2012 NASCAR Chase Finally Gets... Lively!

Lets face it, the 2012 edition of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has not produced the most exciting racing in the sports history. In fact it is fair to say the racing has, on the whole, been dull.

To be honest the racing last year was pretty tedious too, but the season was saved by a dramatic change of form by one driver and an especially close points race. The two protagonists rarely raced side by side against each other before the final race of the year.

For me this years Chase for the Sprint Cup has lacked the on paper drama of last year and was devoid of any real on track action... Until last week.

The charge towards the top of the table by the 48 team has taken an already pedestrian year into the realms of inevitability... Until... Brad put up a fight at Charlotte. OK he lost the battle but the fight meant everything. Here was a young driver who was not going to roll over and let the all conquering giant push him around. On that day Brad Keselowski said if you want it you'll have to go through me first. The fight was tough but the line was never crossed.

Suddenly the Chase gained an edge and this time the talking point was not an on paper battle but an on track one. Now I was interested, I was excited, this is what stock car racing should be all about, not fuel mileage, not strategy, and certainly not track position. One-on-one, two wide, rubbing fenders at nearly 200mph!

Fast forward a week and battle resumed only this time it was two different drivers putting up a "fight". The racing was once again lacklustre until the very end when it is fair to say all hell broke loose. The 2 vs. 48 points battle swung in favour of the youngster in the Blue Deuce as the 48 had a bad day at exactly the wrong time, so a good day for the on paper battle. At the same a different rivalry reared its head, Gordon vs. Bowyer.

Short version, in Jeff Gordons eyes Clint Bowyer has been pushing him around all year and the contact between the two at Phoenix was the final straw... To Bowyer, the 24 just blew his chance at the Championship... Mayhem ensued... On track... And off...

With both cars in the wall and out of the race, a mass brawl in the paddock, and Bowyer sprinting towards Gordons hauler looking for a piece of the action, or at least a piece of Gordon, if nothing else it must have made for a good news story that evening and has certainly proved the drivers are passionate about the sport and the Championship, even if the racing has not always reflected this enthusiasm.

So all of this drama brings NASCARs "have at it" policy back into the limelight. How physical can drivers be, can drivers take the "law" into their own hands, how far will NASCAR let them go, and will the drivers care? How much "it" is too much?

Gordon did not hide from the fact that he took Bowyer out, in fact he told his team that was what he was doing before he did it. In a country where scripted wrestling is entertainment, and where hockey players are allowed to kick the living whatsits out of each other, why can't stock car drivers suffer from road rage at times. Don't tell me you haven't wished you could do the same to the guy driving in front of you on your way to work... Or... Did Jeff Gordon cross the line by retaliating?

For me the fact that one of the drivers involved was racing for the Championship is irelevant. Just because Bowyer was third in points does not make him untouchable. If anything he should race with the understanding that he has more to loose than others if anything happens.

So should Gordon have retaliated? Yes... Er... No... But at the same time definitely... But maybe not...

Let me try this again - Anything that puts a driver at risk is a bad idea and lets face it, even with safer cars and SAFER barriers, hitting a wall in a stock car is always a risky business.

However this is NASCAR, not F1. If you want purist racing with emotionless corporate machines as drivers, watch you average GP. If you want hard hitting, physical racing with real, emotional human beings behind the wheel watch touring cars in Europe or stock cars in the States. In the case of NASCAR this sort of incident is what the sport is based on. The cars have bumpers, and the drivers know how to use them. When the time is right you can substitute the word "cars" for "drivers" and the word "bumpers" for "fists" in the last sentence, and point still stands. If you don't like it go race Indycars!

Of course NASCAR have to be seen to clamp down on this sort of thing. This is a family sport and the idea of driving your rival off the track and then fighting about it afterwards is not what NASCAR wants to be known for in 2012, so fines and probationary periods are handed out to the relevant parties. However NASCAR is a "show" and the sport needs action and rivalries, so this is in fact exactly what the sport needs. You can imagine the sports top suits saying to Gordon, Bowyer and co. "We can't let this happen on out race tracks!" and as soon they have left the room, "Well that was good wasn't it!".

I think the sport needs more action, more side by side racing, less strategy and less importance on track position. The sport needs, and has always needed rivalries between drivers and a bad guy. If temperatures boil over every now and then, good! After all, this is not F1!

I still consider "Have at it" to be the right principle for NASCAR to be run by. Hopefully the new for 2013 cars will make the racing better and then we will have a sport worthy of the news reels.. With or without the fights!

