Thoughts on a Historic Race

   This week is an exciting and historic one in NASCAR. For the first time in decades, one of NASCAR's premier series will race on dirt. It's all going to happen today at Eldora Raceway. This is odd for us, since almost all of our races are on the weekends, but when it comes to dirt racing, it’s normal to race mid-week. This race is something new, something fresh, something unknown. With that, comes anticipation and stories to watch during the race. Here are three stories I'm keeping an eye on as the Truck Series prepares for this special race.


Could dirt racing in lower premier series give up-and-coming drivers important experience?
   Eldora might help up-and-coming drivers gain valuable experience... experience no other track on this circuit can give them: Dirt racing experience. Why would this be important when they will only drive on asphalt in the future? Dirt experience can give you better control of your car. Many top drivers in the Sprint cup have raced on dirt: Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne just to name a few. Jimmie, for one, likes a really loose race car. The reason why is probably because he raced dirt trucks for an amount of time in his career. All three have credited their dirt experience to them have better control of their car. In dirt racing, you slide through the corners, which, when on asphalt, can make you more accustom to a loose race car. Driving loose can be a benefit, if you can handle it. Many of the up-and-coming drivers have already had dirt track experience, which shows that this can be a beneficial skill. Giving all of these new drivers, though, a taste of dirt racing, with a truck that weighs about as much as a Sprint Cup car, provides them with a unique opportunity. Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing the Nationwide drivers eventually run a dirt race. Nationwide and Truck cars have different bodies, but I don't see why they couldn't both race on dirt. Maybe we will see this in the future. I would enjoy it… and I don’t think I’m the only one!

Who will win? Who are the favorites?
   Of course I had to talk about everyone’s favorite question coming to a highly anticipated track: who will win? Who knows, especially with this being an inaugural race. So who are the favorites? Again, hard to tell, because of the same reason. It is incredibly hard to find dirt track stats so I will rely a lot on the three practice sessions. The 2^nd and 3^rd practice sessions are more accurate pictures of who to watch than the 1st session was, because the dirt had been “worn in”. This resembles more of what the track will be like at the end of the race. I'll try my best though, to highlight a few potential picks, including mine.

Scott Bloomquist
   Most NASCAR fans wouldn’t know who Scott is, but he is widely known by dirt fans. He has won multiple championships across dirt racing, and has actually been inducted in the National Dirt Racing Hall of Fame! He is said to have 500 wins across dirt, but has never raced in NASCAR. During the practice sessions yesterday, he said that this is the heaviest car he has ever raced, which is probably a true statement since traditional dirt race cars are fairly small and probably half the weight of the truck he will be driving tonight. In 2^nd practice, he placed 14, which is actually down a few spots from his 1^st practice run. In the final practice session, he was 6^th. We will have to see how he handles that heavy truck tonight.

Dave Blaney
   Both NASCAR fans and dirt fans know this driver. He has a long time career in dirt, but also in NASCAR as well. The NASCAR side was lack-luster, but in dirt, he won a USAC Silver Crown championship, a World of Outlaws championship, and the Knoxville Nationals, which is a premiere event on dirt. In 1st practice, he was 3rd and in 2nd practice, he was in 2nd. He dropped a little, though, in the 3^rd practice, placing 12^th. His dirt experience, combined with NASCAR experience, makes him one of the top contenders of this event.

Ryan Newman
   Ryan is the only Sprint cup regular who will be racing at Eldora today. Naturally this makes him a threat; but he does have dirt credentials to back him up as well. Like Dave Blaney, he is also a USAC Silver Crown champion. In addition, he has 100 feature wins in midget cars (a type of dirt race car), which should include many dirt track wins. In 2^nd practice, he was 6^th, but in 3^rd practice, he dropped 10 positions. Ryan, to me, would be a good “dark horse” pick.

