NASCAR Notebook: All-Star Challenge
Barry F. Hess
May 18, 2006
A Night For the Stars
This Saturday night is the annual NASCAR All-Star Challenge at Lowe?s Motor Speedway and while every years is even more exciting than the last this year?s event is particularly compelling for several reasons.
Firstly, Saturday night marks the first time the Nextel Cup has returned to Lowe?s after the debacle of a race that was held back in October during the Race for the Chase.
With a record number of cautions, most due to blown tires because of the poor track conditions, the speedway underwent yet another repaving session in the off-season and have assured NASCAR there will be no repeat?at least as far as blown tires are concerned.
The most unique all-star gathering in all of professional sports consists of three shoot-out type races in one with the winner of the final leg winning one million dollars. Those who didn?t win a race in the past year or qualify in one of the several other ways for the event can win a spot one of two ways: win the Nextel Open held before the challenge or be voted in by the fans of NASCAR.
So with, essentially, an extra testing session for next week?s 600-mile race will the drivers use their time on Saturday night to learn about the track or go for the win?
Both,? said Jeremy Mayfield, who will compete after winning the fall Richmond race last year. ? It is an opportunity to test things when you are not racing for points and you don't necessarily worry about where you finish. Obviously everyone wants to win though. It's a big event.?
Though Tony Stewart has never won the All-Star Challenge he has won at Lowe?s Motor Speedway in the past and even though there are no points on the line Saturday night look for Stewart to run better than ever. By now we all know Stewart is one of the most competitive drivers on the circuit and with the opportunity to take home the checkered flag and the one million dollar prize money he will be like a shark in blood infested waters when that green flag drops.
Humpy Wheeler, the owner and general manager of Lowe?s Motor Speedway, has correctly picked the winner of the All-Star Challenge 10 out of the last 17 years and this year he is looking to do back flips over number 11 and who can blame him. After a slow start to the season Carl Edwards has picked it up in a big way recently, despite his failure to finish last weekends race due to mechanical problems.
Races like the All-Star Challenge are geared for the all-out mentality many of the younger drivers like Edwards race with and when you combine that with his success on mile and a half tracks like Lowe?s it isn?t difficult to envision him in victory lane by night?s end.
Since the Daytona 500 drivers and members of the media have made comparisons to the driving of Matt Kenseth in 2003, when he won his first Nextel Cup Championship, and 2006. A win Saturday night at the All-Star Challenge and those compressions would be even more validated as the driver of the No. 17 Dewalt Ford won this race back in 2003 as well.
After a strong , and rare, finish at Darlington last week Kenseth is back in the groove after a slight stumble in Richmond two weeks ago and is looking for that million dollar prize.
With one of the best pit crews in all of NASCAR and the required green flag pit stops he has to be considered a favorite to win.
Prediction: I will go on the record as stretching this prediction out on a limb folks?..when you think Lowe?s you have to think current point standings leader Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson, a former winner of this race, has won the last three points races at this track and has never been hotter coming into this event than this year.
Currently leading Stewart and Kenseth by 93 and 94 points respectively Johnson will be looking to cement his stance as the perennial favorite to win this year?s cup by winning the challenge.
Toyota Ready to Invade
As this report accurately predicted last week, Michael Waltrip recently announced Dale Jarrett as the second driver for his two-car team of Toyotas in 2007.
The move will give Michael Waltrip Racing the past champion provisional it needs to at least get both of his cars in each of the first five races of the season without worrying about qualifying on time (Bill Elliot has already agreed to run the first five races for the No. 55 NAPA car in place of Waltrip).
The past champion?s provisional Jarrett brings to the table isn?t the only thing that has Waltrip optimistic about the Camry?s inaugural season.
I'm very proud to tell the world that Dale's going to join us and very proud to have him on our team. He's a wonderful person and he's going to be a real asset to all of our sponsorship partners as well as to the competition side,? Waltrip said. ?He knows what it feels like to win lots of races and a championship, and I'm glad he's going to be with us.?
In addition to Jarrett?s expertise Waltrip is more than optimistic that the Toyota package will compete with the rest of the current manufacturers right from the get-go.
I was impressed with the Toyota engine. I liked it because it felt good,? said Waltrip. ?The NASCAR box is pretty tight, and there is only so much you can do. Some motors at times feel like they have holes in them. Either they'll run good on the bottom or they'll run good on the top. They'll have different areas where they'll perform good. But that motor just felt smooth to me from the bottom to the top.?
Toyota will be the first foreign manufacturer to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit and though the creditability of two drivers like Waltrip and Jarrett is enough for some skeptics there are still many who believe the Japanese manufacturer will struggle to find a place in an American manufacture?s sport.
