2011 Shiftin' Gears Quotes Part 1... NASCAR

To start the off season I thought I would review my favourite quotes from this seasons blogs... so here we go...

Part 1... NASCAR

In the world of NASCAR, Daytona International Speedway is the new Noahs Ark and the drivers are coming in two by two!!

If 2010 was "have at it, boys" then maybe 2011 is... "NO LONGER YOU'RE GRANDDADS NASCAR"!

Las Vegas wasn’t the greatest race ever, but it does show that anything can happen, and probably will!

Kyle Busch, who led most of the race, was trying to hold on while Jimmie Johnson did everything he could to take it. At the same time Kevin Harvick got physical saying "I don't think so" and beat them both... and all that in the last two laps! A great ending!! Pity they didn't have KERS or DRS movable rear wings though...

I have nothing against international drivers racing in NASCAR as long as they earn their place, and as long as the series for the “good old boys” stays true to that.

“Hand Bags at Dawn” or “Racing Rivalries”

I think it’s a shame that the ”All Star Race” is included in NASCAR probationary periods, imposed after a driver has done something untoward. The non-points scoring sprint race format is be the perfect arena for drivers to “have at it,” safe in the knowledge that their actions in the “All Star Race” would not affect the regular season.

Am I the only one who thinks it a bit odd that the track creating the best old fashioned bump-‘n-run racing is... not Martinsville or Bristol... but... a road course?

Performace parity... that's BTCC talk, in NASCAR it's called good hard racing!

I have never minded the two car bump drafting we are currently seeing at the ‘plate tracks, however when it gets to the point where drivers plan in advance who they are going to work with, and stay together until the end without any thought of changing, it has gone a bit too far.

Jeff Gordon is now third on the all time NASCAR win list!

One point has to be made though... while Tony Stewart might have won the race because of his fuel strategy; he got to the front by out racing the opposition!

I enjoyed watching Jeff Gordon lose last weekends NASCAR Sprint Cup race from New Hampshire. I also enjoyed watching Clint Bowyer lose the race.

For the first time since the current Cup car was introduced I am wondering if something about the COT is hurting the racing.

I would be like to thank Richard Childress Racing for putting the "R" back in "NASCAR", for letting their drivers "race" for the win and not just drive.

Was I supposed to be surprised by the actions of Kyle Busch in last weeks Truck race? Oh good, 'cos I wasn't.

A few weeks ago I may have commented on the particularly disjointed nature of the pre-Chase regular season. No one driver looking strong enough to dominate, but many in with a shot… I might have been wrong..

What will 2012 bring??

2011 NASCAR Memories

With the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at an end I thought I would start the off-season by looking back at highlights of this tightly fought Championship...

After five consecutive Jimmie Johnson titles was 2011 going to become number 6?



The season got off to a great start with a new name, Trevor Bayne, winning the years biggest race. Not only that, but he also put one of NASCARs oldest teams, Wood Brothers Racing, back in Victory Lane!

The Daytona 500 signalled the start of an up and down year for restrictor plate racing in NASCAR with "tandem drafting" one of the stories of the year. Two cars have always been faster than one, but this year things got physical with drivers literally pushing each other all the way round the two 'plate tracks. Sounds exciting but was not always, until...



The finish was close but many fans were not convinced by this style of racing, me included. The downside of this style of racing was that the drivers teamed up before the race and decided who was going to do the pushing and who was going to be pushed. It all got a little too planned for my liking. I do not want a return to the old "pack" races where drivers could not overtake, but it would be nice if a driver could race for themselves... then again...



Clint Bowyer proved that even in the era of the "tandem", the slingshot is alive and kicking!!

That wasn't the only close finish of the year...



2011 brought a renewed emphasis on winning and several drivers took their first Sprint Cup win this year...





Which brings me on to another story of the year, Kyle Busch... for all the wrong reasons...



"Boys Have At It" has always had an imaginary line that drivers should not cross, trouble is NASCAR decided that he did! NASCAR told Kyle he wasn't racing any more that weekend, put him on probation to the end of the year and issued him with a fine! He also got in trouble with his team and his sponsors. What effects that incident will have on him for next year only time will tell.

"Retaliation" and "payback" were two of the years watch words...




Which brings me to what will be the long standing story of the year, not a sixth title for the 48 car but the battle between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. After such a dominating run by one driver it was great to see that run broken by one of the tightest battles in NASCAR history.