Austin & Ty Dillon
   Austin and Ty are two "young guns" who have raced on dirt. I put them together in the same paragraph because I think there both evenly matched. In 1^st practice, they were 4^th and 5^th, and in 2^nd practice, they were 1^st and 2^nd! They did break their togetherness in the 3^rd practice, though, being 5 positions apart. If one of them has the small advantage, it would be Austin, naturally, since he was ahead of Ty in all three practices. When it comes to their dirt history, in my opinion, Ty has the small advantage. Both have raced Legend cars, Bandolero cars, and Late-model cars. Austin won 3 premier events in 2007, including the All-star Shootout at “The Dirt Track” just outside of Charlotte Motor Speedway, but I can’t find any other stats, concerning wins. Ty also won the All-start shootout (the next year), and has more than 15 feature wins. With equal amount of talent, it will be interesting to see which one places better in the race.

Kyle Larson
   Kyle Larson has to be the #1 pick for Eldora this week. Kyle has stellar stats on dirt, so much so, that he was even complemented by Tony Stewart. He has raced USAC midget cars, silver crown cars, sprint cars, and the World of Outlaws Series. In 2011, he became the 2^nd driver in history to win the 4-crown Nationals at Eldora in all three types of USAC cars, all in one night. Impressive stat. He also has won many dirt races across the four series. Yesterday at Eldora, Kyle came out of the gate strong, finishing 1^st in 1^st practice, but did fall back to 3^rd and 9^th in 2^nd and 3^rd practice. Still, that’s not that bad. I fully expect Kyle to be in the top 5 as the finals laps go down.

Ryan Blaney
   I was leaning toward Kyle Larson, but I wanted to pick someone a little different for Eldora: Ryan Blaney. Being the son of an accomplished dirt racer, Ryan has raced on dirt as well. He raced quarter midgets, Bandolero cars, legend cars, and late models, and found quick success. He has won races in all four types of cars, and even won the PASS South Super Late Model Series Championship in 2011. In the 1^st practice session, Ryan was right behind his father in 3^rd. In the 2^nd and 3^rd practice sessions, he finished 9^th and 20^th. I think he'll be another driver that is in the top 5 as the final laps approach.

   The winner of the inaugural Mud-Summer Classic might not be any of the drivers I just highlighted. One thing I do know, though, is that this race will be interesting, exciting, and a little crazy!

NASCAR's safety at dirt tracks
   Dirt track safety came up a while back when Jason Leffler tragically passed away after injuries he sustained during a dirt racing crash. Is NASCAR safe racing at a dirt track? Eldora doesn't have any SAFER barriers, which might come as a shock to some people. The truth is, Eldora isn't any different than any other dirt track. The reason dirt tracks usually don't have SAFER barriers is this: Low budget. Most dirt tracks are "local tracks" that have small budgets. SAFER barriers are very expensive and to put them around the track would not be affordable for most dirt tracks. Therefore, they go to the next cheaper option. Usually, this is just metal, or concrete. Not very comforting, isn't it? The good thing is most race cars never go over 145mph at these tracks. It's still dangerous, but not as much as it would be if they were going the speeds of a regular NASCAR track (170-180mph). Also, almost all the vehicles that race on dirt tracks have HANS devices, and a very strong steel roll cage around them. With NASCAR cars, they have both of those as well, and thankfully much, much more. I will still be a little nervous, knowing the walls are concrete, but they'll be going at slower speeds (no more than 125mph) and the cars have incredible safety built in, which makes me feel better. There is one more question though, as I conclude: If this race at Eldora becomes a regular on the Truck Series schedule, will they put SAFER barriers in then? I honestly don't know. I think if bad wrecks concerning the walls become a problem, they will, but if it doesn't, I doubt it. Even with the Truck race, I still don't know if they would have the money for it. NASCAR would probably have to help them. The good thing is, I don't think the walls will be a concern in the end.

Now, with all of that said, “Let’s go dirt track racing, boys!”

Headlines from New Hampshire

   New Hampshire produced many jaw-dropping moments this week. We had an unexpected winner, as well as some stinging verbiage between competitors. So, here is a round-up of all the interesting and even surprising headlines after the eventful Loudon-based race.

