Kathy's Pit Stop

A fan vote? Let's hope this is not true!

A reader of this blog wrote in to tell me what he heard on a radio show in Milwaukee.  He heard that NASCAR wants to pump up The Chase a bit by having eleven drivers in it.  Yes, you heard right, eleven, not ten.  He said that they said NASCAR may implement this in a few weeks to have the fans vote in the eleventh driver before The Chase starts.

I can't find anything to confirm this, so it's just rumor right now, but if it happens, fans will be mad.  How fair is it to the other ten drivers that earn their way into The Chase?  Could NASCAR be that desperate to think it can't be successful without both Gordon and Jr.?  Gordon will turn things around and make it back in before The Chase, which means the fan vote will go to Jr. 

It's wrong, no matter how you look at it.  If a driver doesn't make it into the top ten by the time The Chase starts, he doesn't deserve to be in it, period. 

Let's just hope that this was a rumor and nothing will come of it.

Gordon's frustrations mounting

Seems like Jeff Gordon is even more frustrated with his struggles this year than we thought.  After reading this article, Jeff Gordon: "I don't care about points", this morning, I was surprised at how much all his struggles are getting to him.  I've seen him frustrated before, but not like this. 

In the article, Gordon was quoted saying - I'm getting to the point where I don't care about points.  I don't even care about the championship. All I care about is getting our stuff going and getting ourselves to be in races where were can put ourselves in contention to win. We've got a lot of other things to get straight before we can even think about a championship.

He could have easily gained on points with this race if it wasn't for the new transmission that him and a lot of other Chevy teams were using, and he wasn't the only one hurt by it.

While I'm not a Gordon fan and really don't mind seeing him struggle for a change, he's got the right idea.  They do need to focus on fixing the problems before worrying about anything else.  I still think he'll make the Chase, he may struggle to get there, but he's not too far out that he can't make it in the end.  He only has to make it up to 10th to make it and he's not that far back that he can't do it.

Transmissions, not tires, take the spotlight at Infineon

Depending on who you root for, it was either a good day, bad day or somewhere inbetween.  For the fans of Chevy drivers, it was a long day, with lots of transmission troubles - Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Robby Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and even race winner Tony Stewart.

When running second behind Rudd, Stewart was heard saying that he was only driving with one hand, I guess no one knew his transmission was giving him problems, he had already lost 4th and 3rd was trying to follow, so he was holding it in gear with one hand on the shifter, while driving with the other.  Even with doing that, he was able to get by Rudd and cruise on to a victory.

Rusty Wallace even lead some, before Rudd got around him.  I was hoping for a victory, but when I heard them say they are probably good to go on fuel, I got worried.  Rusty was probably worried too, remembering last year when running out of fuel.  Once it was said that he was conserving fuel to be sure, I knew he wouldn't win the race, but I was hoping for a good finish.  Rudd got by him and then Stewart and he finally settled into 4th and crossed the finish line in that position too.  That helped push him up two spots in the standings to 6th.  Newman had a rather quiet run and finished quietly in 10, keeping his position in the standings.

With the transmission troubles that the Hendrick teams had, Jimmie Johnson lost his lead in the points to Greg Biffle, even though Biffle only finished 14th, now Johnson is in 2nd, 22 points back.  Gordon lost two spots in the standings, down to 14th and is 414 behind Biffle, lucky for him they go to Daytona next week where he should gain some of those points back, that is unless there are more problems with the car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took another big hit in points, finishing 42nd and dropped another spot in the standings and is now 543 points behind Biffle.  During the interview after the transmission problem/wreck he didn't seem too happy about the new transmission they used, saying something to the effect that he didn't understand what was so wrong with the old tranmission.  Seems like a bit more tension over there again.  Unfortunately for his fans, unless he starts winning or a lot of problems for everyone in front of him, it looks like he will probably miss the Chase.

Also, was it just me or did Said and Pruett seem to be a bit too aggressive in their driving?  They sure seemed to bump into a lot of people during the race and had no qualms about pushing someone out of the way.

On to Daytona next week, which could provide a shakeup in the points depending on who is caught up in the "Big One."