One of the greatest NASCAR Championship battles ever?

Certainly!

Do NASCAR have to work on the product a bit... I think so, but that's for another day...

And That's How You Do It!!

WHAT A RACE!

WHAT A CHASE!

A few weeks ago I may have commented on the particularly disjointed nature of the pre-Chase regular season. No one driver looking strong enough to dominate, but many in with a shot.

I might have been wrong...

Tony Stewart and his crew dominated their way to the title. They did not have it easy, nor did they make it easy for themselves but in the end Stewarts take-no-prisoners driving at Homestead earned them the title.

It may also go down as one of the greatest drives ever.

With the level of competition that high, and with the cars evenly matched, the 14 car literally took on all-comers and walked away the winner.

He overtook 118 cars...

Two, three, and four wide passes...

Had to win the race...

Race won...

Championship won!

First owner/driver Champion since Alan Kulwicki.

The great thing about this years Chase was that it came down to two drivers, one-on-one for the race win. Not a maths equasion of "if he finishes here then I can be there" but a straight battle to the chequered flag. That alone is good, that it was also for the title made it great.

Carl Edwards did more than keep Steward honest, it was his title until the last race, but ultimately he could not stop the unstoppable and unthinkable.

Congratulations to Tony Stewart and Stewart Haas Racing...

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONS!

I said you would only need the edge of your seat...

3... 2... 1...

3... points.

2... drivers.

1... race.

Ford vs. Chevy.

Stewart vs. Edwards.

Win the race, win the title.

Nothing else will do.

They both need to win!

Homestead Miami...

Sunday...

Get the beer and dips in...

Don't worry about a complete seat...

You will only need the edge...

Bring It On!

To Finish First... First You Must... Start

To Finish First...

Another Chase race and another good one.

At one of NASCARs fastest tracks the top two in points went head to head, Carl Edwards vs. Tony Stewart... And Smoke came out on top. Que cheesy headlines, "Stewart Smokes 'Em", etc.

Stewart did what he had to do, win, while at the same time Edwards did what he had to, shadow Stewart.

At Texas that was enough but it will not be enough from now on. At Phoenix, with only three points seperating them, they will be all out for the win, again.

Just how a Championship should be decided then!

... First You Must Start!

Was I supposed to be surprised by the actions of Kyle Busch in last weeks Truck race? Oh good, 'cos I wasn't.

Was I supposed to be surprised that Mike Helton threw the NASCAR rulebook at Kyle? Good, 'cos I wasn't.

Was I supposed to be surprised that the majority of fans think Kyle should loose his job as a result of what he did? Good, oh you get the idea.

Kyle Busch is NASCARs marmite, you either love him or hate him, or you love to hate him. Regardless of what fans thought of this one incident, if you ask the question a lot of fans will want Kyle out of the way.

The problem with Kyle, as has been well documented, is, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Rowdy is as Rowdy does".

Drivers lose their cool from time to time. However Kyle seems to loose his, not so cool, more often than most and when he does he also looses any sense of what to about it.

Have NASCAR been a bit heavy with the penalties? I think not. They have always said they would encorage "boys have at it" but there is a line in the sand and cross it at your peril. No one can debate that what Kyle did crossed that, until know, unseen line. As I said after Martinsville, retaliation on a short track is one thing, at a fast mile-and-a-half, something else. And lets face it this incident is the latest in a long line.

Whether Kyle will be out of a ride in a couple of weeks time, I would have thought is down to how patient Coach Gibbs and his sponsors are. I am not a Kyle Busch fan but I will openly admit that he has some of the best car control in the sport... And the sport is better off with contraversial drivers like him around...

If only he could reign in his ego he could win Championships... But then so could I if I only had his talent... And thats not going to happen... If only...

R.E.S.P.E.C.T... Find out what it means to me...

If there is one thing Tony Stewart, “Smoke”, does not do... it’s blow smoke...

You always know where you stand with Stewart.

You may not like where you stand, you may not agree with where you stand... but you always know.

I like that!

To be successful in NASCAR you need respect, and you need to be respected.

You need to respect your car, and the track. You need to respect other drivers space on track.

I have said this before and I will say this again, I love NASCAR road racing.

