The Weather Is Hot, So Watch For Tony Stewart To Heat Up

July 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On the last lap of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Tony Stewart (14) got a huge push from Kasey Kahne to move past leaders Matt Kenseth (17) and leader Greg Biffle (16). The victory was Stewart's third of the year.

Judging from his thrilling, last-lap victory in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, it looks like Tony Stewart is back on his game.

Now that I’ve said that, I wonder if he was ever really “off” his game.

Maybe he was a bit or maybe he just appeared to be.

Stewart has earned a reputation as a Sprint Cup driver who heats up when the weather does.

It seems for most his career Stewart has gathered most of his victories during the second half of a season.

Remember 2011? By the time the 26th race of the season at Richmond rolled around, Stewart was winless and barely holding on to a spot among the top 10 in points.

He wasn’t happy. He groused that, “This team doesn’t deserve to be in the Chase.”

But in the 10-race Chase, which began after Richmond, Stewart ripped off five victories to win the championship by a tiebreaker over Carl Edwards.

From September through November, Stewart won half of the scheduled 10 races. Talk about a late bloomer. His reputation for winning during the second half of a season was enhanced.

This year things began quite differently for Stewart.

He won two of the first five races of the season, at Las Vegas and Fontana, and rose to as high as third place in the standings.

He didn’t wait around until the weather warmed up to start winning. For him, it was the “Merry Month of March,” not May.

But afterward, Stewart’s hot start cooled down. He finished outside the top 20 five times in 10 races following his Fontana victory.

He experienced a rash of engine problems relating to the new electronic fuel injection system. It seemed he suffered more EFI woes than any other driver.

But he also had five finishes among the top five following his win at Fontana. Most important, he managed to remain among the top 10 in the standings, holding on to No. 9 as the season rolled into Daytona.

Stewart started off with a bang as he won two of the first five races of the year. One of them was at Las Vegas. Stewart routinely starts winning in the second half of a season - as he did in Daytona.

After five months perhaps many of us thought Stewart had peaked early.

But it’s hot in July in Daytona – and when it’s hot it is time to pay close attention to Stewart.

His Daytona win was his third of the season, which ties him with Brad Keselowski for the most this year. Stewart is all but assured a place in the Chase lineup.

“I think every time we come here, the field is more competitive,” Stewart said at Daytona. “And it’s proven by how many guys have a shot to win the race.

“Guys that you won’t see up front next week were guys that you saw at some point that were in the top 10 tonight.”

Like Stewart, perhaps.

“It shows how good a job everybody does at the restrictor plate tracks,” Stewart added. “And it is proof that everybody has a shot to win these things and to run in the top five when they get here.

“It’s just a matter of getting that luck on your side and being at the right place at the right time and having that opportunity.”

Stewart knows what he’s talking about. On the last lap of the Coke Zero 400, Stewart was on the high side of leader Matt Kenseth and teammate Greg Biffle.

The Roush Fenway guys had proven to be a formidable combination throughout the race. Kenseth, in fact, led 89 laps, more than any other driver. Biffle led 35.

Stewart got a tremendous shove from Kasey Kahne on the final circuit and that allowed Stewart to eke out the victory.

He had luck on his side, was at the right place at the right time and had an opportunity – as he told us.

“I knew I had a good car behind me with Kasey Kahne, obviously,” Stewart said. “Knowing that those two guys were going to be teamed up with each other on the bottom, I was surprised we got as good a restart as we did.

“Kasey did a great job of getting hooked on the bumper right away, and it seemed like we actually held our own and actually we were better on the outside than those two cars were.”

Stewart said that he and crew chief Steve Addington have had to make adjustments this season due to racing circumstances – engine problems, for example – but now all that’s left is take it as it comes.

“I’m really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and the Hendrick engine and chassis department,” Stewart said. “I’m really pleased with the first half the season.  Yes, there were some races that we lost some opportunities on, but I think there were races that we capitalized on that we haven’t been able to in the past.

“I think on the average, we’re really looking good right now. Again, I’m proud of the effort with everybody. On the average, I feel like we’re making gains.

If Stewart thinks his team is making gains, perhaps all should take heed.

After all the weather is still hot. And it’s going to remain that way for quite some time.

 

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Victory In Exciting Daytona Nationwide Race Is Redemption For Kurt Busch

July 6, 2012 By 1 Comment

The Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway was exciting and had its share of wrecks due to pack racing. Kurt Bush (No. 1) escaped this one and others to win the race.

(Editor’s Note: Mark DeCotis is a veteran journalist who spent 37 years in the newspaper business before beginning a second career combining leisure and earning a living.

He covered 26 Daytona 500s, numerous Pepsi/Coke Zero 400s, Busch/Nationwide, Trucks, more than a few Rolex 24s at Daytona, season finales at Homestead, Kevin Harvick’s emotional first win at Atlanta, IndyCar, sports car, NHRA, motorcycle, ATV and power boat racing.

His favorite race car driver interviews of all time were with 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force).

 

DAYTONA BEACH. Fla. – After more than half the field wrecked in six separate incidents in Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona, Kurt Busch played the role of survivor and won the Subway Jalapeno 250 in overtime.

