Bemused, Bewildered, Confused, Or To Put It Another Way... I Don't Get It...

The 2013 Daytona 500 was... odd...

Old school drafting a la Earnhardt was back, and this is not a good thing in my opinion.

As I have documented in the past I am of the opinion that the two things the much unloved COT did well were keep drivers safe, and draft at Daytona and Talladega. In fact the cars drafted too well, and the bumpers lined up so perfectly that tandem drafting was born. We all know that NASCAR spent many hours trying to eliminate the tandem draft and to much success.

The first proper race of 2013 would show us what type of restrictor plate racing we would get with the Gen 6. The answer was the one I hoped I would not get... 90's pack racing. Drivers apparently unable to overtake without help, a lot of help. Drivers running round playing follow the leader until the very end. To be fair the early wreck didn't help, but that's not the answer to the fairly processional 500. That's not the answer, but what is the question?

Here is what is bothering me...

During and after the race Danica said she was only using part throttle while running in the draft. This alone is not surprising, in fact this is how it should be. What is surprising is the lack of overtaking by drivers with the loud pedal buried on the floor. The end of the race showed that the drivers and the Gen 6 could overtake, they just didn't. Why didn't more drivers "play" early in the race, find out what happened when they did pull out of the draft. Why didn't a few drivers get together to see what would happen? This was the Daytona 500 after all and no one looked like they wanted to win it, but they all looked scared stiff of losing it. If the drivers had that much accelerator to play with, why didn't they?

The questions are obviously... How does NASCAR make the racing better? Does NASCAR need to change anything?

The Gen 6 car is supposed to do two things, bring back manufacturer identity, and improve the racing. The first it does very well, a Ford now looks like a Ford, a Chevy looks like a Chevy, a Toyota...

The jury is still out on the second and to be fair will be for the first half of this year. Every time the cars race NASCAR, the teams and drivers, and Goodyear will learn a little bit more and by the time the Cup Series starts going back to tracks again we will see what this car can really do.

I do wonder if NASCAR will do something to the 'plate package to increase the closing rates and make it easier to overtake, but lets give NASCAR the chance to get this car right before we talk the sport we love out of business. I am not convinced much needs to change, just a few tweeks and am sure the powers that be will get the show right in the end.

While I think about it I get the feeling there are going to be two attitudes towards Danica Patrick, love or hate. Some will love her and see her as the new Earnhardt Jr, the fan favourite and darling of the sport. Others who hate her will see her as the new Earnhardt Jr, all talk and no action, a driver living off of a "gimmick", Dales is his name, Danicas her gender. I am not sure where I sit yet, I just know this, I would take pole, running up front all day, leading a lap and a top 10 finish in the first race of my rookie year thank you very much, especially when that race was the Daytona 500! The media circus around her might get a bit much at times, but as Keselowski said, she's just another racing driver so lets rate her on her performances in her rookie year, and so far shes done all right.

On a slightly different topic I do wish a speedy recovery to the fans injured at the end of the Nationwide race. Racing is dangerous, but no one want to see fans hurt supporting the sport they love!

Racin' The Way It Ought'a Be??

Bristol Motor Speedway...

Half-a-mile long...

24° to 30° of variable banking in the turns...

Two, wide, evenly matched racing grooves...

160,000 seats...

NASCAR short track racing at its most intense...

So why are the stands empty?

And why isn't the racing considered "good enough"?

Lets face it fans loved the old Bristol. For years the track boasted of an unbroken "sold out" streak.

Not any more...

Since the track was repaved and the banking was changed to its current variable configuration fans have turned off and that unbroken run of sold out ticket sales has been well and truly broken. On paper the "new" Bristol should be perfect for modern NASCAR racing. Multiple racing grooves giving the drivers loads of room to race two wide over 500 laps. However somethings not working.

The "old" Bristol was a physical track, physically hard on drivers as well as emotionally and mentally hard. The drivers also got physical with each other, what became known as the "bump'n'run".

A packed house might have booed Dale Earnhardt in the 1999 Bristol night race when he "just meant to rattle" Terry Labontes cage but don't tell me those fans didn't pay their money to see exactly that happen.

However since the track was reconfigured the contact, some might say the "edge" has been lost. In one way this was the reason for repaving the track. The old track had one racing groove and to overtake drivers had to use their front bumper to move the other car out of the way. Now with the variable banking the drivers have two complete racing grooves to work with, negating the need for the "bump'n'run". However I did say "in one way" this was the point of the variable banking.

