2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevy SS... or... Hey Good Lookin' Part 4

The last of next years Sprint Cup race cars has now been unveiled.

 

Next years Chevy race car will be based on the still to be unveiled new "halo" car, the rear wheel drive, V8 engined "SS". The road car will basically be an American market version of the Australian Holden Commodore.

 

The race version does look good but without seeing the road equivalent we have nothing to compare it to. It is odd that with the new NASCAR bodies putting such a huge emphasis on manufacturer identity, or to put it another way, making sure the race cars look like the road cars, that Chevrolet have decided to show us what the race car looks like, but not the road car. I certainly hope the "SS" is more successfull than the Pontiac G8 was!

 

 

 

We are starting to see more and more 2013 paint schemes now, and it has to be said, again, that the 2013 Cup cars do look good!

 

Are we there yet?

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!

Dale Jr... WINS!!

The win the world of NASCAR has been waiting for...

The win NASCAR wanted...

The win NASCAR needed...

Dale Earnhardt Jr has finally ended his winless streak!

In a year of lacklustre racing including average races at the newly repaved Pocono and Michigan, NASCAR needed a new headline, something to change the subject, and the sports most popular driver has given them just that.

The win shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, after all the 88 team has been consistant all year. The only surprise is that they have been consistantly good and with the Sprint Cup season being so long consistancy is no bad thing.

Take Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, neither of whom have had solid, consistant years so far. Race wins... Yes... Consistancy... No... This is why Dale Jr is now second in points, not race wins but consistancy.

Will we have to wait another four years for the 88 to win again? Well I for one hope not, but equally I think not, as long as he can maintain the consistancy.

The first hurdle for the 88 to overcome is carrying the confidence and the form into the next oval race regardless of what happens at this weeks Sonoma (Sears Point to me) road course race. The road courses are the wild card races in the schedule where anything can and probably will happen. Again a solid, consistant day will do for the 88 this weekend and the heat can be turned up again when the ovals return after that.

Is Dale Jr in with a shot at the title? As I said he is second in the points standings, but its too early to tell. After what hapened last season we will have to wait until after the first two Chase races are in the books to have that conversation.

All I can say at this time is well done to the 88 team. They deserved the win regardless of what you might think of the driver, the surname on the car or what has happened over the past few years...

And to Dale Jr...

With the racing the way it is at the moment, as the sports "poster boy" NASCAR needs you now more than ever...

Don't go too far...

All Star Good, Bad or Ugly

Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It has ben one month since my last blog and in the world of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, well, not a lot has happened. A few lacklustre races, this years Darlington race and a very good 'Dega race... Oh and the All Star Race.

Will the 2012 edition of the All Star Race go down in the history books as a classic? Probably not...

Will it be considered a great race? Despite my initial reaction on twitter, probably not...

Was it a good race? Yes... I think it was...

The Showdown was fun. Dale Earnhardt Jr raced his way in to the main event for a change rather than relying on the fan vote which was good to see and shows how far Jr has improved. Allmendinger also drove his socks off and fully deserved the last spot in the big race, so on the whole a good un'.

The All Star Race was fun until the last 10 lap segment. I thought the new format and specifically putting the four segment winners on the front for the last 10 lap sprint worked well. Some may debate this as Jimmie Johnson, having won the first segment, sat back and cruised for the next three segments, but at least it gave each segment a purpose.

The last 10 laps were a disappointment. To be fair this had nothing to do with NASCAR new race format but everything to do with Jimmie Johnson walking off into the night, leaving all followers to wonder what might have been. From a fans point of view the final segment was not helped by the outside line having a very poor restart, gifting the 48 car a clean run out of turn two.

So no, not a great race, but there was excitement, there were different drivers battling all the time and there were quite a few three wide hold-your-breathe moments. From Earnhardt Jrs commanding win and AJ's determined drive to Jimmie Johnson taking team owner Rick Hendrick for a ride it was a good event.

With the current aero issues I am not sure the 600 this weekend will be as good.

Green-White-Chequer anyone...

Progress A Fresh Fit At Phoenix

A progressively banked Phoenix gave us a NASCAR Sprint Cup race that got progressively better as it progressed.

