NASCAR official criticizes ABC's broadcast of Talladega race

For the second week in a row, NASCAR has responded to what broadcasters have said either on air or in an interview. This time, the focus is on ABC's broadcast of the Talladega race Sunday. (UPDATE: ESPN/ABC statement added 5 grafs down)

 

Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of Corporate Communications, was critical of ABC in a blog he posted Monday night. He wrote: "The ABC broadcasters certainly weren't happy with the race and they felt compelled to remind viewers of that virtually every lap.

 

"They seemed to blame NASCAR's enforcement of the rule prohibiting bump-drafting in the corners for every moment they didn't like. Along the way ABC missed a lot of very good racing. That's not to say that every lap was a barn-burner, but there was some seriously intense racing as well.''

 

"Interestingly, a caller on Sirius NASCAR Satellite Radio (Monday) morning said that he first watched the race on ABC then listened to the MRN broadcast and said, "It was like two different races,'' referring to the excitement and action portrayed on the radio broadcast.''

 

Last week, as you might recall, Poston wrote a response to comments Larry McReynolds, Kyle Petty and Jimmy Spencer  made to me in the Frankly Speaking series in regards to various aspects of the sport. You can read Poston's response here.

 

Here is a statement from ESPN/ABC on the matter: "We feel we had a strong telecast. We're not going to comment on the article.''

 

So, what's your opinion? Agree or disagree with Poston? Why? 

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NASCAR faces a dilemma with Talladega; what must officials do?

 

NASCAR faces a challenge as it heads into its final three weeks of the season.

 

What to do with Talladega.

 

While I'm sure many fans enjoyed Sunday's race, there were certainly a good bit of Internet chatter from folks not pleased.

 

Certainly there was a good bit of criticism even from drivers Sunday about the racing. They don't like all the rule changes and the feeling of being boxed in on how they can race. While there was some single-file racing Sunday, let's be honest, that has happened here at times. Doesn't mean it's happened as much as it might have Sunday. Let's also understand that everyone walked away, including Ryan Newman and Mark Martin, who both got upside down.

 

Here's a couple of questions to ponder.

 

# With a race that features 58 lead changes, has a 13-car wreck on the last lap and features a first time winner this year, why would you consider this a boring race if you did?

 

# What can be done to make things better if they weren't good enough for you?

 

OK, so here's what some of the drivers said after the race about the racing and such:

 

# We'll start with Ryan Newman, among the most vocal, after his wreck.

 

"I wish NASCAR would do something. It was a boring race for the fans. That (wreck) is not something anybody wants to see. At least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here. It's just a product of this racing and what NASCAR has put us into with this box and these restrictor plates with these types of cars. You know with the yellow line, no bump-drafting, no passing. Drivers used to able to respect each other and race around each other. Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Allison and all those guys have always done that. I guess they don't think much of us anymore.

 

Newman also says later: "The more rules, the more NASCAR is telling us how to drive the race cars, the less we can race and the less we can put on a show for the fans.

 

"It is a ridiculous situation. it is a shame that not more is getting done. I guess maybe I expect NASCAR to call me. I am the only (driver) out there with an engineering degree. I would like to have a little respect on my end.''

 

Asked if he would go talk to NASCAR, Newman said: "I am not going to talk to them. It just doesn't matter.''

 

# Here's Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the racing and what happened Sunday.

 

"The deal about not pushing through the corners didn’t have nothing to do with that wreck. It was just the same old stuff. Blocking. Everybody blocks and cuts each other off in trying to defend their position. You can’t blame them. What are you going to do?

 

"As long as we’re running 3-wide with a motor that won’t go nowhere and we’re just stuck, accidents are going to happen. When the money is on the line, we need to do something to spread us out a little bit. I’m not sure.''

    

       (IS THIS ACCEPTABLE OR DOES SOMETHING NEED TO BE LOOKED AT OR CHANGED)

            “I almost got in it, so I wouldn’t be very happy right now. I feel lucky that I didn’t wreck. I feel like racing here with the COT and the plate is a lottery. We show up to bust our (rear) and work hard to get our cars to handle and drive right and do right everywhere else but when you come here, you just sit in the bus and wait for the (darn) race to start and see what you’re number is at the end of the deal. It’s a lottery.

 

# Denny Hamlin about the racing:

 

(RACE BORING?)