He managed to get through two big wrecks including the startling one in which pre-race favorite Danica Patrick walloped the inside retaining wall off Turn 2 with such ferocity that it drove the steering column in her JR Motorsports Chevy nearly to the roof.

The lap 83 wreck was unnervingly similar to the one Patrick was involved in coming off Turn 2 during practice for February’s Daytona 500. Fortunately for her, her team and the sport she walked away.

When the smoke and sparks finally dissipated Busch found himself in victory lane in a car damaged in one of the earlier wrecks. His smoky burnout capped a wild and entertaining evening which at times saw the field running four-wide on Daytona’s narrow racing surface and, not surprisingly, ended in a wreck involving Austin Dillon and others as the field came to the checkered flag.

At least 25 of the 43 cars were damaged in wrecks and24 of the 101 laps were run under caution. But the race did set a track record for lead changes with 42 involving 16 drivers.

Danica Patrick qualified and ran well in the race and might have had an excellent shot at victory had not she been involved in one of the race's multi-car crashes.

Unfortunately the attendance was sparse by Daytona standards. And those who stayed home missed a show that left Kurt Busch emotionally spent in victory lane – and his brother Kyle steaming in his wrecked car that he skidded to a stop just yards away while heading the wrong way on pit road following the finish.

If NASCAR was planning to penalize the sport’s premier pouter for the bonehead move was not immediately determined.

All that didn’t faze Kurt Busch.

“We just won at Daytona,” he exulted. “I’m hoarse because I’ve been screaming so loud. This is awesome.”

The victory marks a step toward redemption for the volatile Busch. He was suspended from his James Finch-owned ride in the Sprint Cup Series in June after a run-in with a reporter that followed his being put on probation after a run in with driver Ryan Newman and Newman’s team at Darlington.

He was retained after the Finch team voted to keep him in the driver’s seat and hopefully the victory was his first payment on the debt he owes.

“I’ve got only a couple of things to give and that’s heart and that’s passion,” Busch said.

Surely Finch will accept his driver’s effort and the first-place check that can only help his underfunded and understaffed operation.

While the riveting action up front kept the crowd on its feet, Dillon came from the back after his Richard Childress Racing Chevy failed post-qualifying inspection that negated his pole-winning run.

He eventually led and finished fourth sliding sideways across the finish line. It continued a wild two weeks that saw he and his team penalized for a failing post-race inspection following his first career victory at Kentucky.

“I never got really worried about getting to the front, I thought we had a car capable of getting there,” Dillon said.

As for the penalties: “We made another mistake that’s two in a row,” Dillon said. “My grandfather (Childress) is upset with the guys. It’s like ‘Man, we’ve got to stop doing that. We’ve got to be on our game.’ ”

Kurt Busch was surely on his game in winning for the fifth time in 23 career Nationwide starts and for the second time this season, the first for Finch. He won at Richmond in a Kyle Busch Motorsports car.

“It means more to me but it means more to these guys,” Busch said of his team. “I’m happy we were able to deliver. I couldn’t be more proud of this team effort tonight.

“We didn’t give up. It’s not vindication. You want to win for James Finch.”

As for his up and down career that has seen him lose Cup rides at Roush Racing and Penske Racing due to his mercurial nature, and whether the victory could put him on the right path, Busch maintained Friday night was not about him.

“When you win for James Finch in just a few starts in the Nationwide Series for these guys that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “I don’t care about me right now.”

 

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JUNIOR SAYS: At Charlotte, Darrell Won At Last And ‘Awesome Bill’ Wasn’t So Awesome

February 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Darrell Waltrip finally broke through a losing streak in 1985 with Junior when, at Charlotte, he not only won The Winston, but also the Coca-Cola World 600.

Darrell Waltrip won the first running of The Winston at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 1985, to get his first victory of any kind that season.

Until NASCAR’s version of an “all star” race, the only driver in the Junior Johnson & Associates stable to win a race was Neil Bonnett, who won twice in the year’s first 10 races at Rockingham and North Wilkesboro.

 Junior felt – knew – it was time for Waltrip and his team to pick up the pace if they wanted to earn a third Winston Cup championship.

But even that might not get the job done. Young Bill Elliott was on a tear. He won five superspeedway races through the early portion of the season and stood in first place in the point standings.

He was also poised to win a $1 million bonus. If he could win the Coca-Cola World 600, the final and most important event of race week at Charlotte, the money was his.

For Junior the perfect scenario at Charlotte would be for Waltrip to win the race and, in so doing, take the measure of Elliott.

It wouldn’t be easy – if at all possible.

 

Junior’s contributions to www.motorsportsunplugged.com

 will appear every other Friday throughout the season.

 

I don’t care how controversial the finish was – the engine in Darrell’s Chevrolet blew just after he crossed the finish line – winning the inaugural The Winston was a real tonic for Junior Johnson & Associates.

Darrell finally won a race in 1985 and while it wasn’t a points-paying event, it removed any doubts that he could get the job done and the team could prepare a winning car for him.

I reckon the only concern I had was if we could provide a car that would let Darrell win a 500-mile race instead of one that lasted just 105 miles.

It turns out we couldn’t – seems we gave him a car that won a 600-mile race.

When Waltrip swept Charlotte in his Budweiser Chevrolet, he not only provided momentum for Junior's team, he also stalled, briefly, Bill Elliott's dominance.