The Brian Vickers Comeback
   This weekend produced a winner no one would have thought of, but everyone enjoyed. Brian Vickers won; marking his first win after a severe medical issue sat him out of the car for most of the 2010 season. When he came back for 2011, his season was lackluster, especially when compared to his 2009 season, where he grabbed a win and had a better average finish by 3 points. When his team, Red Bull Racing, closed its doors and the 2012 season rolled around, Brian found himself at Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR). Despite running a part-time schedule, he did very well on track. In his 8 starts, Brain finished in the top 10’s 5 times, including 3 top 5’s. I, along with many other people started to take notice, and wondered if maybe when Mark Martin retires, he would be the guy to fill in…full time. This win now, very well might have sealed it. It’s been a crazy few years for Brian, but this was definitely a special moment for him. Hopefully this win is the beginning of many, for him and the #55 team.

More Tires Bite the Dust
   Tire issues plagued a few drivers at New Hampshire. The first one happened surprisingly on lap 3, when Joey Logano became victim to a tire failure. This was Joey’s second in a row, continuing to hurt him in the standings, which will be addressed in the next paragraph.

   As the race continued on, I started to hear about tire blistering for some drivers. Tire blistering is caused when a tire overheats, causing air pockets within the compound, which can ultimately result in a blown tire. As you know, that can be a major problem. This was not the problem for Joey, since his tire blew before the tire could really start heating up. Instead, they said it might have been caused by running on a lower air pressure, which is a strategy choice.

   Finally, later on in the race, Denny Hamlin blew a tire, but I never heard the reason why. Tire issues happen occasionally at tracks when Goodyear is trying out a new tire compound that doesn’t respond well to that particular track. This is unfortunate for the drivers who it affected.

Joey Logano’s Chase Hopes Slip Farther Away
   The week before wasn’t a good week for Joey, so the last thing he needed was a repeat… caused by the exact same thing. Going into the race, Joey was 15^th in the standings, this week, 18^th. He’s currently 36 points from 10^th, and I don’t know if he can make the chase by that route this season. Joey has another option though, one I think he might be able to complete now: Wildcard (WC). If Joey’s car holds together, and Tony Stewart continues a bad luck streak, the 23 year old might be able to climb high enough in points, get a win, and become the second WC holder. He and his team have certainly shown an ability to be in the top 10 and even the top 5. A win very well might be next.

Joey Logano’s Bad Move on Pit Road
   This guy seems to be in these headlines a lot! Well, he had a crazy and frustrating day, and the move he made on pit road made it go from bad to worse. First, I don’t even know why Joey entered his stall going up pit road instead of down. I thought that was illegal! Another reason why NASCAR should release a copy of the Rule Book to the public (Hopefully they will do this with the new initiative they announced on Monday). Anyway, Joey went up pit road to replace his blown tire. I’m guessing he did this so he could drive it back to the garage. When the new one was on, Joey whipped his car 180˚ and hit one of his crew member’s arm pretty hard with the right rear end of his car.

   Thankfully, the crew member was ok, and Joey later apologized, saying that he never meant to hit anyone. What was Joey thinking when he made that move? Was it immaturity, as many have said? Joey was obviously frustrated, but I wouldn’t call this move immaturity, as much as I would inexperience. I can see Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson making a move like that, but without hitting any of their pit crew members. I think Joey learned something from this, though, and I don’t think we will be seeing him make that same move again.

Kyle Busch Said What!?
   This was the jaw-dropping moment of the day. Kyle Busch’s post-race comments, sounded like the old feisty, very immature Kyle we all know. Ryan Newman took the brunt of it this time, after he and Kyle had an aggressive restart with each other. Here were Kyle’s comments:

   "I really hated that Kurt got tore up. I felt like he had the best car and was proud of them guys but, man, just stupidity. I mean Ryan Newman's the biggest stupid idiot out here, and he's a big ogre and can do whatever he wants because he can probably kick anybody's butt. So no sense in getting in a fight with him, but glad he's out of a job."

