NASCAR Notebook: Bristol
Barry F. Hess
August 25, 2006
Thunder Valley is the Place to Be
There is no place on earth like Bristol Motor Speedway.
If the tremendous banking on the super short half mile track doesn’t wreck you, the thunderous bumping and grinding between the 43 car field certainly will.
Drivers up and down the field will be forced to make split second decisions on where to drive their car in various points of the race, choose correctly and they will be rewarded with the opportunity to make a dozen or so more mistakes before the checkered flag flies.
With qualifying set for 3:30 eastern time Friday afternoon the teams will also be competing against the clock, as final practice is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. this evening and the green flag flies about 24 hours from then.
Simply put, the teams that unload a good handling race car from the get go will be contending for a win, teams that need to make adjustment after adjustment come race time…won’t.
Experience, patients and the all important lady luck on your side is what the driver who ends up in Victory Lane will need to get him through one of the most difficult and unique tracks in all of motor sports.
Jeff Gordon certainly knows a thing or two about getting around Bristol Motor Speedway, the four time Cup Champion has several wins on the infamous short track and will be looking for yet another Saturday night as well as the opportunity to solidify his position in the Chase with just three races remaining.
Gordon, currently sixth in points after earning a second place finish in Michigan last Sunday, started from the outside pole in this race last year before finishing sixth and of course was leading the spring race in Thunder Valley before he was sent spinning by Matt Kenseth in a battle for the lead.
Expect another strong qualifying run from the No. 24 DuPont Chevy team as they prepare to make a run at a fifth Nextel Cup Championship.
They say rookie drivers can’t perform well in Bristol.
They say rookie drivers don’t have the experience and patients to maneuver around the small track without wrecking half the field with them.
Rookie Denny Hamlin, however, has proven time after time this season that he is not a typical rookie in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Hamlin, who swept the Pocono races from the pole and is currently eighth in points, earned a respectable 14th place finish in his first go around in Thunder Valley after starting from the 33rd position.
After proving he was more than capable of making his way through the treacherous field he will look to improve on that finish Saturday night as he looks to be the only rookie that qualifies for the Chase.
Hamlin has proven time after time that when underestimated he and the No. 11 FedEx Chevy team have the capability of sneaking up right behind you and catching you off guard.
With 12 top 10 finishes to his credit thus far look for Hamlin to keep his No. 11 Chevy in contention all night long and compete for his third win of 2006.
Tony Stewart nearly led half the laps in the spring race in Bristol before eventually being passed and finishing 12th.
After finishing inside the top 10 four straight races look for Stewart, who also has a win in Bristol, to have a similar performance as last year’s Cup champion prepares to defend his title.
Don’t be surprised to see the No. 20 Home Depot Chevy on the pole once again but the question in August is can he hold the lead once he gets it as he failed to do in March.
Coming off his third victory of 2006 Matt Kenseth has to be one of the few drivers heading into Bristol Saturday night with a big smile on his face.
Whether or not he leaves the Volunteer state with that very same smile is something only 500 laps around the half mile track will tell.
Kenseth, who won this race one year ago in a mad dash to make the Chase, has proven to be an eloquent short track racer with wins not only in Bristol but Dover, a similar track, as well.
Look for the No. 17 DeWalt Ford to qualify mid-pack, as always, and work his way through the field en route to a solid finish that may all but mathematically guarantee himself a spot in the Chase.
Prediction: It is almost impossible to make any sort of predications about Bristol Motor Speedway without mentioning the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.
Sure Rusty Wallace certainly knew his way around the track but current driver Kurt Busch really knows his way around Bristol.
In his last nine races at Bristol Busch has earned an incredible five wins, including the spring race where he beat both Kenseth and Stewart, who had extremely good cars.
While last weeks disappointing finish in Michigan all but eliminated Busch from contending for his second Nextel Cup title don’t expect anything but a grade “A” performance from the Las Vegas native.
Look for the blue duce to contend for the pole and stay up front all night for its second victory of 2006.
Rules Are meant to Be Broken…Not Changed
As it seems NASCAR is afraid to write its yearly version of the rulebook in anything but a No. 2 pencil I thought I would give the governing body a few suggestions of my own. Lord knows, NASCAR has more rules and variations of said rules than any other professional sport can even begin to imagine but that said I cant help but think they are dropping the ball in a few important areas.
