Trouble in Turn2

Have you ever had a friend that no matter what they do can’t seem to get out of their own way? Maybe they get a raise at work, but then blow it on a new TV they can’t afford? You can’t help but slap your forehead and cover your eyes. In NASCAR that friend is Dodge. For every triumph, there seems to be self-inflicted Dodge has won three of the last six Cup races. When you throw in Kasey Kahne’s All-Star win, that’s 4 in the last seven, which is more than the manufacturer won in all of 2007. On paper, things look pretty good for Dodge and its teams. Of course reality tells a different story, and to anyone that has followed NASCAR in recent years knows how self-sabotaging the Dodge teams can be. Even during high spots, there are more problems than positives.

The big news this week is that Chip Ganassi is putting the #40 car up on cinder blocks for the rest of 2008, meaning Dario Franchitti’s Cup career will also see weeds and grass sprout around it while it sits in the backyard at Ganassi’s shop. The lack of sponsorship was the final blow for the car. While Franchitti entered NASCAR with great credentials like an Indy 500 win and an IRL championship (not to mention the Judd marketing factor), it’s pretty easy to see why companies passed on Ganassi. Their NASCAR teams stink. One Cup win since 2002, no driver has ever made the Chase and since 2005 no driver has scored more than 10 top 10’s in a season. In the middle of 2005 Ganassi announced tentative plans to expand to four cars. It never happened because Jamie McMurray successfully voided his contract and moved to Roush-Fenway, but at the time Ganassi did have enough sponsorship for all four teams. Of course that was before the mortgage crisis (remember Home 1-2-3?) and the overall economic slowdown. It’s a little surprising Franchitti was willing to come to NASCAR despite the lack of funding.

In 2006 Kasey Kahne won a series high 6 races and made the Chase for Evernham Motorsports. At the same time teammate Jeremy Mayfield struggled to stay inside the top 35, was ultimately fired in midseason and threatened legal action. The ugliness only intensified with the inappropriate relationship between Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker. That ultimately played a part in the team’s abysmal 2007 season where the team realized halfway through that their season was wasted due using incorrect data to build their cars. Things are just now returning to normal, almost a year and a half later.

How about Penske Racing? In the summer of 2005 they signed one of the biggest free agents, Kurt Busch, to replace the retiring Rusty Wallace. It was the perfect driver to build upon a successful 2005 season that saw two of the three Penske cars make the Chase. Instead Penske chopped the #77 team (not due to sponsorship) and contracted back to two teams. To make things worse, the Penske teams spent the majority of the offseason and the spring trying to run the older Intrepid instead of the current Charger model. The result was-you guessed it-a wasted season. After two seasons of two cars the #77 finally returned to the track this year, but is again struggling as a new team. Had it been running continuously, the team might be a lot further along and more competitive with the other top teams at Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford.

All of the teams at Dodge (don’t forget Petty Enterprises, who is in serious danger of becoming irrelevant) have struggled in the last five years. It’s fitting given the unstable nature of Dodge. Daimler sold the company in 2007 and they are still struggling to compete. Things could only get worse for Dodge on the competition side. With factory support an unknown quantity, there is no real hope for drastic improvement on the track. And based on some of the rumors, top drivers like Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya could have other opportunities with different teams next year as well. While the wins might increase with Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, the overall picture in the Dodge camp is pretty gloomy.

NASCAR’s Silly Season is kind of like a big game of Jenga. The year begins with everything in a solid block but then slowly a piece gets pulled from the bottom and moved to the top. After a while a lot of holes appear, the formation begins to sway until all it takes is removing one more piece and every block in the structure is affected. Right now the entire Jenga puzzle is teetering on a few major moves, none more important than what Tony Stewart decides to do in 2009. Once that decision is announced (my guess it’s already been made) the aftershock will affect at least 10 drivers.

Last year the pieces were more sequential. Dale Earnhardt Jr, clearly the top free agent in NASCAR, made his decision, then Kyle Busch moved to Gibbs, Mark Martin slid into the #8 car and JJ Yeley moved to Hall of Fame Racing. It was more like a draft where you took the best player left on the board. This year is much more complex because drivers are looking for slightly different things. Stewart does not need to upgrade, he’s already with the top Cup team. He is looking for a place with ownership possibilities. Mark Martin is rumored to be looking for one more shot a the title belt. Martin Truex Jr and Ryan Newman are looking for the best long term shot at winning races and championships. There is at least one new team, Richard Childress’ 4th team that should attract a top driver. This variety of goals makes it muddier than last year.