 

"I'm as bored as they (fans) are sitting in the car. Wtih the race this long, it could be 15 laps and you would probably have a better show then what you would if it was 188. Superspeedway racing is that way, especially when you put us in a box and say we have to drive a certain way, then it just makes us not want to race even harder until the very end.

 

(ANY ORGANIZED EFFORT BY THE DRIVERS EARLY TO RACE SINGLE FILE)

 

"I think it's just everyone saying you don't even need to go with 30 go, so why do we need to go with 130 to go. I think everyone was just content to log laps.  It just seems like once everyone gets in a comfortable position, some guys go to the front and the back and they're sick of trying ot make it back and forth, they're just fine to settle in.''

 

# Carl Edwards on the racing Sunday.

 

(RYAN NEWMAN SAYS NASCAR PUTS YOU IN A BOX AND DOESN'T RESPECT YOU AS DRIVERS AT ALL)

 

"i know exactly how Ryan feels. I know exactly how he feels.

 

(WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NEXT)

 

"What they (NASCAR) need to do, and, man I never thought I'd be saying this, but they just need to say you can't push anybody anywhere on the race track and then I think you wouldn't have the people banging down the straightaway and separating in the corners. I would not have guessed it, but I think NASCAR headed in the right direction if we're going to have to race at these places. I guess that is what we're going to have to do.''

 

 

# Robin Pemberton, NASCAR VP of Competition:

 

"What happened today? To be honest with you, this race is like many of the races that happen at Talladega. Lot of good close competition and, all in all, it's not uncommon, even though you don't want it to happen, but you have a green-white-checkered finish. Once in a while you get a car that gets over. it's about what Talladega is.''

 

(WHAT ABOUT SINGLE FILE RACING EARLY)

 

"That's the way Talladega (is and) how you have to race a lot of the 500-mile races. Lot of 500-mile races when you listen to the teams, they work on their cars, they get their cars to handle and then they log laps during a small porition or middle third of the race in order to have their equipment ready for the end of the race. So, it's not uncommon of any 500-mile race that you see.

 

(DID THE RULE CHAGNES WITH THE BUMP DRAFTING WORK)

 

"It might have been a little bit different but what happened today, we didn't have any major incidents in the corner. The two wrecks that happened they happened in the free zone (straights and tri-oval) where we weren't monitoring the bump drafting or anything like that.

 

(SOME DRIVERS WERE UPSET, SAYING they've been put in a box with the bumping rule, yet you guys said in the drivers meeting you had to do this, does it bother you drivers are complaining about it?)

 

"It doesn't bother us. We do a service for those guys. Many of them that come to us, say you've got to help us from ourselves and we do just that. We took away the bumping or hooking up in the corner and the incidents that happened were the free zone we weren't regulating.''

 

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WHAT THEY SAID:

 

# Race winner Jamie McMurray on his future since he won't be back at Roush Fenway Racing:

 

"There aren't a lot of rides available right now. Everybody knows what rides there are out there and, certainly, if a sponsor were to call me that would make it a lot easier. With the amount of teams that are shutting down, there's not a lot of options out there, so I think everyone knows the cars that are available right now. For me, I just hope that we can get it signed and then announce it whenever they want to so that will make it a little bit easier to sleep at night.''

 

# Mark Martin talkling about his wreck at the end of the race where he rolled upside down:

 

"It was just a wreck. I hope everybody enjoyed the show there. I don't know what it looked like. It felt pretty exciting from my viewpoint there. I have no idea. I don't have a clue. Don't know what happened out there. I don't know. Congratulations to Jamie McMurray and that's about all I know about the whole race. I'll find out later I guess."

 

# Jimmie Johnson on his expanding points lead. He's now up on Mark Martin by 184 points and Jeff Gordon by 192 points. Most you can make on a driver in a race is 161 points. Thus, Johnson could finish last at Texas next weekend and will still leave as the points leader no matter what Martin does.

 

"I'm not going to let up and lose focus to the job I need to do and allow the championship to be in the forefront of my mind until it's mathematically locked out. I can lose (161) points next week if I miss a shift and blow the engine at the start ofthe Texas race and Mark has a perfect day. So with all that in mind, yes, I am feeling much better about things.''

 

# Joey Logano on his strategy during Sunday's race:

 

"I was just whoever was in front of me I was going to push like heck and hope for the best.''