   “Biggest stupid idiot”? “Big ogre”!? Are we in the 3^rd grade here!? All that those comments accomplished was making Kyle look utterly immature! I’m still trying to figure out where all these comments came from. Kyle was doing so much better with handling the media! I was happy to see the change! This must be like the saying “The straw that broke the camel’s back”. Anyway, after hearing about what Kyle said, here are Ryan comments on the matter, made the next day on SIRIUS XM radio:

   "I’m just afraid if I re-arranged his face I might fix it. (Laughs). He’s frustrated finishing third or wherever he was after hitting me first and then getting a little rub down the straightaway, then just imagine how I feel. It is what it is. We know that he’s not very bright. He’s a heck of a talent but he’s not very bright. And I’ll leave it at that.”

   Compared with Kyle’s comments, Ryan’s were a good comeback. The following day, Kyle wrote a lengthy “clarification” on Twitter. Apparently some people where questioning the reason why Kyle was “mad” at Ryan. Here is a shortened version of what Kyle wrote:

   “I want to clarify that I was answering what I felt was two separate questions asked to me at the same time… The first was about how fast Kurt was and the second was how I felt about Ryan Newman blaming me for him getting wrecked. First I answered the Kurt part. He was fast... Was a shame to see him crashed... Nowhere there did I place blame on who wrecked who. I didn't see it and I still haven't seen it. My second answer came from being upset over an incident I had with (Ryan) on the track… I answered it in the same response, but it was intended as a completely separate answer. I was upset because I felt (Ryan) raced me poorly, making contact and causing damage…that affected the handling on my racecar. This isn't the first time that I've been raced poorly by (Ryan) either… All this built up and allowed my emotions to spill over… I'm not sorry for how I feel in those moments, but could have expressed it better and certainly my comments about someone's livelihood went too far.”

   I feel that this was a good move for Kyle. There was a lot of confusion about why he was upset with Ryan, especially since he answered another question like it was part of the first. I’m glad he also addressed what he said about Ryan’s job. I, along with many others, thought that was low shot, and not right. So now for the usual question: Should we expect this feud to continue? No. The only time I think we might see this light up, is if Ryan races Kyle “poorly” again. There might be a good possibility Kyle would give some back.


   Wow. New Hampshire left us with a lot to talk about, and I didn’t even highlight the news that came later in the week! All of this, and the Nationwide race will hold us through till next week when we go to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400! I’m sure by the end of that race, we will have a lot to talk about as well. Can’t wait!

My NASCAR Draft

   The SPEED channel show “Race Hub” recently did a feature which really caught my eye. The question was this: If you fielded a 3-car team for the next 15 years, which drivers would you choose? There is a twist though. You have to limit your pick to any driver 15 – 30 years old. This is something you would have to put a lot of thought into. You would have to observe the “young guns”, which are in the Nationwide series or lower right now, and learn their stats, potential, personalities, marketability, as well as how they would all work together if they really were on the same team.
   I have enjoyed watching many of these up-and-coming drivers work their way up the ranks, so I thought that trying to figure out which 3 to put on a team would be an interesting challenge. It was honestly very hard to do! So, after much consideration, here are my 3 drivers, and the reasons why I picked them.

Joey Logano – 23 years old, 38 in 15 years
   Joey was actually the first pick, claimed by Kyle Petty, on Race Hub. It’s a good one too. Joey is still very young, but I think he will be a top star in the coming years. His first year with Penske has been better than I thought it would be! If it wasn’t for the 25 point penalty earlier this year and 2 tire failures, Joey would almost certainly be in the top 10 in points. If they have been running this strong in their first year at Penske, it will be very interesting to see the next. Bottom line, Joey’s new ride has allowed him to show his talent…and he definitely has talent! He also has more experience than my other two picks, which would make him the leader for my organization. In 15 years, he would be at the tail end of his “prime” (When a driver produces the best results, usually 29 – 39 years old.), and able to give quality veteran advice, which is very valuable for a team.