Please let the Cup race be better

The Craftsman Truck Series didn't live up to it's normal excitement this weekend, one truck (Dennis Setzer) ran away with the race.  Races like that are so boring and unfortunately, the Busch Series race on Saturday night was a repeat of the same, just a different driver (Johnny Sauter) and it was rain shortened by 50 laps.

Martin Truex Jr. finished 2nd and took the points lead from Reed Sorenson by a mere 7 points, hopefully Sorenson can get it back next week.

Let's hope the Cup race, even thought it's at a road course, is more exciting than the Truck and Busch races were.

Hmiel could be reinstated as early as 2007

Shane Hmiel, suspended indefinitely on June 3rd, could have another shot at NASCAR.

NASCAR came up with a plan that could lead to his reinstatement in NASCAR as early as 2007.  Under the plan, Hmiel will have to go through a rehabilitation program that includes medical and psychological reviews and frequent testing.  Once he completes this, NASCAR will re-evaluate the situation in 2007 and decide if he can return.

Many people have an opinion on this, some think he should get another chance and then some think he should be banned.  I'm all for giving second chances to people if they screw up, but this would be a third chance, not second one, how many chances are enough?

Many drivers were disappointed when they found out, some were even mad and rightly so, I wonder what they're thinking about this?  What about the fans of NASCAR?  Most seemed very vocal against Hmiel, while there were a few that said he deserved another shot.

I'm not so sure I would feel comfortable making the decision to allow him back in, how would they know if he was really clean?  They thought he was clean after the first time.  But I don't make the decisions, NASCAR will make their decision in 2007.

I think if they do decide to let him back in, they should test him more often than they did in the past, still make it random, but test often and I don't mean every couple of weeks.  I think if NASCAR did this it would help ease the situation, especially with the people who think he shouldn't be allowed back in at all.

What are your thoughts about Shane Hmiel possibly being back in NASCAR in 2007?

They're Back - Road Course Ringers

Going into the road course this weekend, there are few more names on the entry than usual, most of those names are known as Road Course Ringers.  Some have a problem with them and some don't.  I'm split on it.

Robby Gordon got his start in NASCAR as a Road Course Ringer, it eventually led to him landing a ride with Richard Childress and now he has his own team.  Most don't seem to want it the same way Robby did, most just plan on enter the road courses and that's it.

It's not really the Road Course Ringer I have a problem with, at least not on the surface.  I think they should have the opportunity to enter and try and race, but not at the expense of another driver, no matter how good or bad that driver may be doing.  Most of the entries, I don't have a problem with, most are having extra cars fielded for them, they aren't taking the seat from another driver.

I'm not a fan of either of the drivers that are sitting out the race (Bobby Hamilton, Jr. and Jason Leffler), in fact, one of them I can't stand, but I don't think it's right for them to have to sit out because someone else is probably going to do better at the road course race than they are, it's just not fair to them.  Granted, neither of them is doing well in the points, but they were hired to drive the car for the season and they should, barring any unforeseen problems.

What are your thoughts on Road Course Ringers?  Do you like them, hate them or are you somewhere inbetween?

Setzer, Edwards and Biffle win

Dennis Setzer, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle win this weekends NASCAR races.  I think the most surprising win was Dennis Setzer, he's quietly been lurking near the top in points, but no one seemed to be paying much attention to him until Saturday.

Setzer won when the white and yellow flags were displayed at the same time after Ted Musgrave blew and engine, dealing a bad blow to Musgrave in the points.  I think if they had displayed the yellow before the white flag, Busch may have been able to catch him in a green-white-checkered finish. 

I guess the most confusing part and frustrating part for me, is that I am a Musgrave fan and he was doing well, he may not have been able to catch the leader, but he was headed for a good finish that would keep him in the points lead.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  Ted blew his engine and started falling back, NASCAR dropped the white and yellow flags and that was the race, the field was frozen.  At first they had Ted in 11th with the frozen field, but after reviewing tapes to make sure of positions when the yellow flag was displayed, they dropped him all the way down to 28th.  While I understand he blew the engine, he wasn't that far back when the yellow flag came out, so I think they should have kept him in 11th, but I guess they figured that because of the engine problem, he didn't deserve a high finish like that when other trucks were still running.  That finish dropped him from 1st to 3rd in points, trailing Hamilton by 24 points.