 

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QUICK HITS

 

# Robert Richardson Jr. finished 18th in his Cup series debut, driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

 

# Joey Logano finished third. It's his fourth consecutive top-15 finish.

 

# Denny Hamlin blew a motor for the second time in the last three weeks.

 

# Jeff Burton's 5th-place finish was his first top-10 since Pocono in June and it came in his first race with new crew chief Todd Berrier.

 

# Talladega spring winner Brad Keselowski finished 8th.

 

# Bobby Labonte's 10th-place finish was the first top-10 for the No. 71 TRG Motorsports team this season.

 

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QUESTION TIME

 

Now, it's time to hear from you.

 

# With a race that features 58 lead changes, has a 13-car wreck on the last lap and features a first time winner this year, why would you consider this a boring race if you did?

 

# What can be doneto make things better if they weren't good enough for you?

 

If you don't respond, you can't be heard.

 

 

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NASCAR cracking down on bump drafting at Talladega

NASCAR President Mike Helton delivered the news during the drivers meeting before the race -- No bump drafting or push drafting in the corners on ANY, including the final lap. Should it happen, drivers will be penalized.

 

If it happens before the last lap, drivers will have to pass through the pits -- if it's their first offense. On the last lap, NASCAR will have to react, Helton admits.

 

Here's what Helton said and the questions from drivers in the meeting:

 

HELTON: One of the things we want to make clear in this drivers meeting that will be part of us regulating the race today is what that means in the turns. I think you got a taste of it on Friday, but today we will not allow doubling-up, pushing, locked up, bump drafting or whatever you call it in the turns. So, all the way through turns 1 and 2, all the way through turns 3 and 4, you will not be allowed to push someone, to bump draft them or to shove them through the turns. Remember the aggressive driving will still be watched very closely on the frontstretch and through the trioval. We have seen the progress, particularly in Talladega of two cars hooking up and basically locked up all the way around for a lap. You will not be allowed to do that through the turns. That's from the green flag all the way through the checkered flag. So even on the last lap, coming through (turns) 3 and 4, you're not going to be able to push a guy or hook up in a two-car tandem like we've seen progress through practice. Juan, did you have a question?

 

MONTOYA: Yeah. If somebody passes you on the last lap ... and they're hooked up in 3 and 4, you're going to do something about it. You guarantee you're going to do something about it.

 

HELTON: Yeah. Now, understand we're not going to throw a black flag with the checkered flag because the rule book gives us the ability to adjust the finish order based on incidents that may unfold during the conclusion of the race. We're not going to make a big whoop-to-do over it until you get to the hauler. Until the the driver who might be involved in it.

 

MONTOYA: If the guy being penalized is in Victory Lane ...

 

HELTON: Then we'll figure that out before. We've got 2.6 miles to get the word to them. To Juan's point if the race winner or the guy that takes the checkered has got that position by drafting up through the turns and you could be the guy in front, then that's going to be an issue with us. The guy from the back will catch the penalty most all the time but if you win the race by drafting through 1 and 2 with help then you're going to have a problem and the guy that pushed you is going to have a problem.

 

MONTOYA: (He asks another question) ... I don't want to make a big fuss out of it. I want to make sure it's clear enough by the time the race starts.

 

HELTON: The way I understand it and I don't drive one one of these race cars, thank goodness, but the way I understand it, in order to do that the lead car has got to play a role in this too. Now we understand the guy in the back does the shoving. It feels to me like that the guy up front plays a role in this too. Now that doesn't mean that the guy in 1 and 2 can't get approached from the back, pushed. If we feel like he didn't have a role in this, that comes into play, but it's going to be harder for us to do. We tried to avoid this all along because this isn't easy and we're going to stay on top of it the best we can and that doesn't we're going to catch every one of them but if somebody is hooked up long enough, it's going to be pretty obvious. And you have to stay hooked up long enough and it's going to be obvious throughout the race. It will be more obvious to us on the last lap because we'll be watching it very close. Michael.

 

WALTIP: I think it has to let the guy in front have a role in it especially if it's teammates ... because the guy in front benefits. Both people have to bear responsibility. It's obvios when it happens and we all know it. It can't happen unless it goes a long way. You can't just get on somebody for a little bit and make it work. Anything that is spread out over any lenght of time is obvious that's what's going on.

 

JGORDON: This was not in effect yesterday in the truck series race?

 

HELTON: It's different in the trucks in that we warned the guys a lot yesterday to back off. If there's doubt today during the race, you may get a warning but you also may not. If it's obvious to us, you may not, but there were a couple of incidents yesterday where the drivers got warned and they stopped.