It really looks like Stewart is going to leave Gibbs Racing, which automatically opens up one of the elite rides in the sport. Unless Stewart goes to RCR’s 4th ride, he will take someone else’s job. If he becomes an owner, that could affect the other drivers in that company as well. Would he be able to attract other high profile free agent drivers to his new company? A lot depends on where Stewart goes. If he decides to take the best ride available, he would probably head to Hendrick Motorsports’ #5 car. Based on rumors, that would throw a wrench in Martin’s plans for a full time run in 2009 with Hendrick.

Whatever happens, Casey Mears is out of the #5 car. It looks like it’s true and isn’t a big surprise. Like his old teammate Jamie McMurray discovered when he joined Roush-Fenway, an upgrade to elite equipment doesn’t necessarily mean an upgrade in success. Mears had his best Cup season in 2007, but it simply is not good enough for what the Hendrick cars are capable of. Now, ironically, it looks like Mears will be competing with McMurray for the whatever second-tier options are available.

If Martin exits DEI, that leaves a huge void. Will the Army be willing to re-sign with DEI knowing that Aric Almirola can’t match Martin’s on-track success, merchandise sales or visibility? Martin Truex Jr is not signed and appears willing to see what else is available. If he leaves, then DEI would take a very big dive. Sure Paul Menard, Almirola and Smith are young, but that doesn’t equate to immense talent or success. DEI is also already struggling to fully sponsor four teams, and that’s including Menard’s essentially personal sponsorship. What happens if Army and Truex leave? It’s hard to see Bass Pro Shops wanting to hang around either.

If Martin is indeed planning on a one year run for the title that means the #5 car would then have another new driver in 2010 (likely Brad Keselowski or Landon Cassill). That’s four different drivers in four years. Is Hendrick willing to do that? Is a longtime sponsor like Kelloggs willing to do that? Would Martin really have a serious shot at a title run?

There will be a lot more people, sponsors and teams affected by what happens in the next two months. It’s a good thing this post isn’t printed on real paper because by next week when everything I just wrote proves false you would have to rip it up anyway.

Other Thoughts off the beaten path

The Euro 2008 tourney wraps up on Sunday. Germany plays Spain. Overall the tournament has been fantastic. Games have had dramatic late goals, great individual skill and a welcome absence of boring, defensive soccer. The final should be another good game and with the potential for rain in New England, do yourself a favor and work the “previous channel” button on your remote.

I haven’t seen any movies lately (it’s too nice outside), but I have taken a peak at the summer movies. Here’s a few recommendations.

Jeff Burton is getting a caterpillar for 2009. With AT&T’s sponsorship exemption expiring after 2008, Richard Childress Racing had to find a new sponsor for the #31 car. The answer came from the yellow and black colors of Caterpillar. Given Burton’s recent success and personality that must have been a tough sell. Interestingly it was his brother Ward that won the 2002 Daytona 500 with a CAT sponsored Bill Davis Car.

Of course what is good for RCR is bad news for another team, in this case Bill Davis. Caterpillar had been with the fledging BDR team since 1999. They stuck with the organization through some very lean years first when they lost manufacturer support in 2004 and then when the team completely stumbled out of the blocks with Toyota last year. Now Caterpillar is moving to a team that is more likely to get the brand back in the spotlight. It’s hard to fault CAT for making a wise business move, but it’s also easy to sympathize with BDR. It’s always tough to lose a seven or eight-digit sponsor, but it’s even tougher to absorb when the sponsor moves to a rival team. It’s just the latest example of the elite Cup teams getting richer. Whether it’s a sponsorship deal or a top driver switching teams, the sport is becoming increasingly top heavy.

In the past year, longstanding Cup sponsors have dumped smaller teams for larger, more successful teams. CAT joins Budweiser, M&M’s and General Mills as longtime Cup sponsors to switch teams within the last year. Sponsors moving from one team to another is not a new thing in NASCAR, but it hasn’t been seen as much in recent years that were filled with expansion and splendor. In the last five years many teams were able to attract new companies to NASCAR as the sport transitioned from tobacco, automotive and alcohol into technology, financial institutes and other new markets. Even when a company got out of the sport, others were willing to jump in as replacements. With an economic slowdown/recession, sponsorship dollars are not flowing as freely. That means increased competition for the sponsors that do stay in the sport.