Kyle Larson – 20 years old, 35 in 15 years
   Kyle has probably been the most impressive of the all the up-and coming drivers so far. For me, this was an easy pick. Kyle is currently racing in his 1^st full time year in the Nationwide Series, and in the 17 races they have ran so far, he has placed in the top 10 65% of the time! Not bad for a rookie year. The kid has a lot of potential, and I, along with many others, think he will be one of the top drivers in the next generation of the sport. He will be in the middle of his prime in 15 years, and I’m almost positive he will be a multi-year champion.

Gray Gaulding – 15 years old, 30 in 15 years
   Trying to figure out who would be my 3^rd pick was incredibly hard! I put a lot of time and effort in trying to work it out. I kept going back and forth between 3 guys: My official pick, and the other 2 who are listed below. The main two reasons I picked Gray was because of his potential, and his age. He also is a marketing dream! I have never seen a driver so sponsor-oriented! If he keeps driving and makes it to Sprint, he will probably never run out of willing sponsors! Gray is doing great on the track too, placing very solid finishes in the K&N Pro Series East right now. In the series 7 races so far, Gray had had 5 top 10s, including a 2^nd place, and an average finish of 10.4. Gray would be entering his prime in 15 years from now, which separates my 3 drivers into 3 different stages of their career. He would be benefiting from his two older teammates input, which will make him even more of a threat when he peaks.
   The only concern I would have about him being on my team is this: He seems like a one-man show. What I mean by that is, I don’t think he would like teammates that much. In the top 3 primer series in NASCAR, teammates share data and advice on how they have been driving the track. This can help the driver’s car setup, and how to run the track on a faster line. I can’t see Gray doing this. He probably never has. When it comes to smaller series, the kind that drivers start on that run local tracks, a group comes to the track and the focus is on that one driver and car. In K&N, they run “higher up” tracks, but it is mostly a development series, directly linked to NASCAR. Many big name teams, including Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, have a hand in this series to develop a driver… usually just one at a time. Again, the team is focused on that one driver and car. I might be reading Gray all wrong, but I think it will be interesting to see how does with his future teammates when he gets to the Truck Series and beyond.

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Ryan Blaney – 19 years old, 34 in 15 years
   If I had a four car team, Ryan would be my next pick. He’s another driver with a lot of potential. In the Truck series, 6 of the 9 races he has run have been in the top 10, half of those being in the top 5. He would be another driver in their prime a decade and a half from now, but there is one particular reason I didn’t pick him over Gray: Marketability. Blaney seems very bland to me during interviews, and apparently I’m not the only one who thinks that. Kyle Petty noted during Race Hub, that Ryan needs to show a little more personality. If he doesn’t do this, it could hurt how he attracts sponsors. As I have seen from his sisters’ Twitter accounts, though, Ryan does actually have a more interesting side to him. So why “no personality”? Petty added later that he thought this was because of Ryan wanting to be professional, and not making mistakes that could hurt his career. I’m sure he will find the balance between professionalism and personality soon, though.

Chase Elliott – 17 years old, 32 in 15 years
   Chase is another pick I was considering. He would be closer to the beginning of his prime, like Gray, but I would like to see more stats from him. Of the four Truck Series races he has run, he’s earned straight top 10’s, 3 of them being top 5’s. Very impressive stats, but they are all short tracks (Drivers who are 16 and 17 years old can only run short tracks and road courses in the Truck Series). I would like to see Chase run the full Truck Series schedule, which I’m sure he will do next year since he will be old enough to, and see his stats then. I’m sure they will be good, but I want to wait until then to possibly put him on my team.

   One thing this challenge showed for certain is that NASCAR’s future is very bright. The 20 drivers who were chosen by those on Race Hub, all deserved to be picked and I think they will go far in their careers. I’m really looking forward to it!

4 for the 4th

   The weekend of the 4^th was full of craziness and interesting storylines. From illegal roof flap spacers to a historic finish, here are four stories from the 4^th.