I fully expected, after the track was reconfigured, the controversial last lap "bump'n'runs" to be replaced by two wide, thousands-of-an-inch close, finishes using the new variable banking to great effect. This was surely the other purpose of the reconfiguration, widen the racing groove. The banking does create this style of racing as the battle between Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth in the latest NASCAR Sprint Cup race proved.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Fans may look back at the "old" Bristol races and remember them as close, good old fashioned short track racing and look at the races on the new surface and consider the racing not good enough. Not enough cars on the lead lap, no dramatic last lap battles, however not every lap of every Bristol race was filled with "bump'n'run" drama. The other 1999 Bristol race only had 13 cars on the lead lap with 222 laps still to go. The one groove nature of the track meant that the races were wars of attrition, patience and stamina, waiting games for 400 laps and full on for the last 100 laps. Remember, 500 laps of any NASCAR race, let alone Bristol, is a long time.

This has not changed with the "new" track. If anything the variable banking has done its job and opened the track up to "real" racing. What I do not understand is why the race finishes have not been that close.

The drivers seem able to race two wide for lap after lap in the middle of the race, however the track is yet to produce the aforementioned two wide, thousands-of-an-inch close finish, using the new variable banking to great effect. To me this is why fans are not buying tickets and are complaining about the new Bristol. It is said the most important parts of a film, stage production, book or TV show are the start and end, as the viewer always remembers these more than the bit in the middle and I wonder if the same can be said of a motor race.

Fans remember with great fondness the "old" Bristol races and say they want the "old" Bristol back. What I think they really want are good "new" Bristol starts and great "new" Bristol finishes. The 300 laps in between are always going to be forgotten.

I just wish I understood why this hasn't happened yet, as I for one quite like the "new" Bristol!

Bud "Shootout" Indeed!!

So last night, or this morning, 3.30am UK time this morning in fact, I sat up to watch the 2012 NASCAR Bud Shootout...

Was it worth it??

Hell yeah!!

If you listed every element the perfect pre-season event should have the list would include lots of lead changes, close racing, wrecks, and a nail biting finish.

This years race had all those elements packed into an 82 lap action packed sprint!

Surely the racing was exactly what NASCAR fans wanted, a return to pack racing... or was it? The racing was definately more "pack" than "tandem" but a "return"? This was not "old school" pack racing where drivers sat two or three wide, lap after lap, unable to race for themselves. This was "new school" pack racing where drivers could draft or bump draft to overtake... and it was good!

There were wrecks, several wrecks, but what do you expect when you put that many drivers, that close together, for that few laps. The only real sticking point and the cause of the wrecks, was the effect of bump drafting in the corners, especially when the pushing car is lower on the track than the car being pushed.

FoxSports.com are already running a poll asking fans, "Should NASCAR make changes after the Shootout?" Richard Childress is not happy. Should NASCAR change the rules package? Should NASCAR ban bump drafting in the turns? Should NASCAR do this, should NASCAR do that?   

“NASCAR asked the teams and the drivers what we could do to make it better,” said Tony Stewart, the defending Cup Champion. “My point is, this is better than having to sit there and stare at the back of a spoiler for 500 miles and not be able to see where you're going half the race. We had control of what lane we got to run in. We got to move whenever we wanted. You didn't have to not move because you had a guy behind you that you had to rely on making your decision on what he had to do also. We had more control as drivers today.”

The answer according to Dale Earnhardt Jr - "You just hold your damn car where it needs to be and not drive around like an idiot."

Quite! The rules package worked perfectly. I do not believe the drivers will bump draft to the extreme we saw in the Shootout for the whole 500 miles next Sunday. The 500 is a different kettle of fish, a long race to survive, not a sprint. We might see more of the same in the last 100 miles but that has always been the way, hasn't it? The drivers have the Gatorade Duels next, more time to get the hang of the "new school" pack racing.    

The other story from the Bud Shootout was Kyle Busch and his “stab and steer — and some braking" saves and his last corner slingshot for the win on Tony Stewart. Love Kyle or hate him, that boy sure can drive a race car.

So what have we learnt so far?

"Pack" racing is back, don't bump draft the left side of another car in the turns, Kyle Busch sure can save a race car...

Don't lead the last lap...

Now that's very old school after all!!

I Couldn't Help But Wonder...

With all this talk of bringing back "pack racing" at Daytona I couldn't help but wonder... Were things that much better way back when?

