Trouble in Turn2

This weekend TNT brings back their Wide Open coverage for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. More racing and fewer commercials sounds pretty good. What is even better is a good race at a fun track under the lights and 100 miles shorter than the Daytona 500 in February. It all adds up to one of the best race packages of the season. The Pepsi Coke Zero 400 is almost always an exciting race. Sure there was the monsoon of ought five that pushed the finish past midnight on the west coast, but most races are filled with crashes, daring passes for the lead (the lead!), and heck even some pretty cool one-off paint schemes.

And there’s something else about the plate tracks to like too. It’s the little rivalries at restrictor plate races that add the extra juice. They are four races that have very little bearing on the rest of the season, but teams often take more pride in their plate programs. The current top dogs, Gibbs and Hendrick could offer a great battle this year. So far Toyota, and more specifically Gibbs Racing have dominated the restrictor plate tracks in 2008. One win, four top fives and 57% of all the laps led at Daytona and Talladega. That’s pretty dominant. And that is why I think Hendrick Motorsports will be up to the challenge. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr have all won at Daytona and are all very good in the draft. Not all of the cars will be around at the end, but that’s just part of the excitement.

What Happened Last Year

Gibbs teammates Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin wrecked each other while running 1-2 early in the race. That led to some bickering in the garage. Meanwhile Jamie McMurray edged Kurt and Kyle Busch for his first win since 2002. It was the closest finish in Daytona history (.005 seconds).

Five Drivers Who Like Daytona

Dale Earnhardt Jr won the 2001 Pepsi 400 and the 2004 Daytona 500. He has 6 top 5’s and 10 top 10’s in 17 starts.

Tony Stewart has two summer wins and has led 531 laps in ten races. That includes 151 of 160 at the 2005 race. He has 6 top 5’s and 10 top 10’s in 19 starts. He also is the only driver with a driver rating above 100 for the last seven Daytona races (108.1)

Jeff Gordon has six wins, most among active drivers. Gordon has recently adopted a “wait and see” approach, which worked at both Talladega events last year and almost paid off again this spring.

Jimmie Johnson has often served as Gordon’s wing man on mad dashes to the front late in races. But Johnson is perfectly capable of winning races himself. He has the highest average running position (9.8) of all drivers over the last seven races, meaning he is always in the lead pack.

Matt Kenseth owns a 92.4 driver rating and has led laps in four of the last five races at Daytona. He has scored 4 top 5’s and 12 top 10’s in his career at restrictor plate tracks.

Champs, Chumps and Sleepers

Champ: Ryan Newman His Daytona 500 win was not a fluke. Penske has provided strong cars for Daytona and Talladega and Newman and Kurt Busch work well together.

Chump: Carl Edwards Edwards is good in the draft, but has lost his patience at times and that can be costly.

Sleeper: Elliott Sadler When it comes to restrictor plate races, Sadler is excellent at avoiding wrecks, picking the right lane and being around at the end to pick up a nice finish.

Who will win?

Hendrick and Penske cars will surely be strong with a splash of RCR mixed in (watch out for Clint Bowyer). Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray are typically strong at Daytona, but Ford is mired in a mini-funk right now. All of these teams will be in the lead pack, but who will win the race? Joe Gibbs. Seriously, take your pick of driver. Denny Hamlin led 32 laps and may have had the best car at the Daytona 500 if not for a pit road accident. Kyle Busch led 86 laps and could, and did, go anywhere he wanted to on the track. Tony Stewart wasn’t as good during the day, but came alive at the end of the race when the sun went down, led 16 laps and finished 3rd. The same pattern held true at Talladega when Hamlin and Stewart seemed able to do whatever they wanted at the front of the pack and Kyle Busch overcame early problems to pop up late and win. Fans of variety, surprise and parity turn away now. Kyle Busch is going to win again. Just because the winner might not be a surprise, the race should be anything but dull.