Phoenix was a race as much of failures as successes. A brake failure for Casey Mears brought out one of seven cautions. An electronic failure of sorts for a fuel saving Tony Stewart ended his day, while a fuel strategy failure for Kevin Harvick denied him the chance to really go for it at the end. These were offset by some good racing and the early season success of new partners driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb, the partnership proving to be a "fresh fit"!

Another success of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the 312 mile race length. Strange I know, but the race was held over 500 kilometres, therefore 312 miles and laps. Quite what a distinctly European kilometre has to with a distinctly American race series is beyond me, but I have long been an advocate of shortening certain Cup Series races so the principle worked for me. Now use the same thinking at other tracks, Pocono perhaps, but call the race the "Whatever 312" next time and make a feature of the shorter race distance.

The most exciting moments of the race came when Mr Twitter, Brad Keselowski in the, still a Penske Dodge, 2 car battled with the 48 Chevy of, a determined to earn some points this week, Jimmie Johnson and, the always aggressive, Kyle Busch in the 18 Toyota, and when the Rowdy vs Harvick feud reared it's head. These battles proved the still new progressive banking can produce good side by side racing once the grip comes in. I am still not sure about the "short cut" though! The other exciting moments were the closing stages, the "will they make it, won't they make it" laps.

The most bizarre moment of the race came not on the track but in the garage, with the news that to investigate what went wrong with the 14 car, Tony Stewarts crew would have to "plug the car in".

Welcome to the modern world NASCAR. Computers in stock car racing...

That's what they call progress!

Rule Breakers

Junior Johnson, Tim Flock, Smokey Yunick, Richard Petty, Ray Evernham, Gary Nelson, Tim Brewer, Chad Knaus...

All names who at one time or another pushed the envelope of what NASCAR would allow.

In the past the rules were not necessarily there to be broken, the rules were written on the back of what some of these guys tried and when NASCAR decided they didn't like it, the rules were written.

Some cars ran illegal engines, some tried to hold too much fuel, some played with weight, some with ride height.

Bit by bit NASCAR have got better at finding the illegalities, better at writing rules, but some still find ways to push the envelope, and at the same time NASCARs buttons.

There has been a long held point of "respect" between NASCAR and the teams in which NASCAR say, don't think you can get an illegal engine or body by us, because we are too good for that. Try other things and take your chances, but mess with a cars engine or bodywork... how dumb do you think we are?

When the COT was introduced and with it the "tech inspection claw" NASCAR made one thing very clear to the car builders and crew chiefs... do not mess with the bodywork!

Chad Knaus is one of our generations most successful Crew Chiefs... but also one of our generations best rule "pushers". This time he had C-posts on the 48 car that NASCAR didn't like, so they removed them. As a consequence of his actions both Knaus and his driver Jimmie Johnson have both received 25 point penalties, and Knaus has a $100,000 fine and a six week ban to worry about.

Chad Knaus has an eleven year career as crew chief. He has won five Sprint Cup championships with Jimmie Johnson but has also been caught and penalized by NASCAR nine times and suspended three times.

Of course the 48 team is appealing the penalties. Over the course of his career, Knaus has won one appeal!

Some might say that innovation, and therefore rule breaking is a fundamental part of a sport founded on "moonshine runners" going racing, but they are also a part of it's history.

What part rule breakers, and innovators like Knaus have to play in NASCAR's future, only time, NASCAR, and it's appeal process, will tell.

Nightona 500

Ten post Daytona 500 thoughts...

1 - Rain rain go away... nuf said.

2 - Wow Here it Comes, Here Comes the Night... The first Daytona 500 under the lights, and on a school night! Well done to NASCAR for getting the race done!

3 - If Jimmy Spencer was Mr Excitment, Elliot Sadler has to be Mr Impatient... Lap 2? Really?

4 - Oh look its a girl in a race suit... the new "face of NASCAR" was stuffed in the wall, hard, in her Duel race, taken out by her team mate in the Nationwide race, and her 500 effectively ended courtesy of Mr Sadler. Pity! Only time will tell if she can win races in either series.

5 - Pack is back... Much credit to NASCAR for delivering the style of racing the fans wanted while also giving the drivers the ability to race for themselves and slingshot for the win.

