Kathy's Pit Stop

Fuel only stop gives Hamlin the win

Denny Hamlin's crew took a chance with a fuel only stop on the last pit stop and it was enough to give him the win.  Obviously Hamlin didn't have the same trouble that we heard about from many drivers with forward bite.

Many drivers had problems, including the points leader going into the race.  Kyle Busch broke the rear end gear and finished laps down and dropped all the way to 5th in points.  Busch's drop and Jeff Burton's good finish put Burton in the points lead, with teammate Kevin Harvick 39 points behind in second.  I was actually surprised to see Harvick move up in points with the trouble he had, he was one of the ones that was having trouble with forward bite and basically grip overall, he definitely wasn't a Happy camper over the radio.

Aric Almirola obviously had a problem with grip also, since he seemed to have a problem not getting into other cars, he caused at least three cautions by spinning someone.

I'm not sure what Michael McDowell did, but Jeff Burton sure was mad about something he did, going by his post-race interview saying that the 00 needs to learn a  lesson or someone will have to teach him a lesson.  Anyone know what McDowell did?  I obviously missed it, I'm assuming he was in the way or something, but I'm not sure.

Your thoughts?

Setzer wins wild truck race

Dennis Setzer held on to win in a green-white-checker finish, putting Bobby Hamilton racing back in Victory Lane.

Lots of beating and banging went on, which is typical of Martinsville, but even more-so with the trucks, not sure if there were any trucks out there that didn't have any marks on them. 

Kyle Busch was involved in a couple of incidents, one with Skinner and one with Benson in the final laps of the race, other than that the only other big wreck was Sprague and a few others, which brought out the red flag to clean the track.

Brendan Gaughan lost his chance for the win when he was leading, when his crew chief decided to call him to pit road under caution.  Gaughan wanted to stay out and chance it, thinking there would be enough caution laps in the race to make it on fuel, but the crew chief made the ultimate decision and called him in and he ended up eleventh.

Chrissy Wallace, Mike Wallace's daughter,  made her NASCAR debut, coincidentally at the same track Dad made his debut.  She didn't do too bad either, she came in seventeenth on the lead lap with Dad helping with the spotting and Tony Stewart coaching her.  I think I read she may be in the same truck again sometime for Germain Racing, so it'll be interesting to see if she can keep it up and possibly be the first female to actually be able to do something in NASCAR.

Your thoughts?

What Things Would You Change in NASCAR?

I hope everyone had a good Easter.  Congrats to Wimmer for the win and RCR in the one-two finish in the Nationwide race.

As I was reading around the web about NASCAR, I was happy to see that neither Roush or Petty are doing the points swap, at least not for Martinsville, but it got me to thinking about things I would change if I were in control.

*No more top-35 - I'd get rid of the top-35 guarantee rule and make every driver race their way in, regardless of who their owner is or who their sponsor is.

*Change the Championship Provisional - I'd change the Championship Provisional where only the previous years champion can use it, but he can only use it once, not multiple times.

*No more exclusive NASCAR sponsors - I'd change it where sponsors of the sport could not keep out other viable sponsorships for teams (for example AT&T or others).

*Back to two day qualifying - I'd take it back to where it was before back when I first started following it, qualifying on Friday and Saturday, teams have another chance at a qualifying run if they didn't do well on Friday.  This would also help if it happens to rain on a Friday, unless it rains on Friday and Saturday, qualifying wouldn't get rained out anymore and there wouldn't be a huge need to set the field by owner points.

*Penalties would be more severe for intentional or blatant cheating - No more same penalty for teams whether it was a mistake or intentional.  If it's intentional, the penalty would be more severe, especially if it gave them an advantage.

*Take wins away from cars that fail post-race inspection - Not taking the win away has been one of NASCAR's biggest mistakes.  If a car fails post-race inspection and they win, they should get the win taken away.  If it was an intentional act and it gave them an unfair advantage, take the win and any money winnings away, as if they didn't even run the race at all.  That would get their attention and maybe teams would think twice about it.

*Ban repeat offenders - If a crew chief repeatedly bends the rules, but doesn't really have a lot on consequences for it, they will not stop.  If they are a repeat offender, they need to be banned, period, they shouldn't be allowed to start over with a clean slate every year.

*Change the crew chief suspensions - I'm not sure how, but it needs to be where if a crew chief is suspended, he can't be in contact with the team at all during that suspension.  Sure, how it is now is that he can't be at the track, so what!  He's still in constant communication with the team, at the shop, etc.  I'm not sure how this could be monitored, maybe make them come to the track, but put them in a room with an official and not have any communication devices allowed.  Something needs to be done, suspensions don't do any good, they always find a way around it to continue to help the team.

*Limit Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series - I would limit the amount of races a Cup driver could race in the lower series.  If they are a full-time Cup driver, they would only be allowed to race in so many races in the lower series, no more full-time.