For the first 270 laps, Sunday’s race at New Hampshire was pretty tame. The leaders maintained comfortable leads with ease, the top ten positions didn’t change much and barring problems, cars were pretty much locked into a comfortable position and no one was passing. Then a caution came out when Jamie McMurray plowed through Dale Earnhardt Jr and suddenly all hell broke loose. The top drivers pitted while eight other cars stayed out, led by Kurt Busch. Tony Stewart, the dominant car for the day, pitted for two tires and was relegated to 14th on the restart. With one caution plus a pending storm it was pretty obvious that the final results had been turned upside down.

That set up a wild finish, but it wasn’t done yet. Kurt Busch jumped out on the restart, but had to battle lapped car Robby Gordon and nearly hit the outside wall. A few laps later Sam Hornish spilt Clint Bowyer to bring out the caution. Juan Pablo Montoya took the chance to controversy.

“[Busch] hit me under caution, he hit me under green and I retaliated. Did I go a little bit too far retaliating? Yeah. I told them[NASCAR officials] the only reason I did that was I was defending myself.

Somehow Busch tried to play coy and absolve himself from blame.

I got a run on him earlier and I got on the outside and he kind of kept coming up a little bit. I didn’t turn down into him and just barely touched his quarter panel. Then I got by him in three and four and he run me up the race track in the left rear. Then we came to that caution flag and he thought he beat me to the caution flag and I was just trying to get around the 40 (Dario Franchitti) car, who was in front of us there and touched him on the door and he just turned left and spun me down the front straight away. I don’t know what his beef is, but obviously NASCAR should probably fix it.

Montoya was penalized 2 laps for rough driving, dropping his final position to 32nd. His admission that the hit was intentional (which was pretty obvious on the replay) will probably cost Montoya some money, more points and probation for the remainder of the season. Montoya wasn’t going to make the Chase and is not broke so in my mind that biggest penalty is actually the probation. Why? It means Montoya won’t be able to partake in Facewashing with Harvick 2 at Watkins Glen this year. Comparing the Loudon incident with the quasi-fisticuffs from last made me realize something else. Montoya’s favorite expression, “I don’t appreciate that.” That’s getting worked into my everyday phrases. That or “My name is Juan Pablo Montoya, you killed my top 15, prepare to die.”

Some Random thoughts while avoiding the 90+ degree heat

• Bill Weber used “Strategery” when discussing pit stops. Even if it was for comedic value, it fizzled. Later he mentioned that Stewart could become the first driver to sweep the weekend and ended with a grumpy, “there’s a stat for ya’”. What’s wrong with stats? They never did anything to you. Maybe he was just sour today.

• Where was Roush? The fact that the TNT announcers called it a rebound when none of the five drivers were in the top ten is an indictment of how bad they were today.

• Casey Mears had a nice run before slipping at the end. In one sense I’m glad he didn’t score a surprising win because it spared us all headlines and nonsense about how he was more motivated this week. He still managed a top ten in back to back races for the first time this year. Watch out for Mears next weekend at Daytona. He’s good on restrictor plates and nearly won the race last year.

• By the way, Kurt Busch won the race.

• Michael Waltrip scored his first top five finish since 2005 (5th place at Pocono). It’s a huge boost not only for his effort to stay inside the top 35, but also for his sponsorship status with Napa.
  

  I’m not emotional about this, other than the fact to say it’s amazing that NAPA Auto Parts is still on my car after what we went through the last couple years. Just to do anything good for them, outside front row at Daytona, to have a finish like we did today, I just want to say thank you to them by doing well. That’s my goal, is to do good for them.

  Waltrip is often portrayed as a shill, but he really does get it. For all of his struggles in team ownership, he somehow still has large sponsors at least through this year, and he obviously realizes how fortunate he is. As an aside, Waltrip pitted two laps later than Kurt Busch and it would have been interesting to see how things would have ended without the rain stoppage.

• Question: Can you use “McMurray tried to drive through me” as a valid excuse for hitting the commitment cone on pit road?

For more racing news and opinion peep Racing Nation.

It feels like the Cup boys were just at Daytona, but eight races later the year is one fourth over. I’ve already discussed a few things we’ve learned so far, but it’s time to check out a few teams and drivers and hand out some grades for the quarter. It’s not a final grade (NASCAR is on semesters, right?), but more of a progress report.

These grades aren’t based strictly on performance, but more on preseason expectations. So a car or team expected to run in the thirties that is running in the teens or twenties is a bigger deal than Carl Edwards or Kyle Busch running well. It’s not a surprise that those two are winning races.

Yeehaw! Almost two full weeks without a Sprint Cup race it’s time for an overdue roundup of some news items. Get along all you dogies. By the way, you know you were about to ask, a dogie is a motherless calf in a range herd of cattle. So there’s that. Let’s move on to the news of the past few weeks.

• Nationwide might have the official naming rights to NASCAR’s second series, but Shrub is doing his best to maintain the Busch Series label. Thanks to the nice people on the Nationwide PR side, here is a post-race interview after Kyle Busch’s win at Mexico City:
  

  It was a good run for us. We had a great race out there. You know, some pit strategy played into it somewhat there towards the middle and towards the end of the race in what was going to happen.

  Obviously, being able to win my first race on a road course is pretty special anytime. It’s fun to be able to win to be able to win on a road course, because there’s only certain guys that tend to be able to do it. Finally, to be able to get a win on a road course means a lot. It shows I’m capable of winning anywhere, I guess, so that’s pretty cool.

  From an upstart blogger’s perspective, Nationwide is doing a lot of cool grassroots things to promote the Nationwide Series. And the first thing you say is, “Sure, that’s easy for you to say when they send you stuff to put on your blog.” And I say, exactly. If they are reaching out to bloggers and recognizing that we have a place of some importance, then that is a good thing. It has very little to do with me personally.

• After a six race “break”, AJ Allemndinger is back in the #84 Red Bull car this week. Substitute driver Mike Skinner made the last six races and edged the car within 108 points of the top 35. Now it’s up to Allmendinger to build on that baseline. He will do so in a new silver paintscheme. From the Red Bull blog:
  

  “Some would call it a mirrored aluminum silver. Some would call it a titanium finish,” said Marty Briggs, the paint shop manager. “We would just have to call it bad ass.”

• The biggest news this week is the speculation about Tony Stewart’s future. Will he stay with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota? Will he return to one of he Chevrolet teams? Will he retire and open a Subway shop in Richmond, Indiana and hang out with Jared Fogel? Perhaps he’s in talks with Daniel Snyder about coaching the Redskins?

  No one knows the exact answer right now, but in the end the winner is definitely Stewart. Just like Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn’t go wrong last year, Stewart can take whatever path he wants. Ownership is apparently the hot item in Stewart’s search, but I’m not sure that makes complete sense. The cost of ownership in Cup continues to rise while sponsorship, and other revenue streams are stagnating and in some cases drying up. Stewart already owns a racetrack, Eldora, that he says he doesn’t make a profit on. Would he really want to take on another pet project? Especially a seven to eight figure one that is not a certain money-maker? If ownership exits the equation, then RCR makes more sense as a destination. As usual I have no inside information, just a guess. It will be interesting to see if Stewart remains winless for a while whether the media pressure intensifies(groan). Stay tuned.

• Earth Day was earlier this week and SI.com’s Brant James had an excellent piece on motorsports and various series’ efforts to go green. It’s a really good read with several good points. Some of the major points didn’t apply strictly to environmental issues either. For example NASCAR’s lack of modern technology in engines isn’t only inefficient fuel-wise, it’s expensive too:
  

  In spending hundreds of millions to improve 1955 engine technology, NASCAR is basically using a jet propulsion laboratory to make a better arrowhead.

  That quote could apply not only to engine research but all of the efforts in the hope of a miniscule gain on the track with today’s cars.