6 - Juan for the delay, Two car for the show, Three delays to get ready, now go cat go, but don't you, wreck my new tarmac... or something like that... Who would have thought the "big one" would be between one race car and a jet drier? Que a Twitter and Facebook world full of "Juan less jet drier", or Days of Thunder, "hit the pace car" gags. While it looked like something on the 42 car broke, JPM needs to start looking like the world class race car driver again, and not, frankly, a waste of space!




7 - Two car for the show? It can only be Brad Keselowski... posting on twitter... in the middle of the race... brilliant!!

8 -  More NASCAR love... Half way payout worked perfectly, as did fuel injection!

9 - Umbrella, ella, ella... This years Daytona 500 proved once and for all that in racing... just when you think you have seen it all...

10 - Ford rules... Well done to Matt Kenseth, 2012 Daytona 500 winner!!



Now the regular season starts... roll on Phoenix!!

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...

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!

Old Car New Car

NASCAR New Car Blues

What a disappointment.

I had hoped Charlotte was going to be the race where the Chase drivers got it together and gave us the race, the show, this years Chase needs and wants, but it was not to be.

The highlight of the race was Jimmie Johnsons hard hit into the outside wall. That was not the highlight because it involved the 48 hitting the wall, honest, but because good racing was severely lacking.

After Kansas I found myself pondering the riddle of the edgy setups but Charlotte was a different story. This was the aero push story. The drivers could not run close together without loosing the air off the front splitter and could not run side by side without loosing the air off the rear spoiler.

For the first time since the current Cup car was introduced I am wondering if something about the COT is hurting the racing. Maybe the answer is to run the current front with the unloved rear wing out back. The whole point of the wing was that it allowed air to pass under it and on to the following car, unlike the spoiler. I know this is not going to happen but something not only needs to be done to redress the aero balance, when the cars are facelifted for the 2013 season, but also to limit the aero push, which is hurting the racing.

On paper the Championship looks really close and competetive but on track the racing is not living up to the top billing.

RIP Dan Wheldon

I am still in shock over the loss of Dan Wheldon at last weekends Indycar race.

Now is not the time to debate the decision to allow so many cars in the race or whether it was a good idea to dangle such a large carrot in front of any driver who won the race after starting from the back of the grid.

Now is about Daniel Wheldon.

Many experts with a lot more exprience and authority than me have said all there is to say about his life and career. However I will say this. When I was younger I was fortunate enough to race Cadet and then Junior TKM karts. When I raced three names mattered, Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Daniel Wheldon... and Wheldon was the best.

As someone who has more of a passion for American motor racing than F1, I was so pleased when Wheldon won the Indy 500, once and then twice.

As has been pointed out there is an unfortunate irony in the fact that Wheldon, who has spent this year developing the new Indycar race car, a car which should be safer and less likely to hit wheels, was killed in the last race for the old spec car which his efforts were working to replace.

Dan Wheldons death is a great loss and my thoughts go out to his family and friends.

BTCC Champ Crowned

Congratulations three time British Touring Car Champion, Matt Neal!

We can now look forward to next season, which I hope will see all the top runners in NGTC spec turbo cars.

My only comments about the next gen. car...

As always make them all rear wheel drive like this years Audi, and make them less liable to rear suspension damage when making contact, sorry racing, side by side.

Neals car this year had a bumper sticker... "Does my Turbo look big in this?"... No and the trophies don't look bad either!

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.

Lose Some, Win Some

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

I also enjoyed watching Clint Bowyer lose the race.

This is not because I have some weird adversion to the drvers of the 24 or 33 cars, far from it. I may be a fan of the 14 car and its driver but this is not about the individual drivers, or a sudden fondness for fuel mileage races. What I enjoyed was the thinking behind the way in which they lost the race and Stewart won it.

The 24 and 33 cars lost the race by desperately trying to win it! The 24 car, with a sizeable lead remember, went one lap too far on a tank of gas, one lap, and it cost him the win! In the same way, Clint Bowyer lost the race, handing the win to a currently on form Tony Stewart.