*Change the half-way rule and rain - If they are not sure they can get in a whole race, they should postpone it until the next day.  Fans don't pay the big bucks to go see a race to half-way.  We've seen numerous times with NASCAR saying they won't start a race unless they think they can get the whole thing in, well, that's BS, the fans aren't stupid, we can tell if there's a delay whether they will be racing until the end or halfway.  Rain delays are something we have to deal with, but NASCAR could handle it a lot better.

That's just some of things I would change.  What would you change?

Burton wins Bristol - RCR cars 1, 2, 3 finish

Jeff Burton pulled out the win when Hamlin had problems in a green-white-checkered finish, Harvick came in second and Bowyer finished third.

The RCR cars were definitely strong today, of course I don't think Stewart is too happy with Harvick right now after Harvick lost it in the turn and got into Stewart.  I'm sure they'll work it out though, since they are friends off the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. again, was the top HMS car of the race, while Gordon and Johnson struggled again.  I guess the dynasty is crumbling?

On to DW, why didn't they have someone else stand in for him?  The man couldn't talk, they should have just let him rest his voice.

Oh, and how many more races does FOX have?  I'm sorry, but I can't stand that "Let's go racing boys" song that they have as an intro to the race.  I'll be happy when I won't have to hear that anymore!

Congrats to Jeff Burton on the win and RCR on the 1, 2, 3 finish!

Your thoughts?

Rain seems to be following NASCAR

OK...here we go again.  Qualifying is currently delayed due to rain...surprise, surprise!  At the time of writing this, they are attempting to dry the track, but rain is coming down, obviously lightly.

I swear, with all this rain causing problems NASCAR needs a giant umbrella!  I know, not really feasible, but this is getting to be a bit much. It seems like these rain storms are just following them around weekend after weekend.  The Nationwide race is in jeopardy tomorrow also with more rain predicted, at least Sunday is suppose to be clear.

One good thing in all of this is that Bristol is one of the easiest tracks to dry because of the concrete and the high banking.

This rain needs to go away and stay away from the tracks, at least on the weekends, although Mother Nature doesn't seem to be agreeing.

If Goodyear was pleased with the results after the Atlanta race, then why change the tire for Texas?

Goodyear said all along after the race that they were "pleased" with the performance of the tires at Atlanta, even with all the drivers complaints.  If they are so "pleased" and NASCAR is so "pleased" why are they changing their mind about bringing the same tires to the Texas race?  Instead of using the Atlanta tires, as of now, teams will be using the same tire codes they used in last years race.

Mike Helton was on Stewart's radio show and basically defended NASCAR and Goodyear, saying Stewart's comments were too harsh.  Yes, Stewart was vocal about it, the most vocal about it, but other drivers agreed with Stewart, some spoke up and some didn't.  Oh and Goodyear declined to go on the show after numerous invitations.

In his interview, Helton said the tires performed well at a safety standpoint and they didn't have any tire blowouts that caused cautions.  Well, he's right on that, there weren't blowout that caused cautions, but the tires did contribute to the cautions that were called.  I heard driver after driver complain about no grip, that they were sliding all over the place, feeling like they were going to wreck at any time.  That's good?  I don't think so. 

Now, I'm not an Elliott Sadler fan, but do you think his THREE spins didn't have anything to do with the tires and sliding all over the place?  The tires were definitely an issue here.  Then you have Greg Biffle, everyone knows he can drive a loose car, one that slides all over the place, he had problems and complained about it too.

But, Goodyear and NASCAR were happy with the results, even though the drivers weren't.  If that's the case, why did Goodyear change their minds about bring the Atlanta tire to Texas?  If they performed so well and the drivers didn't know what they were talking about, why change the tire?  It's easy, they know the drivers are right, they just don't want to admit it.

Is Stewart overreacting?  I don't think so, if it was just him saying all this stuff, then maybe, but with others agreeing with him that would say to me that he is just voicing his opinion about something that is a problem.  I still like the one quote he said on his radio show...

"You can understand from [NASCAR's] standpoint, listening to Mike, what their objective is and what they feel like Goodyear's objective is but I think they would feel totally different about it if we made every one of the high-ranking NASCAR officials ride in the right seat this past Sunday and feel what we felt. I think they might have a little different opinion about it."

Could you see Stewart taking Helton for a ride at the speeds they race at, not caution speed and still have Helton say they are "satisfied" with the tires?  I think Helton's opinion might be a little different then.

Your thoughts?

Kyle Busch gives Toyota it's first win in the Cup Series

Kyle Busch won the first race in the Cup Series for Toyota at Atlanta with teammate Tony Stewart finishing second.  For a while there it seemed like it was going to be between Edwards and Busch for the win, swapping the lead a few times, but Edwards had some kind of problem either with the transmission or engine and ended up getting a DNF.  The win gives Busch a 73 point lead over second place Greg Biffle.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by Biffle, Gordon, Bowyer, Harvick, Kenseth, Vickers and Burton finishing out the top ten.  Good finishes for those drivers, especially Biffle and Vickers who everyone seems to discount and Kenseth for starting last.