Old school "pack racing" was hold your breathe close, hold your breathe tense, hold your breathe dramatic. Fans loved it... Drivers hated it.

The trouble with "pack racing" was that one driver could not overtake on his own. The last lap pass for the win rarely happened unless the cars were two by two already. For a driver to overtake he needed 25 other cars to go with him. If he moved and they didn't he found himself on his own, going very quickly... backwards. The cars were so closely packed together on the high banks that one wrong move caused "the big one", and the drivers felt powerless to do anything about it.

Fast forward to 2011 and "tandem drafting". Drivers don't mind it but fans hate it. Yes the cars are a little more split up for the first 499 miles but the drivers can slingshot when it comes down to that final mile.

So back in the day a driver needed as many cars as possible pushing his if he decided to pull out of the draft, today one car pushing will do the job.

NASCAR seem to understand the need to limit the speed differencial between the tandem drafting and the ols fashioned pack drafting but hopefully they also realise the need to maintain the ability to race one-on-one.

Personally I am not sure a fully blown return to "pack racing" is as good as some rose tinted glasses make it look.

With all this enthusiasm surrounding the 2013 Cup Series Ford Fusion and with it a return to "stock" looking cars, I couldn't help but wonder... What was the last "stock" looking stock car?

Current Cup cars may not be the spitting image of a specific road car but at least they are more road car in proportion than the generation before and in my eyes make for a good looking "stock car" if no so "stock" car...

Did a road Monte Carlo ever look like this...

or a Charger ever have a front like this?

Or a Taurus look like this...

This is better...

Getting better, a Pontiac Grand Prix that looks like the road car, right down to the detail in the front and the overall shape... 

A Thunderbird from the same era, again thats what a T-bird looked like back then...

An Oldsmobile, again from the same era, and again looking like an old road going Olds Cutlass Supreme...

Same goes for the Chevy Lumina...

A little older and again they look like road cars, Buick on the high side and another T-bird down low...



So to find the last "stock" looking "stock car" it looks like we have to go back to the era of Lumina vs Thunderbird vs Grand Prix vs the odd Buick and Oldsmobile. They were still race cars but they were "stock" looking!

Despite all of this looking backwards I am excited about the future, the upcoming 2012 season, and what 2013 will bring!

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??

Wham Bam Thank You Men

Martinsville.

Action...

Wrecks...

Contact...

Retaliation...

All the top drivers having a go...

A late caution...

A late pass for the lead and a close finish...

What was not to like?

The little paperclip delivered just what the Sprint Cup needed, a good old fashioned short track bust up, and in the process injected some much needed on track action into the Chase.

We watched the sports best, from Gibbs, Roush, Childress, Hendrick Stewart Haas and others battle it out, no holes barred.

Finally they all got it together at the same time, and the result was great to watch.

The late pass by Tony Stewart on the outside of Jimmie Johnson showed class from both drivers. From Smoke a classy move, squeezing the 48 down low and getting the win. The lack of contact once the lead was lost showed a level of respect from the reigning Sprint Cup champion towards his fellow driver. Would I be blaming or holding it against the 48 car if the bumper had been used, no, thats short track racing, but it did show respect and a level of class from Jimmie Johnson.

For the opposite style of racing look at Earnhardt Jr among others. Again, nothing wrong with a bit of contact, nothing wrong with a bit more either.

Should NASCAR be worried about the retaliation? Not in my book. The rules at Martinsville may be different to those at Texas but I am still all for "have at it boys".

NASCAR has always been a contact sport and there have always been rivalries. It may be a bit "primal", a bit "wrestling" but hard hitting short track racing is as much a part of the sport as drafting at Daytona... And long may it continue!

Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That...

Take 43 of the best stock car drivers...

Pair them up with the best Crew Chief they can find...

Have the best teams in the business run them...

And watch one driver dominate?

Not one team, but one driver.

The Sprint Cup races this year have me baffled. Each week there is some good racing throughout the field, and we have seen a lot of different winners this year but still there is no consistancy. A while ago I was championing this as a good thing, variety being the spice of life as they say. However this variety has me wondering how one driver can hit on a set up so much better than all the others that they dominate a race like Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team did at Kansas.

What did that team do which made them the best, on that day, by some margin. You would have thought out of the other 42 cars someone else would have hit on that magic formula as well and given the 48 a run for his money. Stewart got close at times but only ever looked like he had a second place car and not one able to battle for the win.