Contrarily, Waltrip believes the crack team of engineers brought over from Toyota will give his race team the edge every team owner looks for.
I'm going to be racing a car that won't be a whole lot unlike any other car in the garage area but the knowledge of the springs and shocks and tire pressures and aerodynamics, all those things come from my manufacturer, Toyota, And that's what's key to me,? said Waltrip. ?The fact that I have that type of manufacturer support and the type of backing that allows an individual like me to tell a sponsor like NAPA, I think we can go fight and I think we can go and race Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick. It enables me to tell them, I think we can be successful and Toyota makes that possible.?
Waltrip is counting on the success Toyota has enjoyed since its arrival in the Craftsmen Truck Series, much of which has been enjoyed by his older brother and former Nextel Cup Champion, Darrell Waltrip, to springboard the Camry into the Nextel Cup.
With talks already surfacing about a possible third Cup team before 2007 begins and two Busch Series cars of which Waltrip has yet to name drivers or sponsors for, the possibility of Toyota becoming a high roller in NASCAR within the next few seasons is at least a distinct possibility at this point.
Is Tomorrow To Soon?
After building a reputation as a wild, renegade sport with few rules NASCAR officials, in recent years, have done as much as possible to erase that type of image in order to better market their product to a larger group of viewers both nation and worldwide.
In doing so they have become more like Big Brother, who is always watching and listening and less like the happy-go-lucky group of drivers that started the sport caring only about taking the checkered flag and having a good time doing it.
To be quite honest most of the changes are for the better.
NASCAR has elevated to the largest spectator sport in America, draws more money than any of the four major sports league?s in America on an annual basis and has seen its fan base explode.
Just as NASCAR has given the sport?s image a make-over so to have they given the tracks and cars a make-over, taking advantage of modern day technology to make the sport a safer one for both drivers and fans.
And that?s where the Car of Tomorrow comes in.
After spending millions of dollars on research and development NASCAR has designed a car they believe will be safer, more cost efficient and create a level playing field for every team owner on the track.
Earlier this year the announcement was made that the Car of Tomorrow will be used in 16 races, the first of which will be the spring race at Bristol.
Some of the new features the Car of Tomorrow includes are: a smaller fuel cell (from 22 gallons to 17.5), a larger roll bar on both sides of the car, a G-Force spike reduction, match bumper heights on the front and back ends, the driver?s seat moved four inches to the right and a plethora of others.
Because these cars will be cheaper and easier to build it is believed that these cars will level the playing field between the larger team owners like Roush and Hendrick with that of teams like Woods Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises.
Now here is where I have a huge problem with all this.
Because of the strict inspection policies each car is required to pass both before and after a race NASCAR has already successfully leveled the playing field as much as they can?or should.
Sure the larger teams with more money have more resources to commit to their research and development programs?just as the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees have more to spend on talent than the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Royals.
If NASCAR wants to level the playing field even more than why not limit the amount of annual spending a team owner can spend on each individual car.
To take away the human element of the sport as they are doing is a downright disservice to everything that NASCAR believes in.
Crew chiefs like Chad Knauss and Robbie Reiser and Tony Eury Jr. are downright awesome thinking machines and it?s their expertise and knowledge that goes into building a race set-up each and every week.
With that knowledge being nullified by these new cars what separates NASCAR from the rest of the pack, what makes it so special?
There is already a series in place for drivers and owners who want to race cars that are 100 percent exactly the same?the last time I checked I t wasn?t called the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Of course NASCAR will tell you it?s all about sticking up for the little guy and trying to make things safer.
Well making things safer is one thing but forcing team owners to build cars that many of them have absolutely have no interest in building because you want to help the little guy win is just absurd, ridiculous and any other synonym for crazy you want to use.
Single car teams like Robbie Gordon?s and even two-car team?s like that Michael Waltrip is planning will obviously be unable to compete with Roush Racing right from the get-go.
But through hard work and making smart decisions they eventually can, the proof is in the pudding.
Random Thoughts
Not only have the new Ford Fusions allowed drivers to pick up right where they left off last year in the Taurus, unlike the struggles Dodge had with the Charger, they seem to have made Fords more competitive in restrictor plate races as well.
Whether it?s through fan votes or winning the Nextel Open I can?t see how Denny Hamlin doesn?t get the No. 11 Fed Ex car in this Saturday?s All-Star Challenge.
While Michael Waltrip is enthusiastic about next year?s Toyota I would be a bit worried if I had no sponsorship locked in with three of my four cars and no promising leads on drivers for either of my Busch cars yet?.