Illegal Roof Flap Spacers
   I was actually at there at the Speedway as this all went down. I had never seen anything like it! A brigade of officials marched down pit road, split up into small groups, and went from car to car looking at something underneath the roof flaps. I didn’t know they were looking at the spacers until I checked my Twitter a few hours later. In all the cars inspected, 31 teams had illegally modified spacers; 16 in Sprint, 15 in Nationwide. Roof flap spacers slip in behind the hinge, which connects the roof flap to the car. The roof flap is used to slow the car down, and more importantly, keep the car on the ground while it is sliding sideways. This is purely a safety feature, so the question is, why would these teams do this? Well, the only reason I could think of, is an advantage by weight. The spacer has to be only a few ounces though! You would think the risk isn’t worth the reward but when it comes to restrictor plate races, the teams might think it could have made a difference. Either way though, it is not good to compromise part of the car’s safety, especially on a track were the cars run wide open at 200+ MPH.

   The next chapter of this story: Penalties. NASCAR is almost certainly going to hand out penalties for this, but to what extent? Initially, I would think just fines, but it might be more. One of the last times there was a safety violation; it was from three cars, between Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing. The windshield of their cars were too thin. NASCAR hit the teams involved hard with a $50,000 fine for the crew chiefs, a suspension of 4 weeks for the crew chiefs and car chiefs and a 25 driver point penalty each. I don’t think NASCAR will hit the teams that hard for the roof flap spacers, but suspensions, and more likely, points, are possible penalty factors. If they do go that far, it will be devastating to a lot of teams.

Group of 6 officials (Another group came in a few minutes later)

 

Officials inspecting Jimmie Johnson's car

Up close photo of official inspecting the roof flap

Officials inspecting Carl Edwards car

 

Jimmie Johnson Sweeps Daytona – First since 82’
Well, Jimmie made history again. He dominated the race, and successfully completed his sweep at Daytona, which hasn’t been done since Bobby Allison did it in ’82. This is one of many stats this year that he has added to his career, like winning 4 All-Star races, which is the most of any driver. The sweep is something you wouldn’t exactly expect when you look at Jimmie’s stats. At Daytona, he currently has only 8 top 5’s in 24 starts, which is only 1/3 of the time. Also, he has 5 DNF’s!! That’s the beauty of restrictor plate races, I guess. Jimmie also just tied Matt Kenseth with 4 wins and is leading the points by 49 points now. No doubt, Jimmie is a strong contender for the Championship.

Safety at Daytona – Present and Future
   This weekend was another great example of how important NASCAR’s implemented safety features are, but there are things they need to improve. Late in the Nationwide race, Travis Pastrana’s car was tipped by Cole Whitt causing it to slam into Jason White’s car and both hit the wall. Once the wreckage had settled, Jason climbed out of his car and went to the ground, trying to catch his breath. As soon as he did this, I went silent in concern. He later got up and told the media he was ok. For Travis, he got out of his car just fine, but on his scanner, you could hear it in his voice. You could tell the impact hurt and took his breath away. NASCAR mandates that all their drivers must wear HANS devices, special seatbelts, and sit in seats with full containment headrests. Also the tracks that NASCAR goes to have many walls with SAFER barriers, which softens the force of hits considerably. There are many more safety improvements that have been made in the cars. If it wasn’t for these improvements, I don’t want to even want to think of what Travis and Jason might be feeling. The same with many other drivers who have experienced wreaks we don’t ever want to see again. Another example is the wrecks we had a day later in the Cup race. The scariest one that comes to mind, to me, was when Denny Hamlin swerved (something must have broken) and overcorrected the car, sending him straight into the outside wall (which in that spot, did not have a SAFER barrier) and into oncoming traffic. Many cars, amazingly, were able to avoid him, but as AJ Allmendinger approached, he had nowhere to go. He t-boned Denny in the left rear quarter panel and sent the car’s rear flying two feet or more in the air as it violently spun around. It was a hard hit for both. My first concern was Denny’s back, which he had to be sidelined for earlier in the season. He was out for a whole month while it healed from the crash. Denny and AJ both said they were fine, although AJ admitted it really knocked the breath out of him for a moment. This shows the amazing effectiveness and importance of these safety innovations, but there is still more that can be done, and should be done.
   Something the last few years have showed us, is that if there is a wall, the car will somehow find a way to hit it. The crash that hurt Denny’s back did not have a SAFER barrier, and there are so many more horrible wrecks that have not had them, as well. This is why NASCAR needs to mandate SAFER barriers 100% around the tracks they run at, on both the inside and outside wall. I know SAFER barriers are very expensive and some of these track do not have the money to do this, so I think NASCAR should work with them, giving them a few years to fully implement this, and maybe even splitting the cost 50/50. The place where Denny crashed and hurt his back also had a dip in the asphalt, which brings me to my second point. There are little “quirks” at some of these tracks that need to be addressed. Maybe NASCAR needs to send out a safety specialist to walk the track and figure out if these are a danger or not. Hands down, NASCAR has done an excellent job with safety innovations, but it, like almost anything in life, can definitely continue to be improved.