  James goes on to point out that while NASCAR isn’t as progressive as other racing series, advances could happen down the road:
  

  “Years ago we tried to get to 500 horsepower and we thought that would be it,” he[Gary Nelson, former head of NASCAR’s research and development center] said, “Now that engine gets 800. You can never look down the road and say, ‘That’s as good as you’re going to get.’ … If people are working on it, it will get better, and people are working on it.”

  Again, that quote could be applied to the other aspects of the current car. Right now people are saying the Car of Tomorrow is a failure, but when smart people set out and try to improve it, things will improve.

• Finally, if you haven’t already entered the Daytona DVD contest, sign up. Why wouldn’t you want a 50 years of the Daytona 500 DVD?

I don’t have anything to say today (and the sarcastic reader would say, “that’s never stopped you before”), so I thought I’d see what else is going on in the world of NASCAR.

• First, a few stories that I didn’t have time to get to during Speedweeks. David Poole wrote an incredible follow-up piece about Wessa Miller. She was the girl who gave Dale Earnhardt Sr the lucky penny before his 1998 Daytona 500 win. An amazing story and a must read.

• Sports Illustrated writer Lewis Franck has his own blog, Franckly Speaking. Prior to Daytona he had a post about Max Papis and gives one more reason why Rick Hendrick is a good guy.
  

  Ken Howes, Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition, explained, “typically every full- time employee here gets a championship ring. That’s something Rick steps ups and does, then add on anyone who has contributed to the that effort. Max [Papis] is one of them. He did a lot of work testing especially on the road course many laps at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) and Kentucky.” Howes added that David Green, who did yeoman-like work on the COT on ovals, was also given one of those priceless rings.

• Speaking of SI, Mark Beech believes Casey Mears could be great if he were more consistent. Isn’t that kind of the point? If only Shaq were more consistent at the free throw line, he’d be a great free throw shooter, or if Rex Grossman would complete more passes he’d be a great quarterback. Beyond that, his reasoning is based on the fact that Casey Mears wrecked when he was in 5th place. His driver rating was a lousy 68.6. For comparison, Jeff Gordon had an 84.2 rating despite a suspension problem that landed him in the garage.

• A very underrated blog is The View From Here, which takes a business approach to NASCAR issues. Considering it’s written by VCU business professors, that makes more sense than a NASCAR blog with an anthropological slant. Anyway, they mention a story about how Brian Vickers is one of the environment-conscious drivers. I love that Vickers is trying to bring attention to the subject . A lot of what Vickers says I agree with, although I question one thing he says.

  It’s a very small footprint we make,” Vickers said. “It’s only 38 races, 500 miles, 43 cars. The big global picture of things, it’s a small place. It is a start, and every little bit matters.

  Vickers doesn’t mention the cross-country trips that the 6mpg haulers make on a weekly basis. And you can’t forget the private jet flights either. However Vickers does sound pretty serious about the issue. He talks about alternative fuel cells, the effect of biodiesel, buying carbon offsets and recycling. Based on this and other things I’ve read about Vickers, including his decision to switch from Hendrick to Red Bull, give me the impression that Vickers has more on his plate than simply racing. And I mean that in a good way.

• According to That’s Racin’ Gibbs Racing is struggling to get sponsorship for their Nationwide car. Yes, the one driven by Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Let’s see, that’s a car featuring a two-time Cup champion and two other Chase drivers that combined for seven Busch wins in 2007. That doesn’t give a lot of hope for the Sauter brothers does it?

• Robby Gordon was penalized 100 points and his crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended 6 races for his nose job at Daytona inspection. Jerry at RPT thinks it’s a little harsh, while David Poole says NASCAR got this one right. I can see both sides. For one, NASCAR shouldn’t interpret intent, only penalzing all infractions equally and the precedent was set last year with other teams getting 6 races and 100 points. However, if the difference was really just a matter of different decals, that seems a little silly.