This Saturday night is the annual NASCAR All-Star Challenge at Lowe?s Motor Speedway and while every years is even more exciting than the last this year?s event is particularly compelling for several reasons.
Firstly, Saturday night marks the first time the Nextel Cup has returned to Lowe?s after the debacle of a race that was held back in October during the Race for the Chase.
With a record number of cautions, most due to blown tires because of the poor track conditions, the speedway underwent yet another repaving session in the off-season and have assured NASCAR there will be no repeat?at least as far as blown tires are concerned.
The most unique all-star gathering in all of professional sports consists of three shoot-out type races in one with the winner of the final leg winning one million dollars. Those who didn?t win a race in the past year or qualify in one of the several other ways for the event can win a spot one of two ways: win the Nextel Open held before the challenge or be voted in by the fans of NASCAR.
So with, essentially, an extra testing session for next week?s 600-mile race will the drivers use their time on Saturday night to learn about the track or go for the win?
Both,? said Jeremy Mayfield, who will compete after winning the fall Richmond race last year. ? It is an opportunity to test things when you are not racing for points and you don't necessarily worry about where you finish. Obviously everyone wants to win though. It's a big event.?
Though Tony Stewart has never won the All-Star Challenge he has won at Lowe?s Motor Speedway in the past and even though there are no points on the line Saturday night look for Stewart to run better than ever. By now we all know Stewart is one of the most competitive drivers on the circuit and with the opportunity to take home the checkered flag and the one million dollar prize money he will be like a shark in blood infested waters when that green flag drops.
Humpy Wheeler, the owner and general manager of Lowe?s Motor Speedway, has correctly picked the winner of the All-Star Challenge 10 out of the last 17 years and this year he is looking to do back flips over number 11 and who can blame him. After a slow start to the season Carl Edwards has picked it up in a big way recently, despite his failure to finish last weekends race due to mechanical problems.
Races like the All-Star Challenge are geared for the all-out mentality many of the younger drivers like Edwards race with and when you combine that with his success on mile and a half tracks like Lowe?s it isn?t difficult to envision him in victory lane by night?s end.
Since the Daytona 500 drivers and members of the media have made comparisons to the driving of Matt Kenseth in 2003, when he won his first Nextel Cup Championship, and 2006. A win Saturday night at the All-Star Challenge and those compressions would be even more validated as the driver of the No. 17 Dewalt Ford won this race back in 2003 as well.
After a strong , and rare, finish at Darlington last week Kenseth is back in the groove after a slight stumble in Richmond two weeks ago and is looking for that million dollar prize.
With one of the best pit crews in all of NASCAR and the required green flag pit stops he has to be considered a favorite to win.
Prediction: I will go on the record as stretching this prediction out on a limb folks?..when you think Lowe?s you have to think current point standings leader Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson, a former winner of this race, has won the last three points races at this track and has never been hotter coming into this event than this year.
Currently leading Stewart and Kenseth by 93 and 94 points respectively Johnson will be looking to cement his stance as the perennial favorite to win this year?s cup by winning the challenge.
Toyota Ready to Invade
As this report accurately predicted last week, Michael Waltrip recently announced Dale Jarrett as the second driver for his two-car team of Toyotas in 2007.
The move will give Michael Waltrip Racing the past champion provisional it needs to at least get both of his cars in each of the first five races of the season without worrying about qualifying on time (Bill Elliot has already agreed to run the first five races for the No. 55 NAPA car in place of Waltrip).
The past champion?s provisional Jarrett brings to the table isn?t the only thing that has Waltrip optimistic about the Camry?s inaugural season.
I'm very proud to tell the world that Dale's going to join us and very proud to have him on our team. He's a wonderful person and he's going to be a real asset to all of our sponsorship partners as well as to the competition side,? Waltrip said. ?He knows what it feels like to win lots of races and a championship, and I'm glad he's going to be with us.?
In addition to Jarrett?s expertise Waltrip is more than optimistic that the Toyota package will compete with the rest of the current manufacturers right from the get-go.
I was impressed with the Toyota engine. I liked it because it felt good,? said Waltrip. ?The NASCAR box is pretty tight, and there is only so much you can do. Some motors at times feel like they have holes in them. Either they'll run good on the bottom or they'll run good on the top. They'll have different areas where they'll perform good. But that motor just felt smooth to me from the bottom to the top.?
Toyota will be the first foreign manufacturer to race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit and though the creditability of two drivers like Waltrip and Jarrett is enough for some skeptics there are still many who believe the Japanese manufacturer will struggle to find a place in an American manufacture?s sport.