While sponsors have changed teams before, the trend is apparently accelerating. It’s no longer good enough to simply have exposure in the sport. Companies now want to be on the hood of cars that are leading laps, challenging for wins and most of all securing spots in the Chase. The problem is that there are only 12 Chase spots and usually only 10-15 drivers win a race each year. For the teams like RCR, Joe Gibbs, Roush-Fenway and Hendrick, it’s pretty easy to list your credentials and justify a $10 million sponsorship, when compared with Petty Enterprises who hasn’t won a race in almost ten years. What sponsor wouldn’t choose one the top tier teams?

This is not to say there is an answer to this or it can be stopped. Every team in NASCAR is an independent contractor. It’s hard to see what NASCAR can or should do to help, but it’s clear that this is a problem that will only get worse. Even if the Car of Tomorrow could completely level the playing field, without funding for the teams it won’t matter. The same elite teams will continue to win the majority of the races and championships and control the largest pieces of the revenue pie.

What do you think? Can something be done to help the “havenots”? Should something be done or is it just a case of economics?

Alan Tays of the Palm Beach Post wrote something about Momentum. He must not be a very good writer to agree with me and think that Kasey Kahne and the #9 team worked hard for their wins. After all, it’s a proven fact that Kasey Kahne won three races because the fans love him and bestowed confidence upon him.

Enjoy the weekend and give a big bearhug to your father.

• After taking a day to reflect on the weekend, it’s time to break down Kyle Busch’s triple. As I noted Friday, I don’t think it was very significant to attempt all three races. Other drivers of lesser skill have accomplished the feat on a companion weekend. Robby Gordon has driven in other countries on the weekend of a Cup race. All three of Busch’s rides were guaranteed to make the race. So the difference was obviously the travel. Trips from Pocono to Texas and Nashville are definitely draining, but if anyone is used to a taxing flight schedule it’s a Cup driver.

  What’s most interesting how some have questioned Busch for racing in all three series based on his results. I suspect some of these people would have hailed Busch’s passion or how he’s a “pure racer” had he won one of the races. I think Busch’s wreck in the Pocono race had more to do with a mistake on the part of Busch and his spotter than the effects of a long weekend.

• Speaking of Busch, Bob Margolis (with a hat tip to Doug Demmons) made an interesting note about Busch’s wreck in Cup practice:
  

  After he wrecked his primary car in practice Saturday morning, NASCAR officials and members of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing team kept both cameras and fellow competitors away from the front end of Busch’s wrecked Camry. Supposedly the JGR guys have a special front-suspension setup that is a big part of why Busch is so fast these days and they didn’t want anyone to spend too much time checking it out.

  Watching the Dover race, it struck me that Tony Stewart was the only car involved in the big wreck that opted for a brand new nose instead of cutting the front off. I remember a race at Richmond in 2005, Jeff Gordon innocuously hit the wall and the shock completely broke. It was apparently an experimental shock, which also came into play later in the year when Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch had their shocks confiscated at Dover. Now read what Busch’s crew chief Steve Addington said about Sunday’s crash at Pocono:
  

  We had to replace all the front lower chassis points and the whole front end. We cut the whole front end off that had the radiator mount and all that in it. Juts replaced the whole front end. The right front lower control arm pivot points had to weld back into the chassis and all.

  I have no idea whether the suspension is the reason for Gibbs’ and Busch’s 2008 success, but it does share some of the traits of the Hendrick package from 2005. I should also stress that I’m not implying it’s an illegal part either. Like coil binding evolved with the old car, Gibbs might have discovered something that simply works better.

• The #88 finally broke through to win a race in 2008. Well it was Brad Keselowski, not Junior, but it was also deserved after several misses.
  

  You know, I knew we could do this but you never really know other than in your heart until you can prove it on the racetrack, and we’ve been so close and it’s seemed like we’ve caught bad breaks and today we caught the right breaks and that’s what we needed. We needed a little bit of luck with a fast racecar, and we had a fast racecar today and, call it a bit of luck.

  [for the entire audio go to Nationwide’s website]

  It’s the breakthrough for Keselowski that could lead to bigger things. Of the eleven drivers that have won their first Busch/Nationwide races in the last four years, only Stephen Leicht and Justin Labonte have not graduated to a fulltime Cup ride.

