Allstate Pit Crew Competition 400

All I can say is..."I am TIRED! Tired of hearing about TIRES!" (And for the first time, my header picture allows me to not use any other image from anywhere else! How appropriate for the subject!)

Today's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has been wildly flamed among the world of NASCAR fans who live on the internet. There were immediate concerns while we watched the tire cords springing into view yesterday during the final practice sessions. Little did we know that the issue was going to explode faster than a right rear tire on a diamond-cut track.

NASCAR did not notice a problem Friday during practice, as most of those cars were making 3 lap runs, in preparation for qualification runs. Saturday's post qual practices are when the problems first arrived, due to the longer runs being made by teams. Many teams curtailed the last practice, in fears that there would be an extreme shortage of tires for Sunday's race.

Early risers on Sunday discovered that Goodyear had sent out orders to bring in 800 right side tires originally designated for Pocono next week. NASCAR made contingency plans on how to use the extra tires, and buckled down for a long race.

Announcing that there would be a competition yellow at 10 laps, the early part of the race saw several tire issues. The first caution was on lap one, and was caused by Michael Waltrip getting loose, and was probably NOT a product of the tires. The next caution at Lap 14 was also from a loose car, but there may be more of a tire issue on this one. As the cars continued through the race, it became apparant that the first signal that a tire was going south was a loose feeling. Many drivers did not react fast enough to get into the pits. Matt Kenseth had the most dramatic explosive tire rupture, with the tire even blowing into the cockpit, and dislodging the right side window.

After that, the race was made up of Competition Yellows every ten to 12 laps. Many drivers started taking care of their tires, with some improvement in cording. My driver, David Gilliland, observed that the restarts were where the cars were burning up the right front, but that the right rear was also impacted from a loose car. Keeping the car tightened up, and playing it safe on the restart helped him finish in 20th. Not flashy, but certainly safe and indeed a good finish under the circumstances. Jimmie Johnson ran a race to finish, and had flawless pit strategy coming from Chad Knause and his pit crew.

The internet fan-dom pundits are loudly blaming NASCAR and Goodyear, with outraged opinions that this was the worst race in the history of the sport. I am totally unable to disagree, and yet, I can see that there were really not a lot of options left.

The most dramatic suggestion of the day was that the race should never have been run. The fall-out of canceling the race would have been something that would deal such a strong blow to the sport that there would be no recovery.

It is hopeful that NASCAR and Goodyear learn from this, and are better prepared next year for the trip to Indy. Surely the open testing next year will help bring better knowledge for NASCAR, Goodyear, and for the teams. At least, today, the pit crews all had extra practice!

Musings from the Marbles: Bristol Rain Delay Version

Sadler is Sadder?

Has Elliott Sadler stepped on his own flapping tongue when it comes to disparaging Jack Roush’s issues with so-called cheating? I received a couple of 'instantly deleted' comments from fans of Sadler, that tried to use profanity and threats to tell me to stop what I was writing in my Snafam Blog. In the last week, I have since discovered that I am not alone in my feelings about this subject. Various message boards have multipe posts that called Sadler a variety of names. Other blogs, including Jennifer St.Antoine, Matt McLauglin, and Phil, aka One Lugnut Short show that not all of NASCAR fandom believe that Sadler actually had the intelligence to be insulted. For those that believe in Kharma (or is that "Carma?") it appears that Sadler suffered for his own sins of disclosure, by being the cause of no less than three cautions at Atlanta. Then again, perhaps there was thought that it would be better to not have a car in decent shape for post-race tech inspection, as Sadler admitted to being party to cheating in his previous rides. I'm just sayin!

Top 35 points switching?

During the off season, it was discovered that Roger Penske had been granted permission from NASCAR to swap the points of Kurt Busch's car with Sam Hornish's car. It was thought that, with qualifying out of the way, that Sam would be able to be solidly in the top 35 points. And if there were issues, Kurt could use his past Champion's provisional to get into the race.

Now we have a whole new mess, at least from Kurt's perspective. After 4 races, according to the Owners points list from Motorsportsone.net shows, Sam is in 36 and Kurt is in 10th. Several articles tell of Kurt's paling face when told of the possibility of points switching again, as he is tired of getting the scraps of the bottom 35. (Last choice on tires, transporter out in the boonies, late inspection before practice, etc.) Other's that COULD switch points would be Kyle Petty and Bobby Labonte, Patrick Carpentier with either Kasey Kahne or Elliott Sadler, and the does Michael McDowell really deserve to reap the rewards of the Jarrett/Reutiman dance? I am betting that if a widespread points-swap happens next week, NASCAR is going to step in and stop it.

In my opinion, if the point swap continues, NASCAR should allow it, but assess a penalty, say 100 points, to allow it to happen. That would probably take care of the situation.

Tires and Tony, another Retread!

I admit it. I am not a Tony Stewart fan. In the past, I was a very fervent fan of his. But the more he spoke, the more I was embarassed to even mention his name. While he is an amazingly talented driver, he is his own worst enemy.

Last week, he dumped his anger at Goodyear into the waiting microphones of the NASCAR media. My first inclination including muttering 'crybaby' under my breath. Then, other drivers chimed in, and backed up many of Tony's claims, while disagreeing with the way the message was delivered. I listened, I read, and I formulated my own opinion that perhaps Tony was right, for THIS issue.