So without further adieu, my humble suggestions to the NASCAR rules committee:
Change the Lucky Dog Award
First of all let me start out by saying that I actually agree with the concept of the luck dog. By preventing drivers from racing back to the start/finish line after a caution NASCAR eliminates the dangerous wrecks that were occurring prior to the pace car getting out on the track.
However, where NASCAR has made a big mistake is how it hands out the lucky dog.
Case in point, two weeks ago at Watkins Glen International Speedway Kyle Busch received the lucky dog award five straight times, was able to get back on the lead lap and actually earned a respectable finish as a result.
That situation is absolutely absurd.
Only drivers one lap down should be eligible for the lucky dog and further more a driver may not receive the lucky dog twice in a row. Certainly a driver may receive the award more then once in a race but only if he is one lap down and was not the recipient of the most recent lucky dog…write it down!
Make the Commitment Line on Pit Road Actually Mean Something
We’ve all seen that silly orange cone at the entrance of pit road, you know the one I’m talking about, the one that signifies that commitment line for drivers entering pit road.
Well, aside from acting as the point of no return how bout we actually make the line mean something.
Two weeks ago at Watkins Glen Kurt Busch was penalized for entering pit road when it was closed.
Replays indicated Busch was nearing the commitment line but entered just after the red light signifying pit road is closed came on.
Call me crazy but it seems as if NASCAR is contradicting itself on this one.
As the rule currently stands a driver that passes the commitment line but fails to enter pit road shall be penalized, however, if the driver passes the commitment line when the light is green but enters when the light is red he is also penalized.
As simple as this proposal is I have to scratch my head and wonder why NASCAR hasn’t thought of this already: Move the commitment line further up pit road for starters. If a driver passes the commitment line when the light is green then he is safe, red light or not…write it down!
Consistency on Tagging Drivers for Aggressive Driving
Of course, any time you are dealing with a rule that is based on a judgment call there is always going to be a sort of grey area.
Why in the world NASCAR decided it was a good idea to make such an important rule like this a judgment call is beyond me but that is besides the point.
When Tony Stewart suggested a rule to curb aggressive driving, yes that very same Stewart who was the first to be penalized by the very rule he was so dead set to create, he was on the right track but instead of really thinking it through NASCAR decided to throw a rule together in a matter of a week and not think twice.
As a result all season long drivers have been penalized, not penalized, threatened to be penalized for aggressive driving and really nothing has changed.
Fundamentally it will always be difficult to determine whether or not a driver intended to wreck another driver, not withstanding cases like last Saturday’s Busch race between Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr., but you can still use deterrence as a viable weapon in fighting this seemingly growing problem.
Next proposal: Any driver flagged for rough driving will, in addition to the drive through penalty during the race, automatically be fined $10,000 and put on probation for five races. Second offenses after the five race probation include a $15,000 and a deduction of 25 championship points. A second offense while still under probation is an automatic suspension for one race and a third offense is a $20,000 fine, a one race suspension and a deduction of 50 championship points…write it down!
Consequences of Failing Inspection
Just as I proposed in the last rule, the only way to really stop the illegal actions in the garage area is to hurt not only crew chiefs but the drivers in the only two areas they are susceptible, their wallets and their points.
But why should the drivers be punished for illegal actions their crew chiefs might make, you may ask?
Well, correct me if I’m wrong but we are talking about the very same drivers that are benefiting from the illegal actions, are we not?
As it stands right now cars that fail post race inspection are really at the mercy of NASCAR, they may pass down a fine, they may suspend a crew chief as we saw earlier in the year with the No. 48 team, and then again they may just give you a little slap on the wrist and do nothing at all.
Here we go people, last proposal: Any car that fails post race inspection will be subject to the following penalties. First offense, crew chief and driver are fined $10,000 each. Second offense, crew chief and driver are fined $10,000 each and docked 25 championship points, third offense and any thereafter, crew chief and driver are suspended one race, fined $10,000 each and the owner of the car is docked 25 owner points.
That will undoubtedly curb the large amounts of cheating going on in the garage area or it will leave a lot of people looking for jobs real fast…write it down!
Car of Tomorrow Becoming More of a Reality
Monday morning at Michigan International Speedway 13 teams, including three Toyotas, tested the Car of Tomorrow on the slick, two-mile track for nearly 12 hours.
Among the field were former Cup champions Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth as well as Michael Waltrip, Dave Blaney, and Bill Elliot, who all tested for the newest manufacturer to enter NASCAR.