Watching the heavy overpowered, under tyred, under braked stock cars racing on the undulating kerbs of Sonoma is one of the highlights of my NASCAR year (next to the Daytona 500 and Bristol and this and that). Maybe it’s because I live on this side of the pond and over here we live on road racing, maybe it’s watching the Cup drivers put on a better road racing show than most of Europe can manage, whatever it is, it makes me smile.

By European standards a NASCAR road race is just not cricket. Do what Vickers or Stewart did over here and the MSA would take away your race licence and never give it back. Most European road racing is delicate, open wheelers that dare not go close to each other let alone touch or touring cars trying to do what the Cup guys do at Sonoma but in cars that are just not right. It’s like comparing American wrestling to Europe’s best ballet dancers. Delicate, I think not. Fun, you betcha!

The issue of blocking is one that is blighting some European racing. I have always liked that NASCAR have maintained oval grooves, spotters and the oval etiquette at the two road courses. The idea that there is more than one racing line, and just because you are on the inside for the first corner does not necessarily mean you are on the inside for the second is a principle that F1 is learning and the BTCC should relearn! With 18 laps to go, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards showed us how it’s done!

Am I the only one who thinks it a bit odd that the track that creates the best old fashioned bump-‘n-run racing is... not Martinsville or Bristol but... a road course?

Talk about one extreme to the other, Sonoma last weekend, and Daytona under the lights this!

So from one of the tightest, hardest hitting tracks on the calendar to a restrictor plate track where success relies on working with others...

Dance partners anyone?

Performance Parity - NASCAR

Over the last few weeks we have had some fuel mileage racing, some pit strategy racing, some “boys have at it” racing, some good racing, some not so good racing...

The best thing about the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series? To take a phrase from BTCC driver Jason Plato, “Performance Parity”!

The Hendrick cars are up there, but not dominating. Sure Jimmie Johnson is high up in the points and Jeff Gordon has ended his winless streak. Dale Jr is looking good, has come close to ending his winless streak and is also high up in points... but none are dominating!

The Gibbs cars are competitive, are leading laps and getting in the wars, but are not dominating!

Kevin Harvick, the “finisher” and dictionary definition of “boys have at it” has won races and looks like he badly wants the end of season trophy, but none of the Childress cars are dominating!

The Roush Fords are back in the hunt this year after a quiet season last year, but are not dominating!

Holding up the honour for Dodge are the Penske cars, good at times, but not dominating!

This is Tony Stewarts time of year to shine... the Red Bull cars of Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers have looked good... the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing cars... the Richard Petty Motorsport cars have all been running well... at times very well... however no one is dominating!

But here’s the thing...

Carl Edwards is currently leading the points, just ahead of... the 48! You remember him don’t you; he’s done quite well over the past few years... Somehow the 48 car always seems to find a fifth gear once the Chase begins!

In my opinion the drivers most likely to keep up with Johnson once the Chase starts are Edwards, Harvick, and if he can get it together, Kyle Busch.

I am glad Dale Jr has been running well. He finally looks like he can drive a race car and is third in points right now but does he quiet have enough? Only time will tell.

But again, the question is... Who has what in reserve for the Chase?

Performace parity... that's BTCC talk, in NASCAR it's called good hard racing!

Slip Sliding Away

Paul Simon once wrote...

“...She said a good day ain't got no rain

She said a bad day is when I lie in the bed

And I think of things that might have been”

“You know the nearer your destination, the more your slip sliding away”

These may well be the words Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer use to describe their life after they let a shot at a race win at the Monster Mile slip through their fingers.

If the last few races have produced rivalries between drivers, this week’s rivalry was between the drivers and the track! For good two-wide racing a track needs to be predictable, have grip and have a wide grippy predictable racing groove.

Dover, however, didn’t!

This unpredictability did make for a very intriguing race though! The crayon-like build up of rubber kept the drivers on their proverbial toes for the whole race.

I enjoyed watching the drivers fight their cars and the surface... oh and each other!

I especially enjoyed watching Marcos Ambrose drive to another third place finish on an oval! If a driver moves to America to try his hand at NASCAR he needs to adopt the NASCAR attitude and the NASCAR mentality to earn his respect. Ambrose is doing just that!

On a different issue I think it’s a shame that the ”All Star Race” is included in NASCAR probationary periods, imposed after a driver has done something untoward. The non-points scoring sprint race format is be the perfect arena for drivers to “have at it,” safe in the knowledge that their actions in the “All Star Race” would not affect the regular season.

Whatever happens I am sure it will be fun!!