Podcast: Play in new window | Download

*************************Two Buck Themes ad ****************************
MUSIC MAKES IT BETTER =>> Get 5 new themes, video tutorials each month for $10

*********************************************************************************************
Bristol lived up to its name as a Short Track but turned out to be a relatively tame track as far as some fans were concerned. One complaint I heard repeated more than once was that the newest configuration of the track makes for a lot less beatin’ and bangin’ and a lot more long green flag runs and side by side racing. What I take from the comments are that the fans want to see more typical Short Track action (and to me, that means they like the beating and the banging, the cars showing the scars of the battle and the emotional buildup that leads to use of the “Chrome Horn” to move people out of the way.)

However, it does appear the drivers like the way Bristol has become a more side by side, lap after lap track for extended periods in recent visits. It seems it is a lot less carnage and more driving to be competitive than it used to be. It has always been hard to pass at Bristol and track position has never been more important than it is now, but since they can all run fast side by side, there is more racing and less wrecking and the drivers don’t mind that at all (especially if they’re running up front.)

With the long green flag runs and the lack of cautions, Bristol became more of a fuel mileage race and, at least from my view, that is what the fans really don’t like. Fuel mileage races become survival races and it limits the amount of action the fans want, and are used to seeing, especially at a short track like Bristol.

Of course everyone knows Brad Keselowski won the Food City 500 and that is long been in the rear view mirror. Hardly anyone can forget the accident that happened on lap 23 that took out several of the ones expected to be real contenders at the end of the race. Even Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon’s close racing resulted in Gordon’s left rear being cut down and him sliding backward into the wall with his possibilities ruined for the day. But hardly anyone talks much about that either – it’s old history now.

So what is the big buzz everyone is talking about after Bristol?

Well… that one’s easy. It is the decision to undo all of the penalties levied against the #48 Team at Daytona by Chief Appellate Officer, John Middlebrook, except the $100,000 fine. Since that decision was made, there has been no lack of discussions and opinions about it. The overall reaction was “Shock and Awe” that such a decision could have been made and some even considered it “Historic.”

From this fan’s view, some seemed to think there was some sort of favoritism being displayed by the Chief Appellate Officer for various reasons while others seemed to think, given Chad Knaus’ history with pressing the envelopes set forth in the rule book, it was a slam dunk against the #48 Hendrick racing team. When that didn’t happen some really believed there was a fix in the works – a view this fan does not agree with at all.

As I said in an earlier article, I believe the rules are written intentionally broad in coverage, but that’s always leaving a little gray area in interpretation for the crew chiefs and others to test. Its not that they intentionally try to write them that way, it’s just that they didn’t interpret it the same way the crew chiefs did.

Here are my final thoughts on the matter for now. As I said in that earlier article, this was a car that had not been on the track at Daytona before the “C” posts were questioned and the actual area in question fit the template because it was not a measured area. (At least that is my understanding after all the talk after the fact.) Since the car never set tires on the track before it was actually found to be “illegal” and was corrected to meet specifications before any competition began, I didn’t think there should have been any penalties levied to begin with. Of course, it is obvious NASCAR didn’t see it the way I did and took the actions they thought necessary.

Now, in this fan’s opinion, it is up to NASCAR to change the inspection process to measure the area in question so there is no room for interpretation by anyone, including the crew chiefs.

There is one thing about the rule books I remember from when I raced at our local tracks and was meant to be a “coverall statement” for car inspections at the track. It was one I never liked simply because it left some things open to the inspectors opinion rather than an actual measurable item. Paraphrased, it said something like this… “Just because the rules don’t say you can’t do it, doesn’t mean you can… ”

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© March 23, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

*******************Two Buck Themes ad **********************
MUSIC MAKES IT BETTER =>> Get 5 new themes, video tutorials each month for $10

*********************************************************************************************************
There were several surprises at Phoenix International Raceway last Sunday afternoon and not all of them were associated with the winner of the race. Yes, it’s true Denny Hamlin did end up in Victory Lane with the help of his new crew chief, Darian Grubb. As everyone knows, Darian Grubb was crew chief for Tony Stewart last year and has continued his winning ways with the number 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team. It should come as no surprise and now, statistically speaking, Grubb has won six out of the last 12 races in NASCAR as a crew chief. No matter how you look at it, or what you think about him, that’s a very interesting statistic.

It almost makes this fan wonder what Tony Stewart is thinking about his decision to release Darian Grubb and take on a new crew chief. (Notice I said , almost…) From this fan’s view, it is way too early for someone to start second guessing himself and I am sure Tony isn’t doing that. It is just interesting how the momentum generated during last years Chase seems to be following Grubb, at least for the moment. I guess time will tell if that continues or fades as the season progresses. Could it be that the expectations everyone had for Denny Hamlin last year is going to be something that happens this year? Well… as far as that goes, time will tell about that, too.

The other most obvious surprise of the weekend had to do with the EFI system. It appears all the bugs are not yet worked out and, even though we know this is part of the learning curve, there are still a few problems the teams are going to have to learn how to contend with. It’s just an observation from my view, but not only are the crew chiefs going to have to figure it out, but the drivers, too. It doesn’t appear to be associated with any one car or team, but the differing minor problems are spread out over several teams and hardly ever is it the same problem for the same team.

One possible reason there were problems at Phoenix could be because it did become a fuel mileage race as it has often been in the past. I was thinking with the introduction of EFI that it might not be that, but I was proved wrong and I guess I should have expected it. From my view, I do think EFI will eventually make a bigger difference in fuel mileage than it did in Phoenix. It does appear that the fuel pickups and some of the things drivers used to do to save fuel may have to be altered somewhat but, we all know these are just minor setbacks and challenges the engineers are more than willing to take on.