That race was the Coca-Cola World 600, held at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, the day after The Winston.

The atmosphere for that race was unlike any other I had experienced. It seems the media, fans – heck, everybody – had a very strong interest in the outcome.

That’s because Bill Elliott came to CMS with the chance to win The Winston Million, which was a program that awarded $1 million to any driver who could win three of four selected races.

Bill had already won five superspeedway races coming into Charlotte and among them were the Daytona 500 and the Talladega 500.

If he won at Charlotte he’d pocket that $1 million before the season was half over.

So all eyes were on Bill. I felt some sympathy for the guy. He told everyone he dreaded coming to Charlotte and I could see why.

He didn’t get a minute’s peace. He was hounded by the media and his fans almost everywhere he went – pits, garage area, you name it. I don’t think he had much private time at all.

Now, while I felt a little bit sorry for him, I wasn’t all that sorry. After all, the guy was No. 1 in points. He was the driver we had to beat to win another championship and, through the first 10 races of the season, we hadn’t come close to doing it. No one else had either, for that matter.

I thought that all the distractions he endured at Charlotte might just take away from his race preparation. Of course, I wasn’t sure. But I was sure that if Darrell was in the same position, well, it wouldn’t be a good thing.

Danged if Bill didn’t win the pole. So much for distractions.

I had never seen as many fans attend a Charlotte race as I did when the 600 began. I don’t think there was an empty seat in the place and the infield was full. I was told later there were 155,000 or more in attendance.

Bill sure had strong drawing power, I’ll say that.

But those that came to see Bill win $1 million were disappointed, and in very short order.

He did lead the first 13 laps but he quickly fell off the pace – which was something no one had seen so far in 1985.

Bill had to drop out of the race with brake failure. And by the time his team made repairs and got him back on the track he was 21 laps down.

He wasn’t going to earn a million bucks that day.

Meanwhile, Darrell raced to the front and was quickly in contention for the victory.

Harry Gant – it seemed that guy was always up front – led laps 328-390 of the race’s 400 laps and then pitted for fuel. That gave Darrell the lead.

Then, after Darrell’s stop for gas, his wife Stevie, who was in our pits figuring gas mileage, got real concerned. She said she didn’t think Darrell had enough fuel to finish the race. He was going to be three or four laps short.

Here we go again, I thought. Once more we may lose a race we should win.

I decided to let Darrell remain on the track. If he was gonna run out of gas, durn it, it would be while going for the win.

I thought he could make it. Well, let’s say I hoped he could make it.

He did, barely. He beat Harry and then ran out of gas on the cool-down lap. That’s cutting it close.

The victory was a real relief for Darrell and me. It was our first points-paying victory of the season. It ended an early-season slump and gave us some real momentum for the remainder of the year.

By sweeping the weekend at Charlotte, we earned nearly $500,000. It ain’t a million bucks, but it’s big-time money. I didn’t mind that a bit.

Like I said, the 600 victory was a big boost for us.

But then, while he might not have been able to do much at Charlotte, I had the strong feeling we hadn’t seen the last of Bill Elliott.

 

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Shootout Evidence: Big-Pack Racing May Mean Exciting Daytona 500

February 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
dale

Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes the big-pack racing that has returned to Daytona. But he thinks that for it to have fewer incidents, drivers are going to have forget about blocking.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the racing we’ve seen so far at Daytona International Speedway is any indication, this year’s Daytona 500 may be one of the best ever.

Sunday’s opening events, the ARCA race and the Budweiser Shootout, provided plenty of evidence that the 500 could again produce a close, exciting finish.

Both races saw wild, unpredictable conclusions. And the Shootout brought back the high-speed, big-pack racing fans demanded. Pack racing returned with a “bang” – get it?

Bobby Gerhart, who owns ARCA events at Daytona, emerged as the winner in that sanctioning body’s first race of the season.
The veteran started 42nd – due to a penalty after qualifying – and then played ideal fuel strategy to snatch the victory away from several cars ahead of him on the last lap.

Admittedly, Gerhart was helped when a few in front of him, including leader Brandon McReynolds, ran out of gas.
But his improbable victory thrilled the fans. Gerhart has now won the Daytona ARCA race eight times, including the last three in a row.
The Shootout brought back many memories – not all of them good.

Gone was the tandem drafting so prevalent at Daytona and Talladega and so reviled by many, drivers and fans alike.
Instead it was back to the old days of the tight packs, when cars raced two and three abreast, lap after lap.

But remember the “big one?” You know, that metal crunching, multicar wreck that often took out many of the top competitors?

Well, it’s back. We saw that in the Shootout – more than once.

But we also saw about 60 percent of the field decimated by wrecks and four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon involved in the most frightening accident of his career.

Gordon’s Chevrolet slid and barrel rolled two and one-half times due, he said, to a lack of downforce and bump drafting. He was uninjured.
Kyle Busch displayed some remarkable skill as he twice saved his car from spinning out.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then drove his smoking and sparking Toyota past Tony Stewart at the finish line to win by 0.013-second, the closest finish in Shootout history.

Yes sir, it was all good stuff on Sunday at Daytona.

And hopefully it will be the same in the Daytona 500.

However, there are some issues.