In the Busch race, it was all Edwards, that #60 car was untouchable, Biffle tried, but didn't have enough and ended up wrecking trying to catch up to him.  Rusty drove his own car and was doing OK until a loose wheel caused a problem and then if that wasn't enough, he ended up running over debris cutting down a tire.  That didn't bring out a caution, but shortly after that, NASCAR called a caution for debris, too late for Rusty though.  One good thing was that Sorenson, although he didn't have anything for Edwards, finished a solid 4th and kept the points lead.

Over in the Cup race, there was a concern about tire wear, they were wearing all the way down to the cords for many teams, but it didn't cause too many problems and most of the teams seemed to figure it out and it got better.

Vickers got the worse of the tire problems early in the race, he was coming in early, earlier than the team wanted him, but he felt he may have a tire going down.  He was right, as he was coming down the entry to pit road, the tire blew, he spun and ended up hitting the water barrel barrier, they did end up repairing the car and getting it back out, but I can imagine it must have been a long race for him.

A lot of long green flag runs made it a long day for most with Stewart and Biffle trading the top spot.  Biffle won in the end, making it his 5th win of the season and bringing him within 49 points of the leader Jimmie Johnson.  Both Johnson and Gordon seemed to suffer during the race, Gordon getting the worse of it.  He kept saying he felt like he had a problem with his tires and he ended up finishing 32nd, dropping him to 12th in points, 406 behind Johnson.

Rusty and Newman weren't doing great, but Newman was mostly in the top ten all day and Rusty in the top 15 for the most part.  Near the end, Newman dropped off and ended up finishing 15th dropping him one spot to 7th in the standings.  Rusty, on the other hand, seemed to get his car handling better near the end and crossed the finish line in 10th, barely ahead of Burton.  Another top ten for Rusty and even though others in points around him did well, he remains 8th in points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., while not having a great race, finished in 17th.  While that really isn't considered a good finish, it's an improvement over most of his finishes of late.  If they don't get those cars running right, he's going to be watching the Chase from the outside instead of the inside like last year.

On to the road course next week, which should be a good race for Rusty and Gordon, unless he has handling problems, should be able to gain some points back that he lost this week.  Others to watch for next week, barring mechanical problems, should be Stewart, Harvick and Rudd, all do pretty well at road courses. 

NASCAR may have new Buschwhacker rule for next year

Trent over at Over the Wall just wrote an entry about how he feels about the Buschwhackers running in the Busch Series.  Many fans seems to have their own opinion on it, some agreeing with him, some disagreeing with him and some sitting on the fence about it.  Well, NASCAR has obviously had some complaints, whether it be drivers, fans or whoever, but they may be doing something about it.

According to to an article I read on NASCAR Scene Daily, NASCAR is looking into it and *may* have a new rule in place for next year dealing with the Buschwhackers. 

A quote from the article - I do know this, we're going to try to target more of the prize money to the teams that are running all of the Busch races, which should help them, Hunter said. I think we'll have [some] form of a program like that in place for next year.

The rest of the article talked about either handicapping the Cup drivers or giving more points or money to Busch-only teams.  They figure by doing this, the Cup drivers won't take away as much from the Busch guys, but they will still be able to run in the races, which the track owners love because of attendance.

Will this work?  If they do it right, I think it can work to make everyone happy.  The Cup guys don't really race in the Busch Series for the money or points, they do it to get the feel of the track for their upcoming race, or just do it because they love to race. 

The part I have the concern with is the terminology.  There are teams that run full-time in the Busch Series but have Cup regulars driving the cars, some sporadically and some the full season.  How will those work?  Will it go by team or driver? 

This season we have Biffle and Edwards running full-time in both series, only missing the Busch race when it conflicts with the Cup race, like it did with the Nashville race because of the rain delay.  Will those teams be hurt by this rule next year (if it goes forward) if they have  Cup regular driving the car?  Then you have the #21, sometimes driven by Harvick, but it is a full-time Busch team.