Former NASCAR truck driver Aaron Fike admitted he was using heroin prior to races he drove in. His concern now is that NASCAR can’t detect every instance where someone is using drugs. Fike is exactly right. The current drug policy consists of the NASCAR officials administering tests based solely on their suspicion.

The fact that NASCAR’s drug policy is essentially anecdotal means people will slip through the cracks. Fike apparently did. How long could he have raced while high had it not been for his arrest? If a black tar heroin user can escape NASCAR’s radar, what else slips through? NASCAR officials aren’t drug experts, nor are they expected to be. Instead they need to pass the responsibility to the experts and implement a comprehensive drug testing policy.

I have no inside connections in the NASCAR garage, I’m simply posing a question. Seeing what has happened in other sports, it’s not impossible to imagine similar things in NASCAR. Obviously steroids and HGH offer little advantage to a driver or crew chief (aside: can you imagine if Tony Eury Jr showed up at Speedweeks one year and was absolutely ripped?), but there are other drugs that pose danger to the NASCAR world.

For the last 20-30 years amphetamines or “Greenies”were commonplace in MLB clubhouses. Players believed the drugs improved focus and kept them sharp through the grind of travel. Driving for three plus hours in often triple-digit temperatures while trying to hold the same driving line requires a great deal of focus. Throw in a 40 week, national touring season with sponsor appearances, testing sessions and it’s a profile that would at least be inviting some kind of unnatural aid.

Again, I have no knowledge or reason to believe that anyone is currently using drugs, but the risk is definitely there. That’s why NASCAR needs a stronger, more objective drug policy. If a baseball player is using drugs, the worst that happens is hair loss, shrunken testicles, other health problems or a major PR problem. If a NASCAR driver is using drugs, it creates a dangerous situation for 42 other drivers and hundreds of pit members. A PR problem or integrity of the sport would be minor issues compared to the serious danger a driver under the influence would pose.

It’s great that NASCAR can boast drivers that collectively exceed other sports in terms of character, charity and clean living, but it’s not enough to simply trumpet a reputation or rely on word of mouth to root out problems. Not when there are 900 horsepower cars involved. Random drug testing is the only way to know for sure and it’s hard to imagine drivers objecting. It’s their safety that’s at stake.

A few random thoughts and notes circling around my head like those cool motorcyclists that drive in cages at the circus.

• No surprise, but Lee Spencer writes that the cost of NASCAR is still climbing.

  For the midsize teams, $10 million was nothing. For an uber power like Hendrick Motorsports, the estimates were closer to $20 million.

  Because they want to win, the most solid teams will spend that extra dollar — or thousands of dollars — to pick up one-tenth of a second of speed. And that won’t change as the teams continue to acclimate to the new car.

  At some point teams and sponsors will reach the threshold of profitability. Sure it’s fun to go fast and win some trophies, but people like Jack Roush and Rick Hendrick didn’t become millionaires through whimsy. If sponsors decide the return on investment is no longer there, where does all the money for R&D and building cars come from? The problem is only compounded when sponsors can choose between sponsoring one car of being the official fill-in-the-blank of the sport.

• In the same article Spencer also notes that Kyle Busch’s success in the CoT could be attributed to his experience in the truck series.
  

  Many Sprint Cup drivers have concluded, perhaps prematurely, that there is nothing to be gained by driving the Craftsman Truck or Nationwide Series, given the dramatic difference between the vehicles. But with the splitters on the trucks, it’s possible that there is more to discover than originally thought.

  I am surprised more drivers, especially young or inexperienced drivers haven’t found their way over to the truck series for information and seat time. Besides the splitter, the trucks also have a higher profile than the old Cup or current Nationwide cars do. Maybe more drivers will take a flyer next weekend at Martinsville when there is no Nationwide race.

• Hall of Fame Motorsports dropped the first ax of the season this week. Crew chief Brandon Thomas was replaced by Steve Boyer. The car currently sits 31st in the points. Thomas presumably will get reassigned to another position within the organization, NASCAR-ese for “we don’t want you to work on our cars, but we also don’t want you to work on other cars.”

