■ 24 October 2009 | 6:25 PM
Frankly Speaking: "Our pencil pushers have not helped''
I recently gathered Kyle Petty, Jimmy Spencer and Larry McReynolds in a room to discuss the state of NASCAR and other key areas. What was supposed to last 30 minutes went an hour as these three did not hold back on their opinions and even joked afterward that they might be getting a call from NASCAR (or someone else) based on their comments.
Each day through Sunday, I’ll post a segment of the conversation here on my blog. That will coincide with a story that will run Sunday that features comments made in this roundtable discussion.
Click here to see NASCAR's response to Part 1 of Frankly Speaking series.
While some will not agree with what they say about the sport or certain drivers or some other issue, their voice remains relevant. They’ve seen the inner workings of the sport. Now they view it differently from their TV jobs but they still retain close contacts to those in the garage and they know what’s going on before most do. They know what drivers and others are really saying even if those people won’t say it to the media.
So without further delay, here’s part of the series. Today’s topics: The media, Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya.
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(The group was discussing another topic when the issue of the press was brought up)
McREYNOLDS: I want to go back and address one other thing about where we’re at with the sport. And this is just my opinion, our media, I call them our pencil pushers have not helped. The man we buried back in the spring, God rest him, great friend, I’m telling you he never wrote anything positive about our sport. Never. Darrell has put a great analogy. He goes, if you go to a restaurant and you’ve been going to that restaurant for years and you love that restaurant but you constantly read in the paper, it’s a bad restaurant, it’s a bad restaurant. Eventually, you’re going to say, I’m not going to that restaurant. Even if they rehire a complete new chef, staff, you’re still going to be hesitant about going back to that restaurant. Like Kyle said, one thing has not put us in the boat that we’re in. Not even close.
PETTY: You’re exactly right on that, but I laugh at it because of this, when you get, whether it’s you (he said looking at me), whether it’s me, when you get the media as a whole away from it and talk about it, every one of us loves the sport more than anything in the world. We love everything about it. But we’re kind of like an old couple that has been married 50 years, and I cuss my wife and she cusses me but at night I snuggle right up against her and I tell her how much I lover her and I’m always going to love her. You love them but you feel that comfort level with them that you can say anything about them, not realizing that people are eavesdropping on us and those people are eavesdropping on us are those millions of fans out there that read it, that watch us and hang on every word we say. I’ll say this, for the record, Sirius Radio, why some of those people host some of those shows, shouldn’t be hosting those shows.
SPENCER: No, they’re terrible.
PETTY: They give so much misinformation and fuel the fire so bad, it is terrible, man.
McREYNOLDS: Like I said, I miss him so much, David Poole (the former Charlotte Observer beat writer who died in April), but if I read his articles enough, I probably would question that I picked the right profession to make a living in.
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Kyle mentioned that the drivers are not as much a part of this car, can’t carry the car like the old cars and you all agreed. As of right now, Jimmie Johnson leads the points, potentially headed for a fourth series championship, which if he does is a record and will be celebrated by the media . With what you’re saying about driver ability with this car, is Jimmie Johnson that good or should a fourth championship, or even his three, should it be celebrated as it has been.
SPENCER: He deserves it. Let me tell you why. Hang on a second. Richard Petty was one of the greatest drivers of all time. Dale Earnhardt. David Pearson. Why? No matter what they drove, they won. If I gave Jimmie Johnson a complete different car against his other competitors, he would still excel in that car. He will win no matter what NASCAR does to the car.
PETTY: Cream rises.
SPENCER: The guy can win.
McREYNOLDS: Just look at the three championships. Completely in an old car. Half in a new, half in an old (car). A year in the new. Add two more drivers (to the Chase), give bonus points for wins.
PETTY: To me, that makes it as impressive as anything. One in an old car, one in an old/new car and one in a new car. The thing is this, what I was trying to say by taking the driver out of the car is we’re back to what Larry said about Jeff and that team and all that. Ts were crossed, they’re I’s were dotted. Everything was perfect. You’ve got to give Jimmie credit. He’s a good enough driver to tell them what that car needs. Chad is a good enough crew chief to get it. They’ve got a good enough crew. They may not be the greatest in everything but we’ve seen dream teams before fall on their face. They are a great team. Cream rises. You can’t take anything away, period.
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Talking of driver talent, who is the driver out there right now doing the most with the least?
SPENCER: I’d say Juan Pablo.
McREYNOLDS: I was going to say the same thing. No question.
PETTY: I’d say Juan Pablo stepped it up.
SPENCER: It’s the only engine in the Chase from Childress/DEI. His teammate is arguing with his crew chief constantly. They’re not feeding any information to (Montoya). He has nobody to rely on. He’s doing the most of anybody.
PETTY: Definitely.
SPENCER: Tell you how bad it is, we’re at Indianapolis. I’m good friends with a lot of them, more so than other. I’m talking to Smoke (Tony Stewart). Here comes Mark Martin, here comes Jimmie Johnson, here comes Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman. I’m like Holy (cow), I better step aside and listen. I’m listening to them talk about brakes, about all this stuff. You know who Juan Pablo gets to talk to? He looks in mirror and says, Well, dummy what we got to fix? That’s the difference.
McREYNOLDS: They’re on an island by themselves.
PETTY: A big island. With a driver that abandoned ship that is leaving the island.
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Tomorrow's final topic: Driver personalities and what they say about drivers apologizing to each other for incidents in a race.
Thoughts on this topic? Agree or disagree with what hte group said?
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Spencer, Petty, McReynolds
This is the best thing I've read about NASCAR in years. It's EXACTLY what all long-time fans are saying. NASCAR are you listening?
Comment
So they are saying because one guy can do great in 10 races out of the year that makes him the best? That makes him worthy of this many championships? I think that is silly. Jeff Gordon had a lead in many of these battles to the chase only to see it erased. I am sure if we were under the old system we would be talking about Jeff's 6 championship. Now i am not one of those "get rid of the chase!" people, because it has made it much more interesting. Old points are a thing of the past. I realize this. I am just saying, and these three should know best at the heart of what Nascar was born on that Jeff is much more talented than his teammate. I am not taking anything away from the talent that Jimmie has. These guys had been talking about how the car is bad, and that these guys cannot drive them. It is more car oriented. The fact that 1st and 43rd place can be separated by 4 tenths of a second just proves that point. Get cars that are different and then you see the true talent!