Now, I understand that EFI is new to everyone and that problems and situations should be expected, so I’m not too worried about the ability of the different teams to figure it out. I do think, as we witnessed at Phoenix, that there may be some frustrated drivers and even some frustrated crews and crew chiefs until that happens but, I don’t expect those problems to be long-lived. It is this fan’s best guess that it is only a matter of time until things like this happening will be in the rear view mirror.

Jimmie Johnson did exactly what he needed to do by finishing fourth to start digging himself out of the hole they were in after Speed Weeks in Daytona, with his trip into the wall early in lap two causing him to finish 43rd along with the penalties NASCAR imposed on them after the failed inspection. Although the jury is still out on the penalties for the crew chief and car chief, it does appear the team is already on the road to recovery.

Just as a quick side note to that situation; I just have to put in my two cents about the whole thing. I often hear how Chad Knaus has been caught “cheating” and either fined or suspended (or both). First of all, I think the word “cheating” is over used and prefer to call what he and the other crew chiefs do, “finding the limits” or “stretching the envelope.”

I know some, or maybe even many, will disagree with me, but rules, especially in racing are often purposely written a bit vaguely. That usually means it leaves room for a thing called “discovery” and what I mean by that is what many crew chiefs call, “testing the gray areas.” They all do it and sometimes, like at Daytona and the #48 team, NASCAR decides to draw a new line that shouldn’t be crossed. When that happens, it is no longer a gray area.

Personally, I have to agree with many that have expressed their opinion on the penalties being a little harsh that were proposed by NASCAR. Remember, this was a car that never made it to the track before the legality was questioned. It was repaired before it ever set tires on the track. As for the comments about Chad Knaus “cheating”, I’ll stick with my original comment. He was finding “a measurable limit” to something that, before Daytona, “fit the template…”

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© March 8, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

*******************Two Buck Themes ad **********************
MUSIC MAKES IT BETTER =>> Get 5 new themes, video tutorials each month for $10

**********************************************************************************************
When the Cup cars take to the track this afternoon at Phoenix, one thing is relatively sure… it is supposed to be a short race. The Subway Fresh Fit 500 is only scheduled to run 312 laps and hopefully it won’t turn into the endurance race Daytona did. Judging from how the Nationwide race went, I’d say the chances are very good those laps will pass quickly for the Cup teams that want to run up front and have a chance to take the checkered flag ahead of the rest.

Once again, Mark Martin proved he’s not too old to run with the young guns as he took the pole position for his new team with Michael Waltrip Racing. He just did squeak out the pole over Tony Stewart and Stewart will start outside of him on the front row. It seems no matter how many times people want to count Martin out, he always raises his game up a notch and this weekend appears to be no different.

From this fan’s view, it looks like today’s race is going to be another exciting one to add to the many others we have witnessed lately as NASCAR fans. With the way the track has been reconfigured and repaved, it is no longer a slam dunk for any one of the drivers. Even though this is the second time for the teams to visit the reconfigured track in the last six months, the character of the track is still changing and still going to be a challenge.

According to the weather people, today’s race is going to be a hot one and that means the track will be a bit slippery. That won’t bother some but it could be bad news for others. The temperature will be at least 20 degrees above what they practiced at and that should make it interesting for the crew chiefs. They will have two challenges ahead of them. First, they need to make the right decisions for starting the race and second, they have less than 312 laps to make changes to give their driver an advantage over the rest. Believe me, that just isn’t much time if the set up is off just a bit, especially at PIR.

From my view, the ones that already have a slight advantage are starting nearer to the front. The ones further back have to move forward quickly if they expect to have much of a chance at winning. The hotter, slicker track expected for today could make passing difficult and it remains to be seen how the drivers handle the restarts and the grey area just outside the racing groove which has been treacherous at best.

That in itself could spell trouble for the Hendrick teams of Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. The two of them qualified 29th and 30th. Personally, I was a bit surprised that they qualified so far back. They will have their work cut out for themselves from the drop of the green.

The two of them won’t be alone as they try to move up through the pack as Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski are in mid-pack, also starting at 24th, 25th, 26th and 28th respectively. To this fan, that says there are at least six drivers that are going to have to press hard to make up the distance through traffic and a tight racing groove. They will have to be patient while still trying to catch those starting up front as fast as they can.

In my opinion, the pit stops are going to be critical for all and some of those starting in the back will need to make up as many spots as possible in the pits as they can. That won’t allow much room for error for the pit crews and the pressure will be on them every time the teams hit pit road.

With this years addition of EFI, it remains to be seen whether or not this will become a fuel mileage race as it usually does. This fan thinks this will be more of a test of just how much fuel injection could change the strategy for fuel consumption. I, for one will be interested in seeing how that pans out throughout the afternoon.

The top ten starting spots are full of strong cars and anyone of them could end up in Victory Lane this afternoon. In fact, I would have to say the top sixteen, in particular, are very strong. That will make it even harder for those other names I mentioned to move in to contention as the race progresses and, because of that, I’m expecting to see several cautions just because patience will wear a bit thin for those faster cars that had trouble on their qualifying laps. Depending on how those fall will tell just how much of a fuel mileage race this will be and how close the racing will be throughout the 312 laps.

This is just my opinion, but I’m thinking the ones starting up front are going to move away from the rest as quickly as they can. That is… unless they totally missed the race setup…

See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© March 4, 2012 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions