Over The Wall

New Rules

  I was on the phone last night with Clair B Lang and her radio show.  Along with me was DJ Richardson and Chip Goode from Hendrick and DEI/ Gnassi.  During one of the commercial breaks we were all talking about the new rules on pit road and how they were affecting our teams and our pit times.  It seems that from what they said and from what I've seen, all teams are experiencing the same type of problems.  Not that there big problems but the stops have slowed down anywhere from .3-.5 of a second.  Nascar implemented a new stud length rule for the upcoming year and in doing that its going to slow down the changers hand speed and in turn slow down the stops.  Its not a major ordeal but it will make thing interesting.  In the beginning you might see some loose wheels or extremely slow stops.  It has taken us a while in the off season to get used to the extra time it takes to make sure everything is tight and that we can do our jobs in a competitive fashion.  Besides that everything is getting ready for next week and it should be interesting to see how it all turns out.  That's all for now.

I'm Back

  I have been taking some time with the family over the past few weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  Lots of ski strips to the mtns. of NC and lots of time working at the shop with all the new guys we have.  I would be lying if i said it wasn't a little weird around here without Newman.  This is the first time in 9 years that i will be pitting for a different driver.  Obviously being good friends i wish him the best, but don't think i don't want to run better than him.  I'm sure he would say the same thing as well.  Things at the shop are going well, there are lots of changes that have been made to help improve our team as a whole.  As far as our new driver goes, well, I don't really know him.  He s been in the shop a few times and drover pit practice last week for us, so i guess we ll just have to see how we do at Daytona.  I ll be back early next week to catch up on some of the rule changes that have been effecting our teams in pit practice and to comment on the how I think the economy is going to effect our sport.  Thats all for now.