The Cup drivers are doing everything they can to win, not finish high up, but win! For a fan of the sport this is great. By pushing the fuel window, not at the end of the race, but on the way to his final pit stop, Jeff Gordon showed us that the 2011 race for the Chase is win or nothing for these guys.

So we have a Chase race in which the "favourites" are not doing so well and others find themseves a position to win it... or loose it, we will see. Factor in a 'Dega race with a different plate and cooling package and who knows what will happen.

Is it too early to join the "Anybody but Jimmie" camp?

Keep it up Smoke!!

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!

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!!

Down To The Wire

A “Good” GP!

A Grand Prix with pit stop strategy and late race overtaking!

With the introduction of DRS, the movable flappy paddle wing things, and the reintroduction of KERS, the nod to the environment slash overboost push to pass button, Formula 1 accepted the need to do something to aid overtaking.

They may be a bit false. They may be gimmicky. They may work, they may not...

They did provide us with a GP worth watching!

Overview - Red Bull badly need KERS, McLaren need more qualifying pace, Ferrari are not good enough, Rosberg is doing well, Schumacher is a waste of space, DeRista is looking good!



4 x 2 x 0.002

The second ‘plate race of 2011 was another two car draft story.

If you like the latest style of restrictor plate racing then it was a good race.

If you don’t...it wasn’t.

I kinda do, so I enjoyed it.

2011 is turning into the year of great finishes and todays was no exception!

Two deep, four wide, and first to second was 0.002 seconds!

You can’t tell me that wasn’t good!?!

British Bumper Car Championship

Good things - The new turbo engines seem to be working. Anybody can now buy an engine, put it in a car and be competitive! Lots of different cars!

Bad things - The driving standards are appalling! Most of the cars are old... I hope the teams running the new spec cars can sort out their issues and be a factor later in the year as I don’t fancy watching old Vauxhalls and Focus’s up front all year.

Come on race control, get a grip, instill some kind of respect and stop the blocking and the bump n’ run.



Ginetta is Betta... erm Better...

I am loving the new G55‘s. They look good, sound good and race great! At last a National series I look forward to watching!

"Racing"

The first round of the 2011 Formula 1 season has been and gone.

The Australian GP was dominated by Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton in second. This was the order coming out of the first corner on the first lap and stayed that way to the end. 

The surprise of the race was Vitaly Petrov finishing in third!

The unsurprises of the race were the success of the KERS, the DRS and the racing in general. The KERS, (the Kinda E-relvant, but the racing so dull we need to, Recover it System) meant so much the race winner did not even have it... the DRS "overtaking" system (Drivers can't Race on their own System), meant so much, pardon, the DRS "what" system... and the amazing standard of what little racing there actually was... Barrichello got it totally wrong in a "that's never going to work" move, well at least he's still young and not one of the most experienced drivers in the field... but at least Jenson Button had the balls to attempt to go round the outside of another car only to find he was never going to make it, had to cut across the next corner and got a penalty for his "efforts". Oh dear!

In the world of NASCAR, a 400 mile race at California threw up some surprises and some not-so-surprises of its' own. What started an average race, the not-so-surprising part, ended a stunner, the surprising bit! 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...

That would have made all the difference...

2011 BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT RACE DAY!!

Lineup -

1.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.		7.	Clint Bowyer		13.	Juan Montoya		19.	Matt Kenseth
2.	Tony Stewart		8.	Ryan Newman		14.	Jamie McMurray		20.	Mark Martin
3.	Carl Edwards		9.	Derrike Cope		15.	Jeff Burton		21.	Kyle Busch
4.	Denny Hamlin		10.	Michael Waltrip		16.	Kevin Conway		22.	Joey Logano
5.	Kasey Kahne		11.	Greg Biffle		17.	Kurt Busch		23.	Jimmie Johnson
6.	Bobby Labonte		12.	Jeff Gordon		18.	Kevin Harvick		24.	Regan Smith

The season starts here...


GREEN GREEN GREEN!!

Coming Soon - NASCAR 2011!!

The 2011 NASCAR season starts this weekend with the Shootout!!

So what are my hopes for the new season?

Let's start at the end with a close points race resulting in a new Sprint Cup Champion! Not that I have anything against Jimmie Johnson, I would just like somebody else to end the year on top. A good points battle would create interest in the Chase, and a new champ would create lots of "Can JJ Regain His Crown?" articles for the following year!