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.

85 Wins... and... NGTC Podiums

85, that’s 85 Wins!!

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

I find it easy to forget, in the era of the 48, just how much the 24 has achieved. Remember Jeff Gordon started racing against the black 3 in Luminas, and you were either a 3 fan or a 24 fan. Yes I was a 3 fan, but I can now look back and appreciate what an achievement those Championships and all those wins add up to.

Watching Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon slipping and sliding their way round Atlanta at the end of the race was great. How sideways was the 48 coming off of the last turn??

And how about Tony Stewart, where did he come from. In the last 100 laps he worked his way from about 20th into the top 10, and with about 10 to go looked like an 8th place finish was as far as he was going to get. However as we watched the leaders go at it, he stormed his way up to third!

So with one race to go the 48 is leading the points standings... am I supposed to be surprised by this? He does not, however, look as dominant as he has in the past. Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon among others can race with and beat the 48. I think the title race will be between those three.

Knock Knock Knockhill at the door...

If you look in a racing encyclopaedia under the topic “bad day”, it will say see the 2011 BTCC Knockhill round and refer to Matt Jackson. He went in to the meeting leading the Championship and came out with three DNF’s. Oops...

It was good to hear that next years new Honda Civic race car will be a NGTC spec car. Following the first two podiums for the new spec car, (well done Frank Wrathall) next year needs to see the series moving forward, and not have another year like this one. Don’t slow the NGTC cars too much. If they are to be the future, encourage them, I want an NGTC car to win a race!

In one way I feel sorry for Plato... but no by much. Even after playing with the turbo boost levels the old naturally aspirated cars cannot keep up with the newer turbo cars on the straights. My answer to that, get a turbo! However... Plato has been known to drive aggressively and when he is on the receiving end of that kind of driving it is hard not to think, “what goes around...”

I find it hard to believe the MSA will not ask Tom Boardman to write a cheque for the restart accident he caused on his way to the win. The leader can dictate the pace and can decide when to accelerate, but stopping in the middle of the track is just plain stupid, and he was lucky not to be taken out himself. Slow the field down, yes, stop, er... no!

There is one thing the drivers need to get their collective heads around. It appears the new spec cars are prone to terminal damage when making contact with another car. This means they will have to give each other room and race cleanly if they want to finish races! That would make a change!

I still say the organisers should ban the old naturally aspirated engines from next year and then just allow the NGTC spec cars from 2013! Firstly it would stop Platos whinging, create a more level playing field, and move the series a step closer to the future!

Smoke and Lewis Swap Rides!

So let me think about this...

The last time something like this occurred was when Jeff Gordon and then Williams F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya swapped rides for a day...

Well Jeff Gordon won the latest Sprint Cup race, beating among others a former Williams F1 driver...

And...

It has been reported that Lewis Hamilton has been sussing out Red Bull to see if they have any seats free for next year...

Anyone thinking what I am thinking?

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!

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...

Not Just A Stretch of Tarmac!

Race tracks have characters, personalities, they are individual.

Martinsville is the flat short track with the paperclip turns. Bristol the high speed, high banked short track. Richmond, another short track, is totally different from the rest.

Even the road race circuits are individual from each other. Infineon a hilly hard hitting rollercoaster ride, Watkins Glen a more delicate, fast flowing example of right and left turns.

Some tracks on the NASCAR “circuit” are a bit too similar for their own good; Texas, Charlotte and Atlanta for example. Daytona and Talladega are very similar on paper but each has it's own personality. In this case that’s a good thing as one 'plate track would not be enough, and three probably too many.

Phoenix is a track all on its own, unlike any other. A strange combination of fairly flat banking, flowing turns and a tight kink on the back straightaway. Phoenix works. A handling track, sure. Not much grip, sure. Good for two wide racing, sure. Individual, definitely!

Unfortunately after last Sundays Sprint Cup race the track is due to be not only resurfaced, but also redesigned. New variable banking, wider turns and a less dramatic kink out back will be covered in new sticky tarmac.

The combination of a tight, tricky, slick but very racy 1 mile race track and a 312 miles short race made for a good race last Sunday. Another “storyline” to start the season... Jeff Gordon breaks his winless streak!

At a time when NASCAR are attempting to put the “character” back into the sport I hope the changes to Phoenix won’t rob the sport of one of its most characterful pieces of tarmac!