As thrilling as its finish was, the Shootout was still a thumping, bruising mess that tore up several cars and left one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers on his roof.
This is, again, what we have now after the tandem drafting of last season.

The two-car drafting on a roomier track isn’t what everyone – including drivers – wanted. They preferred the packs. They wanted the fields to be knotted up. They wanted the higher risk of mangling, multicar wrecks.

The Shootout had all of that but it also had the type of finish that has characterized NASCAR and made Daytona what it is.

So, to me, the ideal solution would be to have a race that features all that everyone wants and still allows most of the cars to finish.
Can that solution be found?

Frankly I don’t think there is much NASCAR can do and I am not sure it intends to do much of anything. Which, I think, is fine with the competitors. They have their preference.

“I like this racing better,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., the victim of a crash. “I think we have really made a lot of improvements and I have more of my destiny in my hands in this type of racing.”

“This is a lot more fun than the two-car stuff,” said Stewart, the defending Sprint Cup champion. “You are still going to see two-car stuff at the end of the race, I think.

“The good thing is it is a lot more fun running in the traditional pack than what we have had here in the past so I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a fun week.”

While it might be fun, it certainly can’t be fun when a driver is taken out of a race – and his car wrecked beyond repair – by being involved in a “big one.”
And that will happen in big-pack racing.

There doesn’t appear to be a solution.

But several competitors maintain there are ways the number of negative elements of big-pack racing can be reduced – and they fall on the drivers’ shoulders.
First they have to know, and appreciate, what they are getting into.

Kevin Harvick thinks drivers are going to have to bump draft only when proper and use a lot of patience in the race if mishaps are going to be avoided.

“I think the biggest problem is that in tandem racing, it has been so easy for these guys to stay attached and some of them haven’t raced in big-pack racing,” said Kevin Harvick, also involved in a wreck. “You get those big runs and things are going happen a lot faster than they used to.”
Second, they have to learn what not to do and exercise patience.

“There really is no place for blocking any more,” said Earnhardt Jr. “If a guy got a run on me I just point him to a lane so he knew where he could safely go. I would get him back if I could.”

“When the closing rate is that fast it’s hard to know where to put anybody. But I do know you can’t be blocking like hell.”

“All the wrecks in the race were caused by people hitting the left rear of the car,” said Harvick, referring to improper bump drafting. “You just can’t hit guys in the left rear. “It takes a little bit of patience and a little bit of thinking on the parts of everybody. You just have to be patient.”

Perhaps the Gatorade Duels on Thursday will be a bit saner given that drivers may have learned, or re-learned, about racing in big packs.
Perhaps.

And it could be that the Daytona 500 is as exciting as anticipated without any mayhem.
Yeah, it could be.

But consider that in big-pack racing all it takes is one mistake, one mental lapse or a lack of patience – which will be abundant with, say, five laps to go – to create a melee.

Which is likely to happen in the Daytona 500.

“It’s a heavy race,” said Earnhardt Jr. “It’s a pretty big deal to win and there are going to be a lot of guys excited about their prospects of winning it. Maybe being 500 miles, the guys might use a little better judgment.

“But I doubt it.”

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A Realization: It Is Finally Time To Let Dale Earnhardt Go

February 17, 2012 By 1 Comment

 It’s time to move on now; time to make peace with the past, heal our gaping wounds and start living our lives again.

I was his biggest fan. Well, one of his biggest. When we lost him I walked away from the sport.
Over the years I wrote about him and that helped.

Whenever I saw a program about his life and career I would wind up weeping. I was compelled to watch and I watched it all. Movies, interviews, documentaries, specials were all watched, taped, saved and purchased.

Eventually, after a six-year, self-imposed break, I was pulled back into the sport. It was a tough transition and I found I had no one to root for that I felt passionately.

I still wrote; I wrote about NASCAR and about him.

I found that I could embrace the sport easily if I was merely a fan of NASCAR itself and not concern myself personally with individual drivers. This allowed for a lack of bias that strengthened my effectiveness as a writer.
Still, my heart was heavy and my willingness to let go staunch.

He was not so much my hero although I loved his heroism. It was the fact he was revered by so many. For moments in his life he seemed not only incredibly talented but also invincible. I saw him walk away from a horrendous crash in Talladega and put his car on the pole at Watkins Glen the very next weekend.

Invincible.

Except, he wasn’t.

When he died I was incredulous. How could he be taken?
The NASCAR Nation mourned collectively.

We took cues from point man Darrell Waltrip who showed we could cry whenever the mood struck. DW also showed us we could keep going; life didn’t stop for the rest of us.

NASCAR kept moving. The fans cheered for his son. I was despondent; nobody was him.
I took a hiatus that I thought might last forever. But, seeing my husband’s passion for the sport we had once shared continue without me, I realized I better make a move to regain that connection. All too often spouses grow apart; I didn’t want to be a statistic. I love my husband far too much.

Watching races wasn’t high on my list of priorities, but I listened to pre- and post-race programming. I learned the new cast of characters’ names, memorized car numbers in relation to drivers’ names, and tried to stay current with who was running well in the NCWTS and NNS, the future stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

I courted Tony Stewart in 2008, but broke up with him as my driver before the year was over. My boys became fans of Jeff Gordon who I always liked from the time he ascended to Cup, but he wasn’t my driver.

