Sonoma Could Be Anybody’s Race

by Jim on June 19, 2013 · 0 comments

Racing at SonomaI’ll admit it, though it’s definitely not every NASCAR fan’s cup of tea: I love road courses! For those that believe that variety is the spice of life, a road course like Infineon breaks up the monotony of all the intermediate tracks that dot the Sprint Cup schedule.

Let’s face it, you can’t deny the quality of racing on the road courses has come up quite a bit in recent years. I believe it may have been Kyle Petty that said Sunday that it used to be only three or four drivers were serious candidates to win, now it could be one of any number of drivers. It’s to the point now where a road course like the one at Sonoma offers much the same kind of action that short tracks delivered; and while anyone could win at a plate track, unlike Daytona or Talladega there is a real discipline and skill to mastering a road course. The difference now is, instead of hiring a slew of road course ringers a la Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Brian Simo, the Cup regulars have learned well the lessons offered to them by the road course specialists and there are few guys out there like Clint Bowyer or Kurt Busch who surprise us.

Speaking of Kurt, do you know he has the highest driver rating at Infineon in recent years? That’s right, Busch The Elder is just a shade better than Tony Stewart (see this chart at Jayski). Of course, you’d expect a former open wheel champ like Stewart to be good there. I can remember a day when Smoke and Jeff Gordon were near locks for road course races. It’s that same kind of skill that enabled Juan Pablo Montoya to win here in 2007, and Marcos Ambrose to lose a heartbreaker to Jimmie Johnson in 2010. Of course, Ambrose was a V-8 Super Car stud in his days Down Under.

Besides these drivers are the ones capable of winning anywhere: Kyle Busch (2008 winner), Jimmie Johnson (1st in 2010), and Kasey Kahne, who captured the checkered flag in 2009 for Richard Petty. Carl Edwards falls into that same category, and the same applies for Brad Keselowski and Bowyer.

Then there’s a handful of drivers that could just jump up and surprise us, but shouldn’t. David Gilliland is in home territory here, Jamie McMurray almost took the win in 2007, and then there are those road course ringers that always seem to get oh so close, but no cigar at the Cup level. Said will drive the #32, Jacques Villaneuve will pilot the #51, and Fellows will hop in the #33 for Richard Childress. Said has been a regular road course guru for many of the regulars.

The fact this track sits just six hours south of yours truly doesn’t hurt either. It seems like a real oddity to bring “stock car” racing to wine country, but it works. I think the curiosity factor is a real draw for the Lookie Lou’s.

Those big heavy “taxi cabs” look a bit out of place on these courses, but there are a number of drivers well poised to make a memorable day.

Is it Sunday yet?

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Biffle, Edwards & The Complexities of “Teamwork” In Racing

by Jim on June 18, 2013 · 3 comments

By now you’ve heard Carl Edwards was miffed at teammate GregBiffle wins at MIS Biffle for not checking up or in some way drifting back to Edwards to help him clean some debris off his grille. Instead, Biffle copped the “Sorry Bud, I’ve got a race to win and helping you is going to cost me” defense, and focused on the task at hand, namely the hot pursuit of Jimmie Johnson to take the checkered flag at Michigan.

After this race, Jack Roush- the team owner for which Edwards and Biffle race- stepped in. Team orders? Roush says they don’t exist. Basically, it’s a matter of both drivers owe to their crew, the organization and their sponsors to go get the “W.” If a teammate can help? Great, go for it; but don’t do it and cost yourself a shot at doing what you get paid well to do.

I couldn’t help but think about the guys down at the local dirt track. You’d NEVER hear of such an argument. Team? What team? You put in the time, the practice and the resources into trying to win a race. Team orders? This ain’t Formula One, baby. For that, this fan is grateful.

That was the thing about tandem racing at Talladega that drove this fan crazy. You are going to push somebody else to a win? That’s racing? You know the answer to that. I remember back in 2010, Jimmie Johnson asked his teammate (at that time) Mark Martin if he could pass for the lead to get some bonus points at Chicagoland. Martin reluctantly acquiesced. To his credit, Martin did give a reply to the effect of “Really?” If it were me, I would have said, come and race for your bonus points, I’m not giving you jack!