• And finally, it’s apparent that neither Roush-Fenway-Papelbon Racing nor Petty Enterprises will exercise their past champion provisionals. [Pardon me while I virtually wad up my Tuesday post] That’s good for the sport and will certainly be popular with fans. NASCAR has to be exhaling over another bullet successfully dodged. On the track, it doesn’t bode well for the #45. Jamie McMurray and the #26 can make up 4 points on the 35th spot, but Petty sits 60 points off the trail and four other drivers also stand in the way.

How two rules combined to create a qualifying quagmire

It began as two simple rules to protect certain teams and at the same time ensure fans would see the biggest stars. NASCAR didn’t intend to create a monster, but it has and it is only getting worse. With some drivers losing their guaranteed spot in the top 35, teams are faced with devising a way to return their cars to the safety zone. Now some teams are exploring ways to take a loophole and turn it into a crater big enough to drive the CoT through. Petty Enterprises and Roush-Fenway Racing have cars featuring past champions (Bobby Labonte and Matt Kenseth) that are currently inside the top 35, while other cars are outside the safe zone. There is talk of the teams transferring drivers points in the middle of the season and thus take advantage of their past champion’s provisionals. How did it get to this?

Birth of the Top 35 Rule

In 2004 two drivers that attempted every race, Scott Riggs, Bobby Hamilton and Kyle Petty missed races because they ran out of provisionals and failed to qualify. Their spots were taken by part-time cars. In an effort to protect the teams and sponsors that showed up every week to race, NASCAR created the top 35 rule beginning in 2005. The top 35 teams in the previous year’s owner points were assured a starting spot for the first five races. After the fifth race it would be set on that season’s owner points. At the time the plan made sense because there were less than 43 full time teams. Occasionally a team like Robby Gordon Motorsports would miss a race to a part time field filler, but for the most part the plan worked.

Then in 2006 Michael Waltrip bought Doug Bawel’s 2005 owners points to ensure a starting spot in the first five races. Waltrip quickly squandered the points, but the trend was set. Owner points could be acquired. Waltrip began 2007 by purchasing Cal Wells’ points. Then Morgan-McClure and DEI took it a step further by paying for points after the season had started. Morgan-McClure bought Phoenix Racing’s points in an effort to get the #4 car in the show. In the summer DEI and Ginn Racing merged resulting in sufficient owner for Paul Menard to crack the top 35.

With the introduction of a fourth manufacturer, Toyota, and other teams expanding, there were suddenly 49 teams with intentions of entering every race at the start of 2007. Teams with big money sponsors and faster cars were sent home in favor of the protected teams inside the top 35 that were often less ambitious or just plain slow.

Past Champion Provisional Gets Abused

The past champion’s provisional was a way to allow a former champion an exemption to make a race. The theory was to protect a star driver from missing a race, like Richard Petty or Darrell Waltrip. In theory it too was a fine rule. At the end of his career Darrell Waltrip often used the rule to make races, and while viewed it as pathetic, he was a popular name that surely added fan interest to any given race. In recent years this rule has been abused. Instead of acting as a parachute for a former champion, it’s now being used for brand new teams to gain a foothold or for a floundering team to re-enter the top 35.

In 2005 Joe Gibbs Racing formed a third team with high profile sponsor Fedex. After Jason Leffler struggled to qualify for races, the team hired former champion Terry Labonte to restore the team to the top 35. Taking advantage of the fact that Labonte could make every race with his provisional the #11 car was able to salvage a nightmare season and pave the way for future success of 2006 and 2007.

The following year Labonte was again tapped for his provisional, this time by Hall of Fame Racing’s #96 car. It’s now gone from trend to part of an almost necessary business model for a new Cup team. A model since followed by Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip Racing’s #44 car, Bill Elliott and Wood Brothers Racing #21 car and Labonte and Michael Waltrip’s #55 car. The only restriction NASCAR invoked was a 6 race limit per season.

The Current State of Qualifying

Prior to 2008, Penske Racing switched the owners points on their cars. The new #77 car inherited Kurt Busch’s points in order to stretch one car’s guaranteed spot into two. As of race 5, the plan worked. I didn’t agree with the decision to allow the points to be transferred, but at least it was prior to the season.

Now teams are considering shuffling their owner’s points in midseason. Technically there is nothing wrong with this, it’s not breaking any rules, but it is not in the spirit of the rules. It’s something only NASCAR can stop, but they didn’t address the problem prior to 2008 and now it would be inappropriate to do so midstream. The door is already open and NASCAR has essentially invited teams to exploit the two rules as far as possible. It’s not fair to a lot of teams.