Over the years I realized that I am a “fan” of any driver at the top level – NCWTS, NNS, or Sprint Cup – who has the potential to win at any given race. I admire the level at which they perform and what it took to reach this pinnacle of their career.

Now I enjoy writing about all NASCAR topics, from the era in which I began watching (1990), to the distant past, to the present.
And I was finally able to let him go last year, the 10th anniversary of his death. I could finally lay him to rest.
Sure I still miss him, will watch specials about him, and smile wistfully when I see his black No.3 Goodwrench Chevy, but I’m ready to face a future without him.

It’s time.
It’s long past time.

So I close the chapter of Dale Earnhardt as I smile bravely into the horizon. NASCAR has become a huge fabric in my life. Earnhardt will always have a place in my heart, but now I need to move on entirely.

It’s time to let go of Dale.

http://chief187.com

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Change Is Inevitable And More To Come Soon In 2012

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of NASCAR's goals this year, as it makes - again - competitive changes, is to find a way to eradicate the two-car drafts that have become the norm at Daytona and other superspeedways. If it does so, hopefully what results is a better product.

As it is with everything and everyone, change is inevitable. This is, obviously, true in NASCAR.

Since the end of the 2011 Cup season the stock car landscape has been altered considerably. You don’t have to be reminded about the teams that no longer exist, the sponsors that have jumped ship, the crew chiefs who have switched jobs and the drivers who have new rides for 2012 – or none at all.

Yes, change is inevitable. But when enforced by NASCAR, everyone does not always accept it. In fact, it’s safe to say that many competitors, fans and media members have taken serious issue with the sanctioning body’s decisions.

Expect more competitive changes in 2012 – perhaps as early as Daytona testing later this week and almost certainly before the Daytona 500 on Feb. 26.

Last season we saw a new phenomenon on the superspeedways. It was the two-car draft; created when teams discovered they could go faster when they hooked up one-on-one rather than run in the long, freight-train packs they once did.

The strategy was simple, really. All had a driver had to do was find the right “dance partner” and, under certain circumstances, they could pull away from the rest of the field, which could catch up only if it did the same thing.

Rival teams even chatted via radio offering strategy – like which “partner” should assume the lead because the other’s water temperature was rising.

Everyone did not accept this phenomenon, yet another change, competitors, fans and many media members included.

Now the teams that ran well amid this new style of racing didn’t hesitate to praise it. Fans of drivers who won or whose performances improved found it satisfactory.

Of course, drivers who didn’t do well, and their fans, were displeased with the situation. The media? Well, the media is always cynical, but their opinions varied.

Reckon NASCAR didn’t like what it saw, either. It’s been trying to get rid of the two-car draft ever since it came into existence.

In other words, it is attempting, again, to enforce change.

In 2011 it addressed this situation with changes to carburetor restrictor plate sizes and alterations to the cooling systems, among other things. Nothing worked.

That hasn’t deterred NASCAR. It has come up with more changes that are intended to break up the two-car draft. Among other things, smaller openings and radiators will affect engine cooling.

That’s just a small part of what teams will have to deal with in testing.

The coming season will be the first in which fuel injection will be required. Rear springs are going to be softened. The rear spoiler has been shortened. And, yet again, there will be changes to the restrictor plates.

These are dramatic alterations from this same time last season. They are going to put a burden on the teams during a three-day test. But it’s likely they will have it all figured out before the 500 – unless more changes are enacted, of course.

Will it all mean the successful end to the two-car draft and be replaced by something new at Daytona?

That remains to be seen, of course, but in one man’s opinion, it’s not likely.

If there comes a new style of racing on the superspeedways hopefully it will be one of which the majority approves.

I have been fortunate to see just about every style of racing on the superspeedways over the decades and, in my opinion, none was better than what I call “the original.”

There were no restrictor plates. Cars were, at first, aerodynamically inferior. The constant was the draft and teams utilized it masterfully, making passes and changing positions lap after lap.

The finish was usually exciting and routinely featured the “slingshot” pass the draft created, made by the second or third-place driver on the last lap. Almost always the leader was a goner.

But when speeds increased to well over 200 mph and cars could more readily be involved in frightening, airborne crashes – drivers (and insurance companies) were keenly aware and wary of this – NASCAR had to make changes.

Speeds had to be dramatically reduced. Thus the carburetor restrictor plates came into existence.

The cars were indeed slower, however, most races were boring. Drivers hooked up in the draft only to stay there, creating the long packs of side-by-side racing.

If he could help it, a driver never attempted a pass without drafting help from others. To do it alone meant to be shuffled to the rear of the field. The “slingshot pass” was long gone.
Without that pass, many times the guy leading the field on the last lap stood the best chance at victory. Seldom did we see anything exciting or unexpected.

If nothing else, the current two-car draft allows for more drama. It is fascinating to see a couple of drivers hook up and outrun everyone else – at least for a time.

The drama comes in when the time comes for the two-car hookups to contend with each other; when one or more behind the leader has to make a move.

And 2011 showed us that one positive element of the two-car draft was that it had a tendency to allow anyone the chance to win.

How else could you explain the fact that Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon drafted so well together that Bayne became the totally unexpected first-time 500 winner?