Michigan is the largest non-restrictor plate track the COT has seen since testing on the concept car began this year, it also marked the first time several leading contenders for the 2006 championship had the opportunity to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin.
They're kind of hard to look at, but I'm sure we'll get used to them,” Kenseth said referring, of course, to the new wing installed on the rear of the car in the place of a spoiler.
Kenseth’s sore eyes were not alone.
I think the car is not very attractive looking. I think we had an opportunity to make a really sleek-looking, cool car that took downforce away from the car and was a little bit safer,” said four time Cup champion Jeff Gordon.
While most drivers were in agreement the new wing was not just an eye sore but the wrong choice for the look NASCAR should portray, most of the also agreed the car drove reasonably well.
Driving it doesn't feel much different. There's a couple issues here and there, but to sit in the car, it's not that bad,” Kenseth said.
Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, concurred.
It's fairly comparable to what we have now. It's not a night-and-day difference. It's real close.”
In addition to the three former champs, drivers like Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards and J.J. Yeley also tested and had similar thoughts.
The COT is scheduled to make its debut in a points race at the spring Bristol race of 2007.
In total, teams will run 16 races with the car next year and 20 in 2008 before it is officially adopted for the entire 2009 season.
Random Thought
Elliot Sadler earning a top 10 in his first race in the No. 19 Dodge after former driver Jeremy Mayfield failed to do so in 20 races speaks volumes about just how bad Mayfield performed and further justifies why he needed to be terminated.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s last lap tactics to win the Busch Series race in Michigan last Saturday was nothing more than racing at its best and though it’s a shame Carl Edwards was on the short end of the stick yet again he had no business reacting the way he did, especially considering he was put in that situation because his own car was looser than hell to begin with!
While it’s difficult to argue with the new safety features NASCAR is implementing in the Car of Tomorrow it is very easy to argue against the ridiculous new wing feature as well as the uniformed body. Let us not forget what NASCAR actually stands for: Nation Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, the key words there are “Stock Car”. The car of tomorrow is about as much of a stock car as the bat-mobile. With the severe trouble the American auto industry is currently suffering through NASCAR should be doing everything in its power to promote Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Instead they are taking away the last elements that consumers can identify their products with. Talk about forgetting where you came from!
There is no place on earth like Bristol Motor Speedway.
If the tremendous banking on the super short half mile track doesn’t wreck you, the thunderous bumping and grinding between the 43 car field certainly will.
Drivers up and down the field will be forced to make split second decisions on where to drive their car in various points of the race, choose correctly and they will be rewarded with the opportunity to make a dozen or so more mistakes before the checkered flag flies.
With qualifying set for 3:30 eastern time Friday afternoon the teams will also be competing against the clock, as final practice is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. this evening and the green flag flies about 24 hours from then.
Simply put, the teams that unload a good handling race car from the get go will be contending for a win, teams that need to make adjustment after adjustment come race time…won’t.
Experience, patients and the all important lady luck on your side is what the driver who ends up in Victory Lane will need to get him through one of the most difficult and unique tracks in all of motor sports.
Jeff Gordon certainly knows a thing or two about getting around Bristol Motor Speedway, the four time Cup Champion has several wins on the infamous short track and will be looking for yet another Saturday night as well as the opportunity to solidify his position in the Chase with just three races remaining.
Gordon, currently sixth in points after earning a second place finish in Michigan last Sunday, started from the outside pole in this race last year before finishing sixth and of course was leading the spring race in Thunder Valley before he was sent spinning by Matt Kenseth in a battle for the lead.
Expect another strong qualifying run from the No. 24 DuPont Chevy team as they prepare to make a run at a fifth Nextel Cup Championship.
They say rookie drivers can’t perform well in Bristol.
They say rookie drivers don’t have the experience and patients to maneuver around the small track without wrecking half the field with them.
Rookie Denny Hamlin, however, has proven time after time this season that he is not a typical rookie in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Hamlin, who swept the Pocono races from the pole and is currently eighth in points, earned a respectable 14th place finish in his first go around in Thunder Valley after starting from the 33rd position.
After proving he was more than capable of making his way through the treacherous field he will look to improve on that finish Saturday night as he looks to be the only rookie that qualifies for the Chase.
Hamlin has proven time after time that when underestimated he and the No. 11 FedEx Chevy team have the capability of sneaking up right behind you and catching you off guard.