Vickers did well, his 9th place finish puts him 9th in points and even if something bad happens at Bristol, he'll be in the top 35 in points no matter what, which will guarantee him a starting spot, something they've wanted badly so they can work more on race setups instead of qualifying setups.

A lot of drivers complained about the tires, none so vocal as Stewart after the race.  Listening in on the radio with Harvick, they just couldn't get it right, started out too tight, loosened the car up and then they basically tried to tighten the car up for the rest of the race.  The biggest complaint from the drivers was that they were loose and the tires were sliding, not gripping.  Harvick finished 7th and is 3rd in points now, but when Berrier came on and said 10 to go, Harvick said that "that was the best thing I've heard all day".

Montoya proved to be a problem for the lead lap cars today, he was one lap down, but fought the lead lap cars every inch of the way.

On to Bristol next week with an interesting top ten in points, including all manufacturers.

Your thoughts? 

NASCAR penalizes Edwards and team

I was surprised when I read about Edwards penalty, I actually though they'd go easy on him since they had rescinded a similar penalty in the Nationwide Series, but they weren't easy on him.  NASCAR stayed consistent with their 100 driver points, 100 owner points, $100,000 fine and six week suspension for the crew chief.

It wasn't really explained, but I guess they felt that they did something since the lid was off and not just loose.  No word on whether they will appeal the penalty, but I assume they would.  Rusty Wallace Inc. and driver David Stremme had their penalty in the Nationwide Series rescinded for a similar situation, but their lid was not off.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Robby Gordon won his appeal, points are given back and the crew chief is on probation, not suspended.  The only thing they did was up the fine from $100,000 to $150,000.

Your thoughts?

Edwards is on a roll

Carl Edwards won his second Cup race in a row, he definitely had the car to beat in today's race.  Teammate Matt Kenseth probably had the best car to battle with him, but we never got to see if that battle would have happened after Kenseth was spun when Jeff Gordon got loose and tagged him, sending Kenseth spinning and Gordon ended up slamming into the inside wall hard, destroying his car.

Although NASCAR would probably like to downplay it, it seemed as if tire problems played a big role in quite a few of the wrecks in today's race and yesterdays Nationwide race.  Lots of hard impacts into the outside wall because of tires cutting down or blowing out.  Tony Stewart had to be helped from his car after his hard impact. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a good second place finish, followed by Biffle, Harvick, Burton, Kahne, Ragan, Kvapil, Hamlin and Martin.  I was surprised to see Ragan and Kvapil up there since we're not use to seeing them there and it's good to see Kahne and Biffle seeming to shake their bad luck from last year off and having good finishes.

Your thoughts?

Gordon's appeal set for March 5 - Could his NASCAR teams future be riding on this appeal?

Robby Gordon gets his appeal heard by NASCAR on March 5th and it seems like he has a lot more riding on it than the 100 point penalty, $100,000 fine and his crew chiefs 6 week suspension.  According to Gordon, who has most of the season set as far as funding, it's the perception of cheating, being labeled as a cheater by NASCAR for something he, nor his team did.  He doesn't have a sponsor for next weeks Atlanta race and if he loses the appeal, he fears that it will be next to impossible to secure a sponsor since he and his team will be labeled as "cheaters" no matter how it happened.

He is actually considering doing double duty at Indy if this sticks and he's not close to being in contention for the Chase.  While many may think he is overreacting, that label and 100 point fine really does hurt a team, just ask Dale Earnhardt Jr. about last year and his fine, it puts you behind the eight ball so to speak and for Gordon, it wasn't of his or his teams doing, it was a manufacturers mistake.

The little guys like Gordon, that are single car/owner teams or even small teams have a hard enough time competing against the mega-teams of NASCAR, but this kind of thing doesn't help.  Could this make Gordon give up NASCAR altogether?  Make him just say screw it and screw you to NASCAR?  Maybe, according to this quote by Gordon...

"If this sticks, I don't know what our plan will be. I'll be honest with you -- I think open wheel got back together last week and I know I can drive one of those cars."

With the recent influx of open-wheel guys coming to NASCAR, do they really want one of their own going to open-wheel?  I wouldn't think so, but going by that quote, it could happen.  Gordon has always taken his lumps and moved on, from his numerous penalties from NASCAR, mostly about his behavior, but they're standing up to NASCAR this time.

It seems that intent doesn't mean anything anymore to NASCAR, Gordon gets nailed hard with something that wasn't their fault and could end up leaving the sport because of it, yet year after year offenders like Knaus get praised for their working in the gray areas.  It's just not fair, to the teams or fans.  It'll be interesting what penalties, if any, come down on the #88, #48 and #17 for their inspection problems on Friday, I guess we'll see how "fair" NASCAR can and will be.