Picture this scenario: A smaller team expands to a 2-car outfit, and successfully qualifies both cars into the top 35 without the aid of owner points or past champion provisionals. Although the car is in the top 35, it is unsponsored and has a precarious grip on its top 35 spot. Along comes a bigger team with a car outside the top 35. The big team simply hires a past champion or transfers owners points to the fledging car and voila, big team eclipses small team in the top 35. It’s not a made up scenario. It’s exactly what faces the #70 Haas-CNC car.

While NASCAR officials are busy rebranding their three national touring series with new title sponsors, several Cup cars remain unsponsored. Instead of encouraging companies to become official “x” of stock car racing (and then proclaiming NASCAR’s vitality by citing the number of companies interested in the sport), NASCAR officials need to take notice of a real problem sprouting at the Cup level. The cars in question aren’t just field fillers either. As many as 6 cars inside the top 35 will have rather ordinary hoods at Daytona unless something is quickly secured. Or maybe they’re just waiting for the perfect time to announce it.

By my very unofficial count, both Haas cars, both Yates cars, Dario Franchitti, and Regan Smith all lack primary sponsors. Franchitti is an Indy 500 winner and reigning IRL champion. Franchitti and Smith both drive for high profile teams, Chip Ganassi and DEI respectively. The others can –at the very least– promise prospective sponsors that they will make the first five races, including the biggest race the Daytona 500.

Of all the teams on the list, the two Haas cars face the biggest predicament. Owner Gene Haas is currently serving a sentence for fraud. If they aren’t careful the team might have to face the same fate as Ginn Racing did last year.

It’s interesting that Johnny Sauter played a big role in sponsor Yellow following him from Phoenix Racing to Haas in 2006. After Haas replaced Sauter with Scott Riggs, the Yellow sponsorship dried up too. And now Riggs faces another year where he might get caught in a bad situation not of his doing.

• Testing began this week, but as Mark Martin pointed out, it’s pretty meaningless until the drafting tests roll out. It looks like Toyota has more horsepower, but they also had a lot more to prove than the other teams. Their improvement was first seen at Talladega last year when they swept the front row and Dave Blaney finished 3rd. That’s fine and good for Toyota, but restrictor plates only comprise 4 of the 36 races.

  The test I am interested in is the California-Las Vegas double dip. That’s where we’ll see what teams have for the majority of the races. It is also the biggest test for the CoT itself. How does the car handle on an aero sensitive track? Can people pass or will it still be single file “racing”? Daytona testing is nice to get people talking about racing again and certainly the drafting practices are relevant, but the test out west is what will hold the real answers for the season.

• Joe Gibbs announced his retirement from coaching the Redskins. It was certainly a tough season for the ‘Skins, with the tragic loss of Sean Taylor. When Gibbs returned to the NFL in 2004 it was a much different era than when he won 3 Super Bowls in the 80’s. Two playoff appearances, but zero division titles.

  Now Gibbs will head back to NASCAR and the team he built into a power. JGR is similar to the Redskins, not much has changed during Gibbs’ absence/(or presence in the ‘Skins’ case). Tony Stewart won the 2005 title, the team successfully expanded to three teams and now they are poised for a potentially huge payoff with new manufacturer, Toyota. The elder Gibbs certainly wields great power and credibility with sponsors, but the day to day race operations belong to his son JD. None of this is meant as a shot at Joe Gibbs. The man built the Cup team into what it is today and did the same thing with Redskins’ franchise prior to the Daniel Snyder era. Gibbs led the team to two playoff appearances in four years, which is a revelation compared to his predecessors.

Last spring I went to the Cup night race at Phoenix. It was the third CoT race of the season and it was obvious teams were still figuring out how the cars would work. As a result there were very few passes. Once a car got out front, they would stay out front. In fact aside from Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, the only time a pass was made for the lead was on pit stops. Most cars followed one another, neither gaining nor losing any time to the surrounding cars. Of course the final green flag segment featured a fierce battle for the lead including Stewart’s daring pass splitting two cars to take the lead. The majority of the online reaction following the race was how exciting the it was. Watching the race in person, I disagreed, but it also made me wonder, what makes a good race? Are there necessary elements or is it all personal preference? If you asked ten people what makes for a good race, you’d probably get ten different answers, but there must be some common ground among the majority of fans. What are the factors that create a good race? It’s a pretty basic question, but really, why do we watch?