Contrarily, Waltrip believes the crack team of engineers brought over from Toyota will give his race team the edge every team owner looks for.
I'm going to be racing a car that won't be a whole lot unlike any other car in the garage area but the knowledge of the springs and shocks and tire pressures and aerodynamics, all those things come from my manufacturer, Toyota, And that's what's key to me,? said Waltrip. ?The fact that I have that type of manufacturer support and the type of backing that allows an individual like me to tell a sponsor like NAPA, I think we can go fight and I think we can go and race Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick. It enables me to tell them, I think we can be successful and Toyota makes that possible.?
Waltrip is counting on the success Toyota has enjoyed since its arrival in the Craftsmen Truck Series, much of which has been enjoyed by his older brother and former Nextel Cup Champion, Darrell Waltrip, to springboard the Camry into the Nextel Cup.
With talks already surfacing about a possible third Cup team before 2007 begins and two Busch Series cars of which Waltrip has yet to name drivers or sponsors for, the possibility of Toyota becoming a high roller in NASCAR within the next few seasons is at least a distinct possibility at this point.
Is Tomorrow To Soon?
After building a reputation as a wild, renegade sport with few rules NASCAR officials, in recent years, have done as much as possible to erase that type of image in order to better market their product to a larger group of viewers both nation and worldwide.
In doing so they have become more like Big Brother, who is always watching and listening and less like the happy-go-lucky group of drivers that started the sport caring only about taking the checkered flag and having a good time doing it.
To be quite honest most of the changes are for the better.
NASCAR has elevated to the largest spectator sport in America, draws more money than any of the four major sports league?s in America on an annual basis and has seen its fan base explode.
Just as NASCAR has given the sport?s image a make-over so to have they given the tracks and cars a make-over, taking advantage of modern day technology to make the sport a safer one for both drivers and fans.
And that?s where the Car of Tomorrow comes in.
After spending millions of dollars on research and development NASCAR has designed a car they believe will be safer, more cost efficient and create a level playing field for every team owner on the track.
Earlier this year the announcement was made that the Car of Tomorrow will be used in 16 races, the first of which will be the spring race at Bristol.
Some of the new features the Car of Tomorrow includes are: a smaller fuel cell (from 22 gallons to 17.5), a larger roll bar on both sides of the car, a G-Force spike reduction, match bumper heights on the front and back ends, the driver?s seat moved four inches to the right and a plethora of others.
Because these cars will be cheaper and easier to build it is believed that these cars will level the playing field between the larger team owners like Roush and Hendrick with that of teams like Woods Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises.
Now here is where I have a huge problem with all this.
Because of the strict inspection policies each car is required to pass both before and after a race NASCAR has already successfully leveled the playing field as much as they can?or should.
Sure the larger teams with more money have more resources to commit to their research and development programs?just as the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees have more to spend on talent than the Houston Texans or the Kansas City Royals.
If NASCAR wants to level the playing field even more than why not limit the amount of annual spending a team owner can spend on each individual car.
To take away the human element of the sport as they are doing is a downright disservice to everything that NASCAR believes in.
Crew chiefs like Chad Knauss and Robbie Reiser and Tony Eury Jr. are downright awesome thinking machines and it?s their expertise and knowledge that goes into building a race set-up each and every week.
With that knowledge being nullified by these new cars what separates NASCAR from the rest of the pack, what makes it so special?
There is already a series in place for drivers and owners who want to race cars that are 100 percent exactly the same?the last time I checked I t wasn?t called the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Of course NASCAR will tell you it?s all about sticking up for the little guy and trying to make things safer.
Well making things safer is one thing but forcing team owners to build cars that many of them have absolutely have no interest in building because you want to help the little guy win is just absurd, ridiculous and any other synonym for crazy you want to use.
Single car teams like Robbie Gordon?s and even two-car team?s like that Michael Waltrip is planning will obviously be unable to compete with Roush Racing right from the get-go.
But through hard work and making smart decisions they eventually can, the proof is in the pudding.
Random Thoughts
Not only have the new Ford Fusions allowed drivers to pick up right where they left off last year in the Taurus, unlike the struggles Dodge had with the Charger, they seem to have made Fords more competitive in restrictor plate races as well.
Whether it?s through fan votes or winning the Nextel Open I can?t see how Denny Hamlin doesn?t get the No. 11 Fed Ex car in this Saturday?s All-Star Challenge.
While Michael Waltrip is enthusiastic about next year?s Toyota I would be a bit worried if I had no sponsorship locked in with three of my four cars and no promising leads on drivers for either of my Busch cars yet?.
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