With 12 top 10 finishes to his credit thus far look for Hamlin to keep his No. 11 Chevy in contention all night long and compete for his third win of 2006.
Tony Stewart nearly led half the laps in the spring race in Bristol before eventually being passed and finishing 12th.
After finishing inside the top 10 four straight races look for Stewart, who also has a win in Bristol, to have a similar performance as last year’s Cup champion prepares to defend his title.
Don’t be surprised to see the No. 20 Home Depot Chevy on the pole once again but the question in August is can he hold the lead once he gets it as he failed to do in March.
Coming off his third victory of 2006 Matt Kenseth has to be one of the few drivers heading into Bristol Saturday night with a big smile on his face.
Whether or not he leaves the Volunteer state with that very same smile is something only 500 laps around the half mile track will tell.
Kenseth, who won this race one year ago in a mad dash to make the Chase, has proven to be an eloquent short track racer with wins not only in Bristol but Dover, a similar track, as well.
Look for the No. 17 DeWalt Ford to qualify mid-pack, as always, and work his way through the field en route to a solid finish that may all but mathematically guarantee himself a spot in the Chase.
Prediction: It is almost impossible to make any sort of predications about Bristol Motor Speedway without mentioning the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge.
Sure Rusty Wallace certainly knew his way around the track but current driver Kurt Busch really knows his way around Bristol.
In his last nine races at Bristol Busch has earned an incredible five wins, including the spring race where he beat both Kenseth and Stewart, who had extremely good cars.
While last weeks disappointing finish in Michigan all but eliminated Busch from contending for his second Nextel Cup title don’t expect anything but a grade “A” performance from the Las Vegas native.
Look for the blue duce to contend for the pole and stay up front all night for its second victory of 2006.
Rules Are meant to Be Broken…Not Changed
As it seems NASCAR is afraid to write its yearly version of the rulebook in anything but a No. 2 pencil I thought I would give the governing body a few suggestions of my own. Lord knows, NASCAR has more rules and variations of said rules than any other professional sport can even begin to imagine but that said I cant help but think they are dropping the ball in a few important areas.
So without further adieu, my humble suggestions to the NASCAR rules committee:
Change the Lucky Dog Award
First of all let me start out by saying that I actually agree with the concept of the luck dog. By preventing drivers from racing back to the start/finish line after a caution NASCAR eliminates the dangerous wrecks that were occurring prior to the pace car getting out on the track.
However, where NASCAR has made a big mistake is how it hands out the lucky dog.
Case in point, two weeks ago at Watkins Glen International Speedway Kyle Busch received the lucky dog award five straight times, was able to get back on the lead lap and actually earned a respectable finish as a result.
That situation is absolutely absurd.
Only drivers one lap down should be eligible for the lucky dog and further more a driver may not receive the lucky dog twice in a row. Certainly a driver may receive the award more then once in a race but only if he is one lap down and was not the recipient of the most recent lucky dog…write it down!
Make the Commitment Line on Pit Road Actually Mean Something
We’ve all seen that silly orange cone at the entrance of pit road, you know the one I’m talking about, the one that signifies that commitment line for drivers entering pit road.
Well, aside from acting as the point of no return how bout we actually make the line mean something.
Two weeks ago at Watkins Glen Kurt Busch was penalized for entering pit road when it was closed.
Replays indicated Busch was nearing the commitment line but entered just after the red light signifying pit road is closed came on.
Call me crazy but it seems as if NASCAR is contradicting itself on this one.
As the rule currently stands a driver that passes the commitment line but fails to enter pit road shall be penalized, however, if the driver passes the commitment line when the light is green but enters when the light is red he is also penalized.
As simple as this proposal is I have to scratch my head and wonder why NASCAR hasn’t thought of this already: Move the commitment line further up pit road for starters. If a driver passes the commitment line when the light is green then he is safe, red light or not…write it down!
Consistency on Tagging Drivers for Aggressive Driving
Of course, any time you are dealing with a rule that is based on a judgment call there is always going to be a sort of grey area.
Why in the world NASCAR decided it was a good idea to make such an important rule like this a judgment call is beyond me but that is besides the point.
When Tony Stewart suggested a rule to curb aggressive driving, yes that very same Stewart who was the first to be penalized by the very rule he was so dead set to create, he was on the right track but instead of really thinking it through NASCAR decided to throw a rule together in a matter of a week and not think twice.
As a result all season long drivers have been penalized, not penalized, threatened to be penalized for aggressive driving and really nothing has changed.