It's not as though one team is dominating, as last Sunday Gordon had an average race and Earnhardt and Martin were never really in contention. In fact if one driver in a team is winning you can almost guarantee that the others in the same team are nowhere to be seen. If Tony is winning then Ryan is average. If the 48 is up front the 24 is at the back, and visa versa. If Brad is hot, Kurt is not and again visa versa.

You may say track position, and being the lead car, has a part to play in this but I don't buy it. The racing behind Johnson was good and proved overtaking was possible using the various grooves through the turns.

Is it down to the edgy nature of the cars? They are hard to drive ane we often hear Crew Chiefs talk about the fine line between a car that works and one that doesn't. However with the regulations for the cars being so tight, or to put it another way all of the cars are more or less the same, you would think that more than one team would find a setup that works on a given weekend. Also considering the limited number of car builders, Hendrick for Chevy, Roush for Ford, Penske for Dodge and MWR/Gibbs for Toyota, you would think the secret formula for the ultimate setup would not be secret for long.

I look forward to the race when all the top drivers find a setup that works at the same time, Homestead perhaps, and then we will have a race on.

I am not complaining, I am just puzzled. It looks like the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion will be the driver and team who can hit on that magic setup the most over the coming weeks, and not fall that far when they miss.

Close... But Not Quite

eWe all know that Dale Earnhardt Jr is NASCARs most popular driver. After Martinsville Kevin Harvick must be the most un-popular driver...

However, for the second week in a row Kevin Harvick has driven his way to the front in the closing stages... and what a closer, and what finishes!!

We also all know that Dale Earnhardt Jr has a 98, now 99, race long winless streak that he would love to break. The good thing for Junior Nation is that their driver is now in contention, now up front!

However at Martinsville I hoped for more. Not because he didn’t win, but in the way in which he raced for the lead. I hoped for a battle... I expected a fight... I was looking forward to a struggle... I wanted some good ol’ fashioned short track rubbin’ for the win... What I got were the top drivers not wanting to be the “bad guy”. Before you turn on me, I understand that Junior got loose and Harvick had the quicker car. Not much was going to stop the 29 but I loved it when the 88 moved the 18 with about 20 to go, and wished for more at the end...

The 88 wasn’t the only car looking good. Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin as always, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer were always up there. One drive who raced well and finished well was JPM. The driver who used to have a distinct lack of patience on the short tracks looked pretty good on one!

We did get to see a very good short track race! Some very good tight racing, some good bump’n’runs, some good wrecks... and a very good finish.

I am glad the 88 car is up finally racing up front, and it was good to see him drive well throughout the race, and the emotion he showed after the race shows how much he cares. In the off-season I said that for the 88 to win races, first he must be in contention, so it's all good so far this year.

Another great race... however... Next time, don’t be afraid to be the “bad guy” and be the poster boy NASCAR needs...

3 Dale Earnhardt

RIP

See also -

http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-daytona-500-means-to-me.html
http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/search/label/Dale%20Earnhardt

What the Daytona 500 Means To Me

The Daytona 500, NASCARs season opener. NASCARs biggest race. To the drivers it is the race to win! Some drivers spend their whole career trying to win it; some do it more than once.

To me the Daytona 500 is about the speed, the drama, the closeness of the cars, the wait for "the big one", the dramatic finish.

I never tire of restrictor plate racing at Daytona and Talladega. You can debate the merits of opening the season with your biggest race, but to a fan bored of the offseason, starting the year this way ensures the year starts with a bang, NASCAR racing at its most extreme! 

There was the year Dale Jarrett won with his dad commentating, the year Dale Jr won. There have been lots of memorable 500's.

Back in 1998 I was 18 and had just finished college. I decided to go travelling and undertook a solo 3 month trek across America. I flew into San Francisco and flew home from New York, stayed in youth hostels, travelled coast to coast by Greyhound bus. For the weekend of the 1998 Daytona 500 I was in LA. I found a TV in the hostel, tuned into the race, and watched it on my own as no one else seemed to care.

 

'98 was the year Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500! As the race began I pulled up a chair, which is odd as I don't remember using it much. In fact once the race got serious, as Earnhardt was pacing the field, I was pacing around the room unable to stand still let alone sit for excitement. Watching the black 3-car pull onto pit lane, seeing every crew member from every team come out to see him, the "3" on the grass, the Victory Lane celebrations, the excitement was huge. Earnhardt fan or not, it was a great day for NASCAR, and for me.