Hey, put Boys aside. The point is that it could have been anyone in a two-car draft. The possibilities were endless.

One thing negative about this style of racing is the constant chatter between teams. Teammates doing so are acceptable, but when rivals do it, it’s bogus. That NASCAR wants to do away with it should be one change universally praised.

Since it is obvious the sanctioning body has its sights set on eliminating the two-car draft, the hope here is that it what it does results in something better.

However, whatever happens, NASCAR won’t please everybody. Never has and never will.

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If Evidence Is Anything, Edwards Earns Title Sooner Than Later

December 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
Edwards

Carl Edwards did all he could to win his first career Cup championship in 2011. He was the points leader for most of the Chase, but in the last race of the year he gave way to Tony Stewart, who won five times in the last 10 races. Edwards has learned from the experience and should again be a title contender.

If most of the media picked up on the vibes Carl Edwards emitted during Champion’s Week in Las Vegas, which I think they did, they got the sense that the Roush Fenway Racing driver enjoyed himself.

But he also clearly felt the disappointment of losing the Sprint Cup championship by the closest margin in NASCAR history.

Shoot, do you really have to be told that? NASCAR drivers are intense competitors who love to win and hate to lose.

To have a championship within grasp only to see it snatched away at the last moment has to be agonizingly frustrating.

Throughout NASCAR’s history there have been many types of competitors, ranging from those who raced as an expensive hobby, to those who won multiple championships and became legends.

There have also been some who have come very close to winning a championship, but never did so throughout their careers.

I don’t think Edwards is going to be one of them.

First, if experience in championship tussles means anything, Edwards has lots of it. He finished third in 2005, second in 2008 and fourth in 2010.

Of course, there followed the 2011 season. Edwards was the point leader going into the final race at Homestead, where he finished second.

Unfortunately, rival Tony Stewart won the race to forced a tie in points with Edwards at 2,403.

Stewart became champ on the tiebreaker, which was the most seasonal wins. Stewart had five – all in the Chase – and Edwards had only one. That proved to be his Achilles’ heel.

Second, Edwards has said that, rather than succumb to disappointment and continually bemoan his fate, he is going to learn from the experience and do just a bit better in 2012.

Edwards knows, and has told us more than once, that his team was clearly championship caliber in 2011. At no time during the Chase did he, or it, make a mistake too large to overcome.

Nor did either give in to Stewart and his Stewart-Haas team. As the season came to an end, Edwards and Stewart fought for every point they earned in the Chase. One never attained a significant gain over the other.

Edwards lost the title by, perhaps, the only way he could have: because of a scintillating, come-from-behind performance in the Chase by Stewart.

Edwards looks at racing as his career, during which he wants to get better with each passing season. Therefore, he looks at 2011 as a stepping stone, something from which he has learned valuable lessons.

He vows he will not let emotions rule performance. If he slips competitively in 2012 it won’t be because “We got messed up in the head over not winning the championship.”

Let’s add proper attitude to experience as another ingredient for a championship.

Edwards has both.

Which is why I think that sooner or later – most likely sooner – he’s going to earn one.

As an aside, it’s going to be interesting to see how hard Edwards presses for victories next year. Something else I suspect he learned in 2011 is that the more he wins, the better his chances will be to emerge a champion if it all goes down to the wire.

If the outcome was disappointing, nevertheless Edwards’ championship run was the high-water mark for the Roush organization in 2011.

Edwards and his team took the lead in the four-car organization. Those that followed had seasons rated very good to unexpectedly unproductive.

Matt Kenseth was the only other Roush driver to join Edwards in the Chase. After the reseeding, he was fourth in points with two wins, one position ahead of Edwards.

Kenseth had five top-five finishes in the Chase, including a victory at Charlotte.

Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth (left) put up some good numbers for Roush Fenway Racing and joined Edwards as the only team drivers to make the Chase. Greg Biffle did not have the type of season expected of him and wasn't eligible for the Chase. He was 15th in points when the 10-race "playoff" began.

He rose as high as second in points following Talladega, the sixth race of the Chase, but finishes of 31st at Martinsville and 34th at Phoenix greased the path for his fourth-place standing at season’s end.

Kenseth, the 2004 champ, can certainly claim another title for Roush. His team can, and does, win races. However, perhaps a little more consistency would seal the deal.

Greg Biffle never figured in the Chase. With no wins, only one top-five finish and seven among the top 10, when the Chase began he was 15th in points and on the outside looking in.

I’m pretty sure Biffle – and Roush – are not pleased with all of that and I don’t think it’s too harsh to say that something needs to be done at Biffle’s team. I strongly suspect that is something the organization already knows.

With his victory in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, David Ragan won his first career a long way toward fulfilling the potential Jack Roush saw in him.

Ragan flirted with making the Chase, hoping that the victory would be enough to land him in one of the final two slots in the 12-car field.

It didn’t work out that way and Ragan finished 19th in points.

It seems all but certain he won’t be with Roush next year. The UPS sponsorship his team enjoyed has moved on and with no new financial backing on the horizon, Roush has released Ragan to search for work elsewhere (Penske?).

It appears Roush will be a three-car team next year – and it still needs to locate sponsorship for Kenseth’s team.