Does Restrictor Plate Racing Need to Continue Changing?
   No doubt, the teams have worked hard and made a lot of progress with the Gen6 car on restrictor plate races, but there is still something I think they need to work on. The race was interesting, but like the Daytona 500 this year, it is very hard to pass. Because of this, the last few laps were almost identical to  those of the 500. There was a long “train” of 7-9 cars all behind one another, just stuck. If one, or even two of them tried to go to the outside and make a move they would go straight to the pack, which trailed about ½ second off the tail end of the train. Should NASCAR continue tweaking their restrictor plate race cars? I would just like to see what we used to, when it comes to unexpected finishes. The ones where you never knew who would take the checkered flag because in a matter of two turns, another driver could rocket to the front! Why don’t we see this anymore? What could the problem be? Maybe it is an aerodynamic issue? Maybe the engineers could tweak the car’s physics a certain way and allow them to be able to pass more easily. Some people think they should slow the speeds down. I’m not an engineer, so I can’t tell you what could possibly fix it. I’m confident, though, they could figure it out.

Reflecting on Restarts

   This seems to have been a big subject during the last week, so I mulled it over and thought I would put my 2 cents in: Restarts. Honestly, I have noticed a problem with this since 2012. It’s been in controversy more times than just now. What really pushed it over the edge was the multiple comments and controversies Jimmie Johnson has had with it recently. I don’t know whether to agree with Jimmie or not, so let’s look at this.

   I had seen controversy in the Nationwide series for a while, but one of the first times I had noticed it in the Sprint Cup was back in April of 2012 at Richmond International Raceway. Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart were on the front row during the restart with Tony in 1^st. Carl thought he was first because of scoring confusion and when the restart was underway, Tony spun his tires, making it look very much like Carl bolted when he shouldn’t of. NASCAR said they black-flagged Carl for two reasons. First, because he wasn’t the leader and second, he restarted before he reached the restart box. The first reason was apparent, but the second was a close call. The talk following this incident was how I came to understand restart rules better.

   I would give you a quote from the NASCAR Rule Book if I had one, but those are only given to members of NASCAR, and there are no credible links telling you all of the rules. So as far as I understand, a proper restart is this: When the field is coming up to restart, the 1^st place car is supposed to be the first to accelerate. The time when he is allowed to do that, is when he reaches the “Restart box” which is marked by red lines on the inside and outside walls. The field is to stay in their restart order until they cross the Start/Finish (S/F) line. Getting ahead of your position before you cross the S/F line, will result in a penalty. They do have a mercy rule, though. If you get ahead of your position, but then give it back soon after the race is restarted, they won’t penalize you. Other ways to get penalized are by accelerating before the restart box (which Carl may or may not had done), or by changing lanes before the S/F line (which David Regan did during the 2011 Daytona 500).

   These rules can be manipulated though. Here is more controversy. During the Nationwide Indianapolis race in 2012, Elliott Sadler was 2^nd to Brad Keselowski coming to the restart. Elliott was apparently pushed by the #3 of Austin Dillon past Brad going across the S/F line. Elliott was penalized. He couldn’t have done anything though, to slow down because Austin Dillon was pushing him!