Later in my trek across the States, I found myself in Las Vegas the week of the city's first ever NASCAR race weekend. I could not afford Cup tickets, but did get to see the then Busch Series race! To date this is my only live NASCAR experience. The excitement in Vegas that week as palpable. NASCAR was everywhere. It was the sports 50th year and there were modern and classic race cars everywhere.

Later still in my coast to coast trip, while others were off to Miami to drink themselves silly, I went to Daytona. I did the track tour, stood on top of the banking and looked down, and I saw the black RCR Chevy Monte Carlo with 3 on it, as it was when it won the race. Standing outside of the track I used a pay phone to ring home and at that moment I changed the direction my life was heading. I gave up the university place I had waiting for me when I got home, and decided to make racing my ambition, my life.

Lots of people will talk about the tragic end to the 2001 Daytona 500, and the effects that day had on the sport and its people, but the experience of the 1998 Daytona 500 and seeing the Daytona International Speedway was literally life changing for me.

Each February I remember my 3 month trip, that years Daytona 500, the track tour, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, New York, and everything in between.

One day I will go to a Daytona 500 and experience it in person, but this year I will settle down in front of the TV and enjoy the race. I may even use a chair this time...

RIP 3.

Favourite Drivers

Following my off season filling “Favourite Race Cars” list, I thought I might try “Favourite Drivers”. So as they say on the talent shows… in no particular order…

Mario Andretti

Mario won in F1, IndyCar, sportscars, NASCAR, midgets, sprint cars and drag racing. Four time IndyCar Champion. The only driver to win the Daytona 500 (1967), Indy 500 (1969), and the Formula 1 World Championship (1978). 'Nuff said!!

Dale Earnhardt 

"The Intimidator, 3, The Man In Black." Dale won seventy six NASCAR Cup series races, seven Winston Cup Championships and one Daytona 500. The day Earnhardt won the 500 was a great day! I watched the race from the comfort of a youth hostel in LA, and my over-riding memory was of not being able to sit or stand still for excitement! One of the greats! RIP.

Andy Rouse

BTCC Champion in 1975, '83, '84 and '85. Has sixty race wins. He also won BTCC Class A, driving his RS500, in 1988 and 1989. Watch this clip to see the master at work...

http://jameswright42.blogspot.com/2010/10/1989-birmingham-superprix-fantastic.html

Tony Stewart / Juan Pablo Montoya

My favourite active NASCAR drivers!

Tony Stewart, "Smoke"; won the Indy 500 in 1996, and the NASCAR Cup title in 2002 and again in 2005! One of the best in anything with a USAC sticker on it (sprint cars, midgets, Silver Crown), he now runs his own team (NASCAR and World of Outlaws among others) and owns or co-owns various tracks including Eldora dirt track. A racers racer!


JPM won the CART title in 1999, as a rookie! He has won the Indy 500 (2000), the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Monaco Grand Prix. He was NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 2007, and won NASCAR Cup series road races in 2007 at Sonoma and in 2010 at Watkins Glen! Good car number!

 
Al Unser Jr

"Little Al" was the youngest ever IROC Champion, winning in 1986, and again in 1988. He lost the 1985 CART title by 1 point, to his father. He was CART Champion in 1990 and won the 1992 Indy 500 by 0.043 seconds, the closest finish ever. He won the Indy 500, and the CART title again in 1994. Two time Daytona 24 hours winner. The only driver I have ever known to paint his helmet the same colour as his car! 

 

John Cleland

Cleland was the overall 1989 BTCC Champion in a Vauxhall Astra, beating the RS500's to the title! One of the early 2 litre era stars, winning the Championship again in '95 driving a Cavalier. I have never forgiven Steve Soper for the Silverstone crash in '92!!

  

Bill Elliott

"Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill" won the Winston Million in 1985 by winning the Daytona, Winston and Southern 500's , hence the nickname. He won The Winston in '86, and the Daytona 500 again in '87. In 1988 he finally won the Winston Cup. He set the NASCAR qualifying average speed record of 210.364mph at Daytona,  and 212.809mph at Talladega, with them NASCAR introduced the restrictor plate, ensuring the records stand to this day! He also won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award sixteen times; '84 to '88, '91 to 2000 and lastly in 2002, the year in which he won the Brickyard 400. The driver who taught me to understand the southern drawl!!