Rusty Wallace runs a full-time Busch team, but seat time is split with different Cup drivers (mostly McMurray and Mayfield).  I'm not sure what the exact driver plans for next year are, but they did mention that his son may drive the car for part of the season next year, but it will still be a full-time team in the Busch Series.

I know the rule isn't completely hashed out and it's not a bad plan in the works, but they will have to address the issue of regular teams that have the full-time or sporadic Cup drivers in them, I would hate to see them penalize a full-time Busch Series team because they have a Cup driver get in the seat every once in a while.

What are your thoughts?  Will this new rule they are contemplating work?

Thoughts/rant on tires, etc.

With all the tire problems at Pocono and the last couple of years, I think it's time to bring back the tire war as some of the commenters of this blog have mentioned.

I'm not sure how long most of you have been fans, but back when I started following NASCAR, they had a choice of Hoosiers or Goodyear, which they called a tire war.  NASCAR, in their infinite wisdom decided that one tire manufacturer would be better and signed with Goodyear and it's been that way for a long time.  But maybe it shouldn't be that way.

I read an article last year about Firestone being interested in providing tires for NASCAR and they were supposedly working on a tire to show to NASCAR, I haven't heard anything else on it.

I think it's time for NASCAR to open it up again and let different tire manufacturers produce a tire, get NASCAR's approval for safety, etc. and let the teams decide which tire they want to use.  Even if they only bring back the old tire war of Hoosier and Goodyear, I think it would be better than it is now, give the teams a choice.

Most everyone said the rumble strips are hard on tires, this year they have the softer compound tire, what do you think will happen at the road courses where they are always running over those rumble strips?  Hopefully, they'll have the right mindset and use the old tires from last year, or at least a harder compound tire for the road courses.

All this talk about proposed changes in scheduling of the Busch races to help boost the series won't work.  I don't think coupling the Busch Series with IRL for weekends would really "help" the Busch Series like NASCAR thinks.  Helping the series is NASCAR's "reasoning," but I think it's more to try and quell the complaints about Cup drivers running in the series.  This would put more Cup/Truck weekends together, do you really think that the Cup drivers that want to get the "feel" of the track or the ones that just love to race, won't jump in a truck and join the races?  If this proposed change happens, I bet you'll see more Cup drivers in the Craftsman Truck Series.

On to the Craftsman Truck Series.  I've watched this series since it's beginning and granted, it is getting more promotion and coverage, mainly due to the Speed Channel, I still think NASCAR could do more to promote it.  As an example, a few weeks back, when both the Busch Series and Cup Series were running night races on Friday and Saturday night, the truck race was on Sunday afternoon, that's no biggie in itself.  The problem came on NASCAR's website, once the Cup race was run on Saturday night, they took down the scheduling and everything for that weekend, you had to dig through their pages to find anything on qualifying, practice or anything about the truck race.  Granted, it is considered the lowest tier of the big three, but it is one of the big three and should be promoted more by NASCAR.

Ending on a lighter, happier note, Rusty Wallace has the longest streak of races run without a DNF, currently 27 races.  Hopefully, my bragging about it doesn't jinx him for Michigan.

Chase Montgomery update - concussion

Chase Montgomery was treated for a concussion and released from Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital Friday night. 

The injury happened during a wreck at Texas Motor Speedway when he hit the inside wall, went back up the track and hit the outside wall (drivers side) and then finally ended up coming to a rest in the middle of the track.

Not much had been said about the wreck and his condition since Friday night, I looked Saturday, Sunday and this morning to no avail.  I finally emailed the PR agent for Montgomery and got a response, shortly after the response I found the update on TruckSeries.com about Montgomery.

In the recap, Montgomery said it was the hardest hit of his life.  He said he had heard from others that it will hurt if you hit the wall at Texas and he found out firsthand that they were right. 

His PR person said he goes back to the doctor on Tuesday, no elaboration other than that, but I'm sure it's probably for clearance to race since it was a concussion.

Hopefully he'll have better luck at Michigan.