While Roush may be one of several organizations downsizing – or closing – because of the economic situation, I don’t think anyone should be surprised if it puts, at the very least, one car into the Chase in 2012.

Nor should we be surprised if that car is driven by Carl Edwards.

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2011 Had Its ‘Top Moments,’ But History Was Also Made

December 12, 2011 By 1 Comment

 

Stewart

Tony Stewart's five victories in the Chase and his battle with Carl Edwards for the Sprint Cup championship were considered two of the most memorable moments of the 2011 season. The championship was unprecedented as Stewart and Edwards tied in points, but Stewart won because he had more wins.

Already multiple presentations on the “top moments” of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season have been published or broadcast and, quite frankly, I’m inclined to agree with most of them.

I certainly agree with many others that Jeff Gordon’s 85th career victory at Atlanta was memorable. Gordon, the four-time champion, won three times in 2011 and is now in sole possession of third place on NASCAR’s all-time victory list.

I won’t argue with those who listed Danica Patrick’s achievement as one of the season’s best moments. Patrick finished fourth at Las Vegas in March to set the record as not only the highest finish recorded by a female driver in Nationwide Series competition, but also as tops among all females in any NASCAR national series event.

Patrick broke the long-standing mark of fifth place set in 1949 by Sara Christian in Heidelberg, Pa.

As you know, many more memorable achievements have been mentioned and I daresay all of them deserve a place on anyone’s list.

But I think I’ll go a little further. In 2011, the accomplishments of many were more than “top moments.”

Because of who they are, what they achieved and where they achieved it, all made the 2011 season unique – and even historical.

Frankly, some things happened this past season that have never happened before in NASCAR’s history.

Patrick’s accomplishment is one of them.

But there are many more. And that’s part of the reason 2011 was a unique season.

Consider Tony Stewart. That he won five races in the Chase – his only five wins of the season, by the way – to come from ninth in points to a championship in just 10 races is worthy, by itself, as a “top moment.”

But what makes it more compelling, and history making, is that Stewart won a championship battle that was unlike any other in NASCAR’s existence.

At the end of the season’s final race at Homestead Stewart and rival Carl Edwards were tied for No. 1 in points at 2,403 apiece.

That was a first in NASCAR and it meant the champ would be crowed via the tiebreaker: the driver with the most wins. That hadn’t happened before, either.

That was Stewart with five – all of them, ironically, earned in the Chase. Edwards had only one victory for the season.

The unprecedented closeness of the championship fight was even more impressive, and unique, by its very nature.

Stewart and Edwards raged mortal combat. Unlike how it has been many times in the past, neither made a mistake to give the title to the other.

They stood toe-to-toe and slugged it out. They finished within one position of each other in three of the last four races – and never out of the top 10.

It was truly a scrap for a championship and not one decided by a twist of fate.

Smith

Regan Smith (left) and Trevor Bayne were two of the four first-time winners in 2011. The others were David Ragan and Paul Menard. These drivers not only won for the first time, they won four of NASCAR's most prestigious and popular races.

Yes, Stewart’s five victories are memorable. But the very character of the 2011 championship was unlike any other in NASCAR.

First-time winners always carve a niche for themselves in any season. So it was in 2011, but with a couple of notable exceptions.

Perhaps at no other time in NASCAR were there so many first-time winners. But what makes it all so much more unique is not that they won, but where they won.
I daresay few ever heard of Trevor Bayne, the young driver under contract with Jack Roush who was lent to the Wood Brothers for selected Cup races in 2011.

At age 20 years and one day, Bayne led the final six laps to win the Daytona 500 in only his second Cup start. It was the fourth 500 victory for the Woods team and the 600th for Ford.

Bayne isn’t the first surprise Daytona winner. But, unlike so often in the past, he didn’t win because circumstances turned in his favor. He won because he was competitive and raced like a veteran.

At Furniture Row Racing, Regan Smith was thought of as one of those guys competing with a second-tier team who was most likely to run at the rear of any race.

But, as improbable as it was, Smith, who had no wins, top-fives or top-10s in 104 starts, won the venerated Southern 500 at Darlington.

He led the final 11 laps and held off Edwards by 0.198-second to win.

Many considered Paul Menard as the weakest link in the four-car chain of teams at Richard Childress Racing. Feel free to disagree, of course.

But Menard proved, nicely, that he could win. He did so for the first time in his career in the Brickyard 500 at Indianapolis. He outgunned Gordon, a four-time Indy winner, to earn the victory.

Twenty-five-year-old David Ragan earned his way to a ride with Roush and was, essentially, “under development” for a successful Cup career.

He took a huge step in that direction when he won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July. Before he gained his first career victory, the best Ragan had finished was third, three times.

Five first-time winners – including Marcos Ambrose at Watkins Glen – would make any season memorable. But 2011 was a bit more so.

Four drivers who won – Bayne, Smith, Ragan and Menard – did so at three of NASCAR’s most prestigious venues and in four of its most distinguished and popular races, the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Coke Zero 400 and the Brickyard 400.

I can heartily assure you that it’s never happened before in NASCAR.

It’s a first in a season I thought had more than its share of them.

Which means that while we all got the chance to see more “top moments” in NASCAR, we also had the opportunity to witness history being made.