And then, Goodyear, as reported by the Associated Press writer, Jenna Fryer, is not ammenable to inviting Tony for any further tire tests. It seems he was angry for having to attend one during his off season, and was uncommunicative during the test. So, Tony, instead of being part of the solution, became part of the problem.

Retiring Drivers, how loyal to the sport is the younger generation?

Bristol will be the last points race for Dale Jarrett. We have watched many of sports veteran's start to migrate away from the driver's seat. Rusty left, and is in the booth. Mark Martin is driving a reduced schedule. Terry Labonte is gone. Bill Elliott is on his last run, Kenny Schrader is finding it harder to get rides in the Cup series. In my opinion, those drivers are the last of a dying breed. They came into the sport older than our current drivers. They did not get top rides immediately, but had to work hard and prove their worth. I honestly do not see many of our current crop of drivers lasting into their late forties and early fifties.

Drivers Union

Suddenly, the dreaded words "Drivers Union" is rearing its ugly head. Again. It amazes me that number of fans who WANT to see a union formed. Have we learned nothing from the strikes in the baseball industry? With that said, I think it is time for Brian France and Mike Helton to create a better way for drivers to voice their opinion, and to help shape the future of the sport. When I hear that drivers do not feel that their opinions are being heard, I can't help but think of the questions used by the Gallup business consulting division, where an important Q12 question would be (for the workplace) "My Opinions Count!" Increasing driver engagement for the future of the sport, rather than for 'what is in it for the driver' can only be beneficial.

Chrissy Wallace debut

Chrissy Wallace, daughter of Mike Wallace, appears to have had a successful test at Martinsville in the truck series. It also appears that she will be in a truck soon, driving for Germain Racing. In the past, it has been noticed that many of the female drivers tend to get 'spun' out early in a race. The unspoken word has been that it is still hard for a female to 'make it' in this 'man's sport.'

I would advise, however, that the Good Ole Boys think twice about spinning out Chrissy. I hear she has inherited an extremely agressive Wallace gene, one that comes with back-up from a Daddy and Two Uncles. And possibly a cousin.

Wax On, Wax Off!

On Monday, March 17, 2008, Sirius listeners of Channel 128 will be given an exclusive look into the makings of classic radio. Again, I am not a Tony Stewart fan. But, Tony has invited all of his haters to join in with the Operation Wax Smoke culmination. After a challenge by Kevin Harvick, whose fans raised nearly $50K, Kevin added in the rest to total $100,000 for charity. The sounds you will hear on the radio program will be Tony getting his back hair ripped off, waxed strip by waxed strip. I admit it, I contributed to it,in the midst of my ire following one of Tony's idiotic moments of blaming David Gilliland for 'brake checking during practice'.

I now will get to hear the rewards of my donation. I will enjoy it!

ESPN - It Was Pretty Ugly!

ESPN has stepped on my last nerve!

A few weeks ago, August 18th, 2007, I was sitting in my local Goodyear store while my car was being prepared. (Yes, I am a NASCAR fan, and choose to use NASCAR sponsors whenever possible. Fortunately, I find this particular Goodyear store to be excellent!) This Goodyear store happens to have a flat screen tv set up, and I was able to watch the Busch race while work commenced on my car!

Watching that race was challenging. I had to change channels several times to follow the channel switches, while ESPN was waiting for the tennis match to finish. Trying to follow the directions on the scroll bar was a struggle, as I had to figure out what channel was where. Thankfully, the other Goodyear patrons were patient! I was willing to forgive it happening once. I do remember at least one time in the past, with the former broadcast package, where it happened and the start of the race was held up. So, I shrugged it off, and resigned myself to not having a TiVo recording of that race.

But then last night, it happened again! This time the scroller directed the watcher to ESPN360. I searched my channel guide frantically to find that channel. When I could not find it,I 'googled' it, and discovered it was internet content only! I clicked on it, and received the message:

Sorry, your internet service provider does not carry ESPN360.com. Please contact your service provider to add ESPN360.com as part of your service.

At this point, I was pounding my keyboard in frustration! I quickly went over to NASCAR.com, and started up their pre-race coverage. Well now, I received more content from TURNER than I received from ESPN. Then to add insult to injury, I instant-messaged a friend in Canada, to vent about the situation. She had no idea that there were any problems. You see, TSN had the whole feed! She even got to see OUR Anthem sung!

Last night was a travesty. I can forgive quite a few of the perceived errors with broadcasting. I understand the need for commercials. I understand that we can't predict when the cautions will happen, and that they can happen during commercials. I do understand that it is especially challenging to get the commercials done during a caution period at a short track. I even understand that sometimes some one pushes a wrong button. I can even forgive that I don't like the folks in the booth. I get ALL of that, and forgive it, as long as it looks like a effort is being made to improve the product. I don't see that effort being made here!

I see this as being a huge negative for the Busch series. In fact, it is probably it's death knell! There are commercial purchasers who did not get their value of having commercials during the countdown. NASCAR is already stressed about finding a series sponsor, and they are running a 'blue-light special' to try and attract one. With constant snafu's from ESPN, what potential series sponsor would want their name attached to something so negative? If the broadcaster does not care enough about the series to schedule it properly, why would any sponsor care?

In fact, if ESPN does not care enough about the Busch series, why should I care?

NASCAR, you have a problem here!