   Now, let’s talk about the latest controversy: Jimmie Johnson… multiple times. What is so odd about this is Jimmie has never had this problem before and he also hasn’t complained a lot to NASCAR about things concerning the racing in the past. He has made many comments, though, after recent restarts, but let’s highlight the biggest two. Back in Dover this year, Juan Pablo Montoya was 1^st and Jimmie was second. Jimmie was penalized for getting in front of the leader before the restart box and S/F line. In defense, Jimmie said basically that “Juan just didn’t go.” It honestly looked like it too. It seemed like a long time for Juan to get up and going, especially when you consider how quickly Jimmie did it! Could “flopping” on the restart be a way of manipulating the rules?

   Let’s now go to last week’s incident. Jimmie, again, was 2^nd, but with Matt Kenseth in 1^st. This time, though, Jimmie was not penalized. The restart seemed to have gone well, but Jimmie oddly, after dominating the last half of the race, started to fall back. He then went 3 wide in the turn and spun because of side draft (caused by racing close to other cars in the turn), which as we have seen is very common.  After the caution was thrown, Jimmie was placed in 25^th. Now, an angry man-on-a-mission,  he drove as hard as he could for the few remaining laps and rallied back for a 9^th place finish! Before Jimmie had spun, he commented that Kenseth should be penalized for slowing on the restart (similar to what he said about Montoya’s case).

   I agree with Jimmie about Juan, but Kenseth I’m not so sure about. It made you start to wonder if he was starting to get paranoid about restarts. Since then, at Daytona, Jimmie cleared the air concerning restarts, and told the media this: “I know the rule, but I feel like I may be a little focused on the way the rule reads exactly and paying maybe too close attention to that. Maybe I should lighten up and loosen up on the way some restart and certainly the way I do. There were a lot of restarts where I felt like I was a good citizen (and) good student and doing exactly what I'm supposed to. There are other times when I don't feel that exactly happens, that it's not called from the tower (where the NASCAR officials are) as the rule reads." Later, Jimmie jokingly said "I'm not smart enough to let (restarts) get in my head, so we're fine there.”

   Everything went fine at Daytona, where restarts are concerned, and Jimmie wasn’t 2^nd much (instead he was 1^st), so how Jimmie handles going 2^nd on restarts is still to be seen. One thing we do know, though: Drivers can, and possibly have, manipulated restarts before, either by someone pushing the 2^nd place driver or by the 1^st place driver deliberately slowing down.

   So how would you prevent this? Here are my thoughts. First, I think they need to scrap the “restart box”. To me, it should be a restart line. Also, its red mark needs to be not only on the wall, but painted across the asphalt. Next, they need to put a speed meter on the line, the same ones that are on pit road. The rules would be the drivers will have to cross the restart line in their restart order, otherwise resulting in a penalty. Here, the change though. A speed box would be set (ex. 40 – 50mph) and if anyone crosses the line ahead of their position or over/under the speed box, that driver would be penalized. After the restart line is crossed, the drivers can go as fast as they can. This should lessen the likeliness of “flopping” shenanigans, but there is still a possibility of it after the restart line. Therefore, I would say, the restart order shouldn’t matter when they go across the S/F line. This would nearly eliminate flopping completely, because if you flopped under this set of rules, it would be to your disadvantage.

   Some people might not be happy with a speed meter on the restart line, because it puts more control into NASCAR’s hands. They tell us who was and who wasn’t speeding on pit road though! If they made a record of it, like they do with the pit road speeds, then I don’t think a speed meter on the restart line would be a problem. What about the pushing problem? This is something that somewhat needs to be self-regulated...unless NASCAR put an in-car camera on every car. That might be a little ridiculous though…

   I think because of all the headlines concerning restart controversy, NASCAR will review its rules on the matter soon. If they do, and change something, it will be interesting to see what the new rules would be. Many points have been brought to light, and hopefully they will consider some of them.