A one-on-one battle from the white flag to end the Daytona 500! With the new surface, and the better looking cars, THE 500 should be a cracker! The last few years has shown that these cars draft better than NASCAR has seen in a long time and a one-on-one slingshot for the win is exactly what NASCAR needs to start the year!

"Boys have at it"... again! Give the drivers the space to race, again! Give the drivers room to express themselves, to get annoyed and do something about it, again! Keep the reigns loose and let the personalities breathe some more, again!

The 88 mans up and starts competing! Junior Nation may hope this is the year Dale wins races and the Championship, but for me just having him look competitive week in, week out, is good enough. If Dale could finally show that he deserves to be there I reckon a lot of fans would go along for the ride with him! Put in that postition he may win, he may not, but to have a shot at winning you have to be competitive in the first place!

RCR keeps its momentum! Childress lead the points last year with Kevin Harvick until the Chase kicked in and were in the hunt to the end, but could not quiet deliver the Championship. I hope they start this year as they ended the last! NASCAR needs a team other than the Hendrick 48 team in the headlines. 

Kyle, stop talking, start driving! I don't want to hear anything from Kyle Busch this year. I want his driving, his performance on track, his wins, to do the talking. I am not much of a Rowdy fan, but the sport would be much better off if he just "shut up and drive!" We all know he can pedal, we all know he can be controversial, don't change anything Kyle, just deliver, on track, this year!

Ford back in the game. Two years ago the Ford of Carl Edwards was winning races. Last year, nothing. This year NASCAR needs a FORD back in the game! NASCAR has always been about Ford vs. Chevy. Recently Dodge and Toyota have joined in but the basis should always be the Blue Oval against the Bowtie!

Richard Petty and the 43 become relevant again, Stewart Haas raises its game and becomes competitive all year and not just late on, Jeff Gordon breaks his winless streak, JPM finally wins an oval race preferably Brickyard, Ambrose finally wins the Nationwide road race that keeps escaping him...

As long as the racing's good, I'm happy!!

 NOT LONG TO WAIT NOW!!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Timer!!

In summarising the 2010 F1 season I said, "On paper a good year, but it could have been so much better".

In summarising the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season... "On paper the 2010 NASCAR season could sound very predictable, Jimmie Johnson wins again, but it was so much better!!"

A lot has already been said concerning the lack of respect towards JJ as a four time Champ, and that this must change now he has won five in a row. Jimmie Johnson is not a love him or love to hate him champion as Earnhardt was. He is not a mouth like Darrell Waltrip, or the young upstart Jeff Gordon once was. He is relatively quiet, races cleanly, does not make much of a fuss; he simply gets on with it and does his talking on track!! Like him or not, it has to be said that Jimmie Johnson is the best driver of his generation, and Chad Knaus the best Crew Chief. Nothing can detract from the achievement of winning five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Championships, let alone five in a row.

Equally nothing can detract from the high level of competition, and the high standards of racing this season has produced. We had good short track races, good road course races, good mile-and-a-half races, and great restrictor plate races. This was the year that the Chase, the (now with spoiler) COT, the two wide restarts, the green-white-chequered finishes, the "have at it boys" attitude all came together to create a good'un. The last race of the year, at Homestead-Miami, proved this!

There were the stories of the three championship contenders; Hamlin - fast, spin, slow, car fixed, fast again but not fast enough to hold on to it; Harvick - fast on track, too fast on pit lane, third in the race and in the Championship; Johnson - fast on track, slow in the pits, second on track, first in the Championship!

How about the story of the fast Ford, Carl Edwards, who fought off the valiant attempts of the 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota, to win his second race in a row.

Then there was the 83 of Kasey Kahne battling his old car, the 9, now driven by Eric Almirola.

What about Tony Stewarts yo-yo race; he starts 31st, gets some help in the form of a free pass, works his way up to 8th, finishing one place behind his team mate.

Or how about Logano vs. Montoya... pity we didn't get to see it all...

It has been a breakthrough year for NASCAR!!

Congratulations to the 48 team; five time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champions... in a row!!

Roll on 2011... only 80 days to go...