• During the weekly media interview I came across this interesting question and answer from Matt Kenseth.
  

  Q. I guess I wonder if you two can help each other at the track or is it just sort of a friendship deal?

  MATT KENSETH: No, you know, I have six teammates already. I don’t think we can really help each other too much necessarily at the track. But, you know, certainly friends and get along good and like to race together.

  (Mike counting teammates on his fingers)..McMurray is three, Ragan makes four…oh yeah…and the two Yates guys they absorbed makes five and six. Seriously, when do we drop the charade and concede that Roush-Fenway Racing is Ford Racing?

Normally I spend the day after a race reading as many blogs and websites for information on the race. After a quick spin through the usual blogging suspects, I was too wiped out to read anymore. I made me realize how draining Speedweeks are for fans. The Bud Shootout kicks things off and fans get a rush of adrenaline because NASCAR is back. Then qualifying is the next day, there is always something newsworthy to talk about from Monday through Wednesday and then the Duels on Thursday guarantee action. Then there’s no time to catch your breath before the Truck, Nationwide and Cup races over the weekend. Come Monday, I’m exhausted. Worse, I didn’t get President’s Day off . Now imagine a driver like Kyle Busch who participated in every session except the Shootout. The dude has to be fixin’ for a vacation!

Unfortunately for Shrub, he will have to wait one more week some surfing. The tour heads west this coming weekend for the race in Fontana. Ah, movie stars, empty seats and often a nice nap before the finish. Although after the action at Daytona brings promise that the CoT will make for better racing at the front of the field.

Before we think about this weekend, it’s time to exhale and wring out the rest of the Daytona tidbits. First, check out the different emotions of the finish from a fan of the winner and contrast that with reactions from the driver that just missed. The highs and lows of the biggest race in the sport in a nutshell.

The Weekend in Quotes

I don’t think I have the words for what the last year has been. Exactly a year ago today actually, not to elaborate, but my wife was diagnosed with cancer. You know, I thank Roger Penske for giving me the opportunity to take care of what comes first, which is family. Without Roger, I would not have been able to do that. That just says a lot about the team as a whole again.

-Penske crew chief Roy McCauley. It’s sometimes forgotten that crew members have real lives with real families. I can’t imagine how rewarding it must be that not only did McCauley make the right decision to take time off, see his wife’s health improve, and then return to enjoy the thrill of a Daytona 500 win.

Don’t have the words. It’s awesome. It’s probably one of the most awesome things that’s ever happened to me. To understand all the history of NASCAR, of racing in general, you know, the drivers meeting, to be looking face to face with all the guys, the greats that were on stage up there, and now to be part of one of those guys and part of that team, it’s just awesome.

Ryan Newman on his win.

We’re going to spend it to make the cars go faster, I’m sure that’ll be the first thing we’ll do.

Roger Penske on where the $1 million bonus check from Dodge will go. Did someone say personal test track?

Once I did get to the back bumper, I just held the gas down. I didn’t care how hard I hit him — it was coming to the checkered flag.

Kyle Busch describing the last lap. Although it could easily have been his outlook for any of the 200 laps.

On that last restart we weren’t fast enough to run up front. We were in a bad spot. I knew we were going to get passed for the lead but it’s always fun to lead at Daytona. Finishing 13th isn’t a bad start to the season.

Jeff Burton, who was a sitting duck on the final restart.

Yeah, we just got caught doing something everybody else is doing (laughter).

Dale Earnhardt Jr, when asked to elaborate on the “technical issue” on his Nationwide car. In other words, nothing has changed regarding cheating in NASCAR.

Now it’s time to move on to the rest of 2008. It seems like Daytona, while it is the biggest race of the season, gets a disproportionate amount of coverage compared to the other 35 races. After all, it has very little bearing on long term success for the season, the winner rarely wins the championship and things could be completely different by the time the tour returns in July.

