Trouble in Turn2

Just like the spring version, Jeff Gordon won the race at Talladega featuring a wild finish to cap a lot of single file racing. The bigger story was the engine failure epidemic by the DEI/RCR cars. Four of the seven cars entered finished with DNF’s thanks to engine failures. Kevin Harvick finished the race but his car was down to seven cylinders. Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Aric Almirola all saw their runs literally go up in smoke.

So what happened? Reading the post-race quotes from the drivers, crew chiefs and technical directors, it paints an interesting picture. DEI/RCR ran the new R07 instead of the SB2, the 2006 version. Harvick’s crew chief Todd Berrier:

ON IF THERE WAS ANYTHING TO HMS/JGR USING SB2 ENGINES WHERE RCR/DEI USED R07 ENGINES: Not really. I talked to Richard about that and he said no time better than the present to find out it was going to go. We had to run them next year, so, again, hindsight now looking back at it after having failures, you can go back and say we probably should have played something different.

With respect to Berrier, that doesn’t make sense. RCR has three teams competing in the Chase and DEI has one, not to mention the highest profile driver in the sport trying to win his first race in over a year. There is a lot more at stake in the short term than figuring out the engine package for 2008. If there was any indication that the R07 was less reliable, then RCR/DEI made a big mistake. It also says something that the two top Chevy teams, Gibbs and Hendrick, opted for the older engine.

Other Notes

• At the spring Talladega race Toyota could only place three of seven cars in the field, with a best starting spot of 14th. Not only did Michael Waltrip win the pole, but Toyota took 5 of the top 6 spots and had 6 of 8 cars qualify. It took some time but the Camrys are gaining ground on the other manufacturers in a big way. Dave Blaney has three top tens this year and all have come on tracks with an emphasis on horsepower (Indianapolis, Michigan, Talladega). The equipment is much improved. Next year the drivers will improve with the addition of Gibbs’ roster. Teams had better watch out because it won’t take long before Toyota is competing for wins.

• Speaking of Waltrip and MWR, a pole win is a nice way to start rebuilding equity with fans and sponsors after his tumultuous season. All thre Waltrip cars have now made the last three races while David Reutimann has made 7 of the last 8. Compared to where the team was in the spring, things are solidifying for the virgin team. The cars and finishes have both improved from being field-fillers to the point where top 15’s and top 20’s are commonplace.

  Improved cars also sets things up nicely for Dale Jarrett. Jarrett is expected to run the first 6 races in 2008 and then ride into the sunset (or hopefully the TV booth). With better cars, Jarrett should have the chance to prove that 2007 was not a true reflection of his driving skill. He definitley deserves that chance.

• The Chase is 40% done and things are sorting themselves out. While Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson continue to take turns leading the Chase, drivers further back continue to slide further away. Kevin Harvick sits in fifth but is already 202 points astray. To catch the top 2, Harvick would need to gain an average of 33 points for the next 6 races. Tony Stewart sits in 4th, 154 points back. It’s nearly a full race to first place, but keep one driver in mind: Jimmie Johnson. After 4 Chase races in 2004 Johnson was buried. He sat in 9th place 247 points behind Kurt Busch. He narrowly lost the title by 5 points. Johnson was 156 behind Jeff Burton at this point last year. He was in 8th place. Of course Johnson erased both deficits by running off 4 wins in 2004 and scored 5 straight top 2 finishes in 2006. It’s not impossible for Stewart, but he needs some top 5’s in a hurry.

• My personal predictions once again were about as accurate as a week old AP college football poll. I said Kurt Busch would lead a lot of laps and slip up at the end. He led zero laps and finished a solid 7th. I said Matt Kenseth would surge at the end and take the win. Kenseth got a flat tire in the first 25 laps and never factored. I also predicted that some kind of feud would boil over and produce good soundbites. I’m still searching for that footage. Out on three pitches.