That does not happen very often.

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Was This Season The Best Ever? Facts, Figures And History Suggest Yes

November 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bayne

Young Trevor Bayne, who surprisingly won the Daytona 500, was one of five new winners in the 2011 Sprint Cup season, which, along with the intense, hotly-contested battle for the championship between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, helped make the year the best, competitively, in NASCAR's long history.

NASCAR tells us that the 2011 Sprint Cup season was the most competitive in the series’ history.

Yeah, well, we’ve heard this before. As best I recall, when each past season was completed, the sanctioning body always proclaimed that it was the “best ever” or “one of the best ever” or “filled with highly competitive races” and provided us with random numbers to back up the claims.

Which is the kind of spin NASCAR should put on each season. But then, not anyone paid much attention, especially the cynical media.

However, this season, what NASCAR proclaims should be heeded because – at least in one man’s opinion – what transpired in 2011 may indeed have shaped the most competitive and unique year in the sport’s history.

There are a lot of statistics to support that, which will be listed later. But forget the numbers for now. To me it all boils down to a couple of irrefutable facts.

Tony Stewart won this year’s championship by a tiebreaker over Carl Stewart. Both finished the season with 2,403 points. Stewart was declared the titlist because he had five wins on the season to only one for Edwards.

It was the first time a championship had ever been decided by a tiebreaker – and, to a great extent, that satisfied the demand by many that a driver with the most wins should be champ.

And, as the season came to a close, Stewart and Edwards truly decided the matter between themselves. Over the final three races of the Chase they stood toe-to-toe like two bloodied heavyweight fighters. They exchanged punches and neither fell.

Stewart won at Martinsville and Edwards was second. Edwards finished second at Phoenix and Stewart was third. Stewart won at Homestead for his fifth win of the year and, in response, Edwards did the best he could – he led the most laps but finished second.

Neither driver gave away a title because of poor preparation, a mistake or an unfortunate on-track incident. It was simply man-against-man until the end.

I’d call that great season-ending competition for a championship, the type of which NASCAR and its fans rarely see. And, as said, the result was historical.

But NASCAR points out there was more to the year than just the final weeks of an intense championship season.

There was an average of 27.1 lead changes per race in 2011, the most in Cup competition. There was an average of 12.8 leaders per event, again a record since the series began in 1949.

Records were also set for margin of victory (1.321 seconds) and green-flag passes (131,989).

Eighteen different drivers won races in 2011, one short of the all-time record established in 2202.

But, to me, what is more significant here – and what further makes the 2011 season unique – is who those drivers were and the races they won.

At age 20, Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 and became the youngest driver ever to win a Sprint Cup race.

He won driving a Wood Brothers Ford, which returned the venerable team to victory lane and enhanced its reputation as one of the most successful on the superspeedways. It brought back memories of the glory days with David Pearson.

Regan Smith drove for Furniture Row Racing, a team considered as likely to win as a plow horse in the Kentucky Derby.

But Smith stunned everyone with his victory in the Southern 500 at Darlington. That he won was surprising enough but where he did was even more so.

Darlington is the oldest superspeedway in NASCAR and is considered its toughest and most demanding. To win there is one of the greatest accomplishments in stock car racing.

Smith did just that and now has his name listed alongside those of Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, Earnhardt and Gordon.

Hard to imagine but true – the young, upstart Smith is part of NASCAR lore.

David Ragan proved to team owner Jack Roush, and to all of us, that his potential was indeed real when he won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July to earn the first victory of his career.

Thus, improbably, both Daytona races of 2011 featured first-time winners.

Paul Menard’s family is steeped in racing tradition, much of which includes Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With Richard Childress Racing Menard won the Brickyard 400 in 2011 for his first career Sprint Cup victory – and at the track so much a part of his family’s competitive life.

As unlikely as the victory was it was more so emotionally and, let’s face it, historically. It was Hollywood stuff.

When Marcos Ambrose won at Watkins Glen to claim his first NASCAR victory it wasn’t all that surprising. It was thought all along that if the Australian should win it would be on a road course.

Nevertheless it was, to this point, the culmination of Ambrose’s NASCAR career.

He sacrificed much to make it happen, which included giving up residence in Tasmania to come to the United States, and endure uncertainty and all that comes with it.

The victory has enhanced his formidable reputation in his home country and did as much for NASCAR’s international presence.

The year indeed saw five new winners. But at no other time in NASCAR’s history did they win the races they did in a single season.

Let’s face it, while it’s true many thought Ambrose might break through on a road course, no one – and I mean no one – could predict that Bayne, Smith, Ragan and Menard won at three of NASCAR’s most storied tracks and in four of its most celebrated races.

The championship battle was intense, riveting and unprecedented. The new winners, and where they won, were historic. The numbers showed us competitive records were established.

The 2011 Sprint Cup season was unique and, to date, the best in NASCAR’s history.

Yeah, we have indeed heard that before. But this time it’s not hype. It is fact.

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In NASCAR Two Car Drafts Closing Up

July 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment


The popular, or newly discovered type of tandem drafting that the Sprint Cup drivers use at plate races are tightening up. Now that the drivers have learned more, the two car drafts become packs. The downside is that the driver behind is letting the front car steer.
www.motorsportsunplugged.com

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