well. Kyle's interviews pretty much follow two formats. This first format applies when the race goes well and Kyle speaks of how the race went and what he did to win. The second format applies when the race does not goes so well and Kyle speaks of with the other drivers did incorrectly or the mistakes of his own team. This is not a way to gain respect. In order for Kyle Busch to be considered a true champion he must earn the respect of the NASCAR community. He should begin with simply showing them some respect.

Monday, May 19, 2008

A Spectacular Weekend of Events

 Lowe’s Motor Speedway put on an exciting and especially fun weekend. The Cup weekend began with a slightly altered qualifying method in which each driver made one lap, pitted and then returned for another lap.  Kyle Busch won the Pole. The annual Pit Crew Challange was won by the team of Brian Vickers' 83 Toyota. Lowe’s also hosted a burn out competition. NASCAR appeared to be the only one who knew the rules for this new competition. The five drivers competing and the news crews had a very vague idea of what to do. This confusion made it quite funny to watch and Gregg Biffle won with the best time. On top of all this fun, the Showdown and All-Star races were spectacular. Allmendinger and Hornish Jr. pushed to the front in the Showdown and stayed there to take their two spots in the All-Star event. The All-Star race had many strong leaders. Kyle Busch smoked the field during first segment and it appeared he would be tough to beat, but did not return to the second segment due to an unknown engine problem. Carl Edwards then took the role of Kyle during the second segment, but after not touching his car during the break, the other teams caught up and he never returned to domination. Dale Jr. and Gregg Biffle proved strong during the third segment, but Biffle prevailed. Who took home the trophy? Non other that Kasey Kahne. The fan vote! This exciting race was completed without any cautions others than the mandatory ones. Saturday’s race was truly an All-Star event filled with many dominate drivers competing at their best.

Monday, March 03, 2008

And He does it Again

Carl Edwards was able to do his signature back flip for a second week in a row, even though Kyle Bush looked like the guy to beat. During the first part of this week’s Cup race, Kyle was either leading or hanging out in the top five. Kyle’s Toyota was, to put it simply, fast! In the earlier part of the week, Jack Roush complained that the Toyota’s had too much horsepower. It is definitely true, after watching Kyle, that his Toyota was strong, but Jack Roush has been the winning car owner for two weeks in a row now. What does he have to worry about? It sure seems that power is not an issue for Carl Edwards’ Ford. He drove straight to the finish line after multiple restarts, pulling far away from second place Dale Jr., who had a strong car, but cold tires. The power of this weekend’s race was divided between the Ford of Carl Edwards, the Toyota of Kyle Bush and the Chevy of Dale Jr. Jimmie Johnson, on the other hand, could have used some power. From the very beginning of the race, the 48 car was off, really off. The team even pitted before pit road was open during an early caution to spend time adjusting the car. They were never able to get it right and Jimmie ended up settling for a 29^th place finish. Las Vegas was the weekend of power issues. As we move further into the season, it will be interesting to see which make of car has the most power and why this is so. Roush believes it is Toyota and the amount of money they are spending, but we will discover whether money really does make the difference.

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Wet Weekend

After many hours of anticipation and patience, the Auto Club 500 results are in the record books! Who would of thought rain would be an issue in sunny California?! Especially in light of an over 100 degree weekend at the races there just last September! Nascar fans and drivers spent all day Sunday wondering and waiting. After tedious track drying, the race finally started at 6:00pm eastern time. Not long after the start, Casey Mears spun due to a wet spot on the track taking teammate Dale Jr. and fellow racer, Sam Hornish Jr. with him. This brought out the red flag for over an hour allowing the rain to come back. Nascar was able to get the track dry once more and begin racing again, but mother nature had something else in store. After one more red flag for rain, it was obvious the race would not be completed on Sunday. The Nascar community came back together Monday morning to finish the 500. Jeff Gordon, who dominated the laps raced on Sunday, did not find the same luck on Monday. It was Carl Edwards who charged through the field to take the ever so elusive victory!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

A Different Side of Nascar

Most Nascar related articles discuss the racing itself or topics that directly have to do with the racing, but this is not all of Nascar. There is more to the sport than “just turning left”. A particular example of this is the driver to driver, driver to team, and driver to owner relationships. Without making these relationships work, the drivers would not be able to go out on the race track and turn left each week.

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We Finally Know

After months of anticipation, many of our questions are now answered. For one, Dale Jr. fans no longer have to worry about seeing their driver in the winner’s circle. With wins in the Shootout and a Duel, not to mention a top ten in the 500, Dale Jr.’s season is already looking better than last year’s.  Watching the Gibbs’ teams these past two weeks has shown that the Toyota/Gibbs combo will definitely be a threat this season. Denny Hamlin’s Duel win and Tony’s and Kyle’s 500 success are all proof of this. With Joe Gibbs back full time, it looks like they will be a major threat this season as well. This week also showed that Hendrick Motorsports will have some competition. Penske is back in the game with a one-two finish in the 500.  And finally, despite Toyota’s disappointing premier season, they appear to be back with power. Lots of power! Will all this play out as it appears?  We have an entire season ahead of us to find out.

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Dominance: What should be done?

 Hendrick Motorsports has mastered every type of racetrack. Week in and week out their drivers are always contending for the win. The length, shape, or gradient of the race track does not matter. Whatever Hendrick Motorsports has discovered must, then be universal to all racetracks. What do they have that the other race teams are missing? It cannot be money because plenty of race teams are just as wealthy. Could it be resources, experience, motivation, passion? Who knows! The other race teams must figure it out how to obtain the secret of Hendrick Motorsports or competition will die away. If the other race teams do catch on, nascar will be a completely different sport. What if each race team was just as good as the other? Could you imagine the racing? It would be fabulous. Will the Car of Tomorrow help or hinder this? It seems it would level out competition, but that also takes away competition. Having to stick to the specific templates does not give the race teams much room for creativity. Yet with more leveled out competition, we would not have the problem of a single dominant race team as we do now. Which is worse, room for creativity and the possibility of dominance, or leveled out competition, but no room for teams to use their specific skills? As the Car of Tomorrow becomes the Car of Today, we will see.