Don’t forget to check out the 2008 Driver Previews of the top 25 drivers. New drivers added daily through the end of the week.

“What a way to start this deal, baby!”-Rick Hendrick to Dale Earnhardt Jr after their winning debut.

Anyone still have any questions about Junior and Hendrick? One Saturday night feature race does not make a season, but it was kind of like a new quarterback throwing deep on the first play of preseason. It’s at least mildly ironic that in potentially the final Bud Shootout the man that made the company synonymous with NASCAR would win the race with his new team. Everything is changing in NASCAR, and yet Dale Earnhardt Jr and Budweiser were connected again for a night.

It was a good race and Speedweeks are in full effect. That giddy feeling returned for me the moment I heard the NASCAR on Fox opening bumper music. Instictively I began drooling and recognized that NASCAR was back. No more testing or media tours, just 38 weekends filled with racing. The race itself was pretty interesting for several reasons. Obviously the biggest story is Junior’s return to the winner’s circle, but no one should be surprised. It’s Daytona, Junior always runs well here whether it’s the 500, Pepsi 400, Bud Shootout or Twin 150 qualifying races. Tony Stewart went so far to say he thinks Junior might be a better plate racer than Senior. Keep that in mind all week, when he scores a top 3 in his qualifying heat and then, barring a crash finishes in the top 10 next Sunday.

For the first 50 laps Junior looked like he could take the lead anytime he felt like it. It’s not that DEI’s recent series of plate cars were bad, but they lacked the handling. That necessitated drafting partners for Junior to stay at the front. Yes he got help at the finish, but for most of the race the #88 could go wherever he wanted.

The bottom line is that it was an entertaining and popular way to kick off 2008.

• I thought when Tony Stewart showed up with the long hair it meant a more contemplative, mellowed out, koombaya-esque Smoke. That notion lasted for about two hours. Sure it’s something for writers and bloggers to talk about and it will be forgotten by Tuesday, but Stewart will always keep things interesting.

• Speaking of Stewart, it took four cars to out run he and Dave Blaney. Blaney stayed in the top 5 all night and will certainly be a threat the rest of Speedweeks. Of course, that’s assuming he doesn’t repeat his brain freeze from ‘07. It was basically the two Camrys versus the four Hendrick cars. Foreshadowing for the season?

• Preseason means working off the rust, and that goes for fans too. That means adjusting to who is actually in what car (I confess I still struggle seeing Mark Martin in the Army Chevrolet). Earnhardt Jr is easier because A, he’s apparently pretty famous, and B, his paint scheme is brand new. It’s harder when you see the Bud car and do a double take before realizing it’s Kasey Kahne. Or wondering when Tony Raines won a pole? It’s even stranger seeing the bright yellow Kellogg’s car and not thinking, here comes the fireworks–no wait, it’s Casey Mears.

• Watching some of the near misses from Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch, it’s obvious the heavier car and wing will be a huge safety improvement at Daytona and Talladega. It made me wonder if we have seen the end of the wild, aerial crashes. I’m sure drivers like Bowyer, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman and Scott Riggs hope so.

• One thing you can always count on at restrictor plate races is Mike Joy telling us that Dale Earnhardt Jr is running the Richard Petty high line. Which then leads to his go-to quote about Petty driving up there because hitting the wall wouldn’t hurt as bad. Death, taxes, Mike Joy’s Richard Petty High Line anecdotes.

• I realize that because it’s the Daytona 500 and the first race of the season, qualifying holds more excitement than other weekends, but what’s the point, really? The front row is set(congrats, we have this lovely pit stall for you) and two “bubble” drivers get locked into the race. Beyond that 50 other drivers make two laps, do a few interviews and come back Thursday for the Duel. A lot could happen to the track by Thursday, and plus, starting position doesn’t matter very much at a restrictor plate track. It seems like the only newsworthy thing that comes out of Daytona qualifying is when teams break rules.

For more racing news and opinion, check out Racing Nation.