Fundamentally it will always be difficult to determine whether or not a driver intended to wreck another driver, not withstanding cases like last Saturday’s Busch race between Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr., but you can still use deterrence as a viable weapon in fighting this seemingly growing problem.
Next proposal: Any driver flagged for rough driving will, in addition to the drive through penalty during the race, automatically be fined $10,000 and put on probation for five races. Second offenses after the five race probation include a $15,000 and a deduction of 25 championship points. A second offense while still under probation is an automatic suspension for one race and a third offense is a $20,000 fine, a one race suspension and a deduction of 50 championship points…write it down!
Consequences of Failing Inspection
Just as I proposed in the last rule, the only way to really stop the illegal actions in the garage area is to hurt not only crew chiefs but the drivers in the only two areas they are susceptible, their wallets and their points.
But why should the drivers be punished for illegal actions their crew chiefs might make, you may ask?
Well, correct me if I’m wrong but we are talking about the very same drivers that are benefiting from the illegal actions, are we not?
As it stands right now cars that fail post race inspection are really at the mercy of NASCAR, they may pass down a fine, they may suspend a crew chief as we saw earlier in the year with the No. 48 team, and then again they may just give you a little slap on the wrist and do nothing at all.
Here we go people, last proposal: Any car that fails post race inspection will be subject to the following penalties. First offense, crew chief and driver are fined $10,000 each. Second offense, crew chief and driver are fined $10,000 each and docked 25 championship points, third offense and any thereafter, crew chief and driver are suspended one race, fined $10,000 each and the owner of the car is docked 25 owner points.
That will undoubtedly curb the large amounts of cheating going on in the garage area or it will leave a lot of people looking for jobs real fast…write it down!
Car of Tomorrow Becoming More of a Reality
Monday morning at Michigan International Speedway 13 teams, including three Toyotas, tested the Car of Tomorrow on the slick, two-mile track for nearly 12 hours.
Among the field were former Cup champions Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth as well as Michael Waltrip, Dave Blaney, and Bill Elliot, who all tested for the newest manufacturer to enter NASCAR.
Michigan is the largest non-restrictor plate track the COT has seen since testing on the concept car began this year, it also marked the first time several leading contenders for the 2006 championship had the opportunity to get behind the wheel and take it for a spin.
They're kind of hard to look at, but I'm sure we'll get used to them,” Kenseth said referring, of course, to the new wing installed on the rear of the car in the place of a spoiler.
Kenseth’s sore eyes were not alone.
I think the car is not very attractive looking. I think we had an opportunity to make a really sleek-looking, cool car that took downforce away from the car and was a little bit safer,” said four time Cup champion Jeff Gordon.
While most drivers were in agreement the new wing was not just an eye sore but the wrong choice for the look NASCAR should portray, most of the also agreed the car drove reasonably well.
Driving it doesn't feel much different. There's a couple issues here and there, but to sit in the car, it's not that bad,” Kenseth said.
Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, concurred.
It's fairly comparable to what we have now. It's not a night-and-day difference. It's real close.”
In addition to the three former champs, drivers like Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards and J.J. Yeley also tested and had similar thoughts.
The COT is scheduled to make its debut in a points race at the spring Bristol race of 2007.
In total, teams will run 16 races with the car next year and 20 in 2008 before it is officially adopted for the entire 2009 season.
Random Thought
Elliot Sadler earning a top 10 in his first race in the No. 19 Dodge after former driver Jeremy Mayfield failed to do so in 20 races speaks volumes about just how bad Mayfield performed and further justifies why he needed to be terminated.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s last lap tactics to win the Busch Series race in Michigan last Saturday was nothing more than racing at its best and though it’s a shame Carl Edwards was on the short end of the stick yet again he had no business reacting the way he did, especially considering he was put in that situation because his own car was looser than hell to begin with!
While it’s difficult to argue with the new safety features NASCAR is implementing in the Car of Tomorrow it is very easy to argue against the ridiculous new wing feature as well as the uniformed body. Let us not forget what NASCAR actually stands for: Nation Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, the key words there are “Stock Car”. The car of tomorrow is about as much of a stock car as the bat-mobile. With the severe trouble the American auto industry is currently suffering through NASCAR should be doing everything in its power to promote Ford, Chevy and Dodge. Instead they are taking away the last elements that consumers can identify their products with. Talk about forgetting where you came from!
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