Is it crashes?
Plate racing is widely considered some of the best action NASCAR can offer. Part of that allure is “The Big One”. A two-car crash is one thing, but a spectacular 8 car melee that sends parts, smoke and often whole cars into the air is a completely different sight. That said, too many crashes turn a race into something better suited for a domed football stadium with a rumbling announcer saying, “Twelve bucks, twelve trucks!”

Is it few crashes?
On the other hand races with too many cautions for crashes can slow down the tempo of the race. Look at Michigan. It’s a wide, manageable track where people can pass freely and find a place to make their cars run well. Crashes don’t usually bog down the races and drivers enjoy driving there. The problem here is that the race usually lacks flavor. The most memorable Michigan race in recent years was the 2006 Busch event, but that was because of the Dale Jr-Carl Edwards tangle more than anything else.

Is it a good finish?
Everyone remembers the finish most, but is that all it takes to be a good race? Remember in 2005 at Lowe’s after the track was levigated (now there’s a word NASCAR would assume forget) prior to the Coca Cola 600? The race was a clunker. 22 cautions caused the race to last 5-plus hours. Leaders wrecked, teammates crashed into each other and it was a sloppy, ugly race. Of course the finish was tight and Jimmie Johnson narrowly nosed out Bobby Labonte for the win. Is that a good race? There was a great finish and plenty of controversy for Monday’s forums and blogs, but the race Of course the finish was one of the closest in Cup history when Jimmie Johnson narrowly passed Bobby Labonte for the win.

If all we care about is a great finish, then why have 500 mile races? A fan could simply tune in for the last 20 laps or even better, watch the highlights on Sportscenter. With the advent of the Green-White-Checker rule, close finishes are also easier to create via one final caution.

Is it one car dominating?
It’s not very fun to watch one driver lead lap after lap, but think about it for a second in the context of other sports. Peyton Manning has a record setting performance in a game that the Colts win by 30 points. It’s a blowout, but it’s still fun to watch because Manning is playing so well. Couldn’t the same be said when Martin Truex Jr annihilates the field at Dover? The argument in recent years is that it’s not as much dominating, but rather it’s simply tougher to pass. That’s fair, but sholdn’t some credit go to the driver applying the whupping too?

Is it prestige of a race or track?
The Bristol night race is one of the most popular races of the year. The last few years however, the race has been less thrilling and closer to a parade. NASCAR has a lot of history at its tracks, but that mystique alone can’t create a good race. There are few venues greater than Wrigley Field, but ivy alone can’t make the Cubs a good team.

Does controversy help?
Absolutely. Name the most prominent races of 2007. The Daytona 500, Watkins Glen and Martinsville. Each race had good finishes, but also had high drama that eclipsed the wins. When there is something to talk about Monday beyond the race winner, it gives the weekend’s race some added juice. Especially when it pushes an exciting race over the top. Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick dueling on the final turn of the Daytona 500 by itself was great. People on Monday would get together and say, “How about that finish?”

Ideally a classic NASCAR race would have different amounts of all the above ingredients. Tight racing, a great finish, a memorable crash or two and some controversy thrown in for good discussion. But there is still another factor that can elevate a race even higher. Something unique that makes it memorable. Something bizarre, unpredictable, or even historic that makes you shrug your shoulders, throw up your hands and say “I’ve never seen that before.”

Taking that tight Daytona 500 finish and throwing in the context of a dubious caution, cars wrecking behind them and Clint Bowyer’s tumbling car starting on fire, turned it into a completely different conversation come Monday. It still began with “How about that finish”, but it also had controversy, crashes, fires and a great finish.

The same was said when Jeff Gordon won at Darlington with an engine that by all logic should have blown up with 10 laps remaining, or when Denny Hamlin incited a wreck at Atlanta with three laps to go because of water in his fuel tank. “Huh, I’ve never seen that before in NASCAR.”

It’s that memory factor that brings me back to my race at Phoenix. In an otherwise uneventful evening from the stands, Gordon took the checkered flag and in the process tied Dale Earnhardt for most career Cup wins. It took a boring race and transformed it into something I’ll remember. “Huh.”

What factors does it take for you to call a race exciting or memorable?