Don’t misunderstand me, I like Carl Edwards. I understand the frustration that comes with running well, and watching your fortunes go up in steam because some piece of trash is keeping air off of my motor and causing temperatures to rise. If I’m him, I’m hoping for some way, any kind of way to alleviate the problem; but to get mad at my teammate because he won’t lay back? I’ve got to call a foul there.

I’d like to think that’s just a little post race frustration talking, and that upon further reflection, I’d cut Biffle a little slack. Johnson was coming fast, and if things play a little differently, it’s not hard to imagine the 48 not using up so much tire to catch the 16, he succeeds and cruises off to victory lane. Under those circumstances, nobody from Roush wins.

Teamwork is about sharing information, pooling resources where reasonable, and yes, offering a little on track help like debris removal- provided it doesn’t potentially cost me a win. At the emd of the day, racing is still fundamentally an individual sport, and hopeful after about 24-48 hours of cool down time, there comes clarity.

If the roles had been reversed, do you think Edwards would have done differently? Me neither.

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Race React: Happy Birthday Ford!

by Jim on June 17, 2013 · 1 comment

How fitting that on the 110th birthday of the Ford Motor Company, Greg Biffle gets Ford their 1,000 NASCAR Cup victory. This caps off a period of resurgence for the manufacturer that got out of the gate slow to start 2013. Not only was Biffle good Sunday, we saw a good amount of Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and even a dash of Ricky Stenhouse near the front.

For anyone paying attention, Danica Patrick ended up running better than her fellow rookie boyfriend Stenhouse. The former Indy car racer finished 13th, while the former Nationwide Series stud fell back to 16th. Not really a fan of the number 10, but by the same token, I can’t say I bear the same animus towards Danica.

Those who bear ill will towards Hendrick Motorsports had a good day yesterday. Jeff Gordon got caught up in Bobby Labonte’s mess, Kasey Kahne tagged the wall while in the lead, Dale Junior blew a motor and Jimmie Johnson blew a Goodyear while trying to reel in the Biff. For all Jimmie’s misfortune, he’s still running nicely out front in a meaningless points race.

Yep, Tony Stewart is truly back. He said his car wasn’t top five quality, but he kept his ride free from carnage and reeled off a top five. Wild card? Who needs it? Smoke is stout for summer. Another guy known for nursing less than stellar cars to top finishes, Kevin Harvick found himself the beneficiary of Jimmie’s foul fortune for a handy second place finish.

Did anybody else noticed Jeff Burton finished tenth? It seems like a million years since he won a race, but I am noticing he’s getting closer than he’s been in a while, and between all the penalties and back luck, who knows? He could end up in the Chase.

Has Toyota found the happy medium? Well, let’s put it this way: Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer all made the top ten. Kenseth, Truex and Busch didn’t appear to have winning cars, but were solid all day. Truex lamented that he had a good long run car, but just didn’t have it for the short ones.

Speaking of Toyota, you can all but stick a fork in Denny Hamlin. In light of his injury, what he’s doing is nothing short of remarkable. It’s just too darn hard to make up a four race absence. Would he be better off taking more time off to heal? I don’t think his competitive nature will let him.

Did anyone else notice A.J. Allmendinger ran 19th in the 47? It’s things like that that make you wonder what that says about Bobby Labonte. Yes, this fan is in denial. I thought it was a bit amusing when TNT’s Adam Alexander said the Labonte’s spin that collected Jeff Gordon was a wreck combining the winners of five Cup championships. Ahem, Gordon won four those. With that said, in this opinion, if you win a season championships, you’re Hall of Fame caliber. It’s definitely not a blind squirrel finding a nut moment. I’m just saying.

By the way, I thought TNT’s broadcast was much better this go around. Without picking on anybody else, I appreciate the cable networks less carnival like, buttoned down approach. I REALLY like the “through the field” feature. I also think TNT does a better job than the others of chronicling races for position behind the leaders.

I call it “Race React,” because this is just this obsever’s off-the-cuff reaction to what he saw. Feel free to throw in anything else you noticed from Sunday.

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