 

JGORDON: But the (Truck) race was won by one pushing another.

 

HELTON: Here's the key point. We're talking about 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

 

MONTOYA: You can push in the trioval?

 

HELTON: You can push down the backsteretch. Now, remember, gosh, I hate this. There is a point where it becomes aggressive. If we think it's too aggressive. What we're talking about, where we want to see sunshine between the cars is in 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.

 

EDWARDS: Mike, how wouldy you have ruled the spring race?

 

HELTON: Well, you're asking specificially about what happend in the trioval?

 

EDWARDS: No in general.

 

HELTON: Carl, to be honest with you I didn't go back to look at what happened in 3 and 4.

 

EDWARDS: We were pushing.

 

HELTON: Then we would have had an issue based on what I'm telling you today.  If you push in the turns or you set out to be pushed in the turns, then we're going to have an issue.

 

MONTOYA: (asks if it will be a drive through penalty)

 

HELTON: Yes. We'll just make that clear now. It will be a drive through penalty if you do it during the race for the first incident. The second one, we'll be ... we'll decide.

 

NEWMAN: (notes that in the spring race there were 2 2-car drafts and asks if NASCAR is prepared to penalize 4 or so cars at the finish of the race)

 

HELTON: It comes down and we understand what this opens up and we've avoided trying to do it but we think we're at a point where we need to get into the middle of this. If you push through  the turns, we're going to get involved. It could be the first four cars. It could be three by six cars. So the slickest thing guys is not to do it. What we're asking you right now is not to do it. We're also telling you not to do it.

 

SALDER (asks about reaffirming where you can make contact)

 

HELTON: YOu can't make contact until you're out of the turns.

 

SADLER: (Asks what Kyle and Almirola did in the sense that pushing in the trioval is OK)

 

HELTON: What we're talking about not doing is in the turns. That's correct.

 

 

 

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NASCAR gives Allmendinger breathalyzer test

AJ Allmendinger spoke to the media briefly Friday and confirmed that he was given a breathalyzer test by NASCAR before he could practice.

 

Allmendinger was charged with driving while impaired after he was pulled over by Mooresville, N.C., police early Thursday morning. He had a .08 blood alcohol level, minimum to be arrested for DWI.

 

NASCAR placed him on probation Thursday, citing he admitted guilt in a statement issued by the team. His team, Richard Petty Motorsports, announced Friday that Allmendinger would be put on probation through the end of the 2010 racing season and fined $10,000 with that money going to charity.

 

After practice Friday, Allmendinger spoke to reporters. Here's what he said:

 

"Basically, honest truth is I had just a couple of drinks, had a couple at dinner and then couple that night. Honestly thought I was fine. I'd been drinking water for an hour and a half at that point and figured I was OK to drive home. You know I unfortunately got pulled over and it kind of went from there.

 

Question: What did Richard Petty say to you

 

ALLMENDINGER: I honestly haven't spoken to Richard completely yet. Obviously, Robbie Loomis and the higher ups of the organization have talked to me. They've shown support towards me but, obviously, it was my fault, it was a bad decision. I wish I could take it back. I'd do anything to take it back. That's life, you can't. So, all I can do is go out and learn from it and be a lot better person from it, which I will be and, hopefully, if it's possible, educate other people that you don't have to be having a ton of drinks to feel like you're drunk. It only takes a little bit and you're over the legal limit. Hopefully, I can do that to everybody and I just apologize to my family, everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports that put all the hard work in, all the sponsors that have supported me and been a part of this. I regret it. I wish I could take it back, but, like I said, I can't take it back. I'll just be a lot better person from it.''

 

Question: What was it like to take a breathalyzer today before you went out for practice

 

ALLMENDINGER: It's a part of it. I know what I've done. I respect the punishment and everything I have to do to gain the trust back of NASCAR and everybody that is out there racing with me, so it's not the best feeling in the world but at the same point, I respect I have to go do it and I understand and I have no problem with that.

 

Question: Did you ask NASCAR why they put you on probation when they had never done that to a driver before in a similar situation

 

ALLMENDINGER: Nope. I'm not in that position to ask those type of questions. Like I said, I respect NASCAR for every punishment they handed out.  I feel very fortunate that I get the opportunity to still do what I love to do and come here and race cars. I'm not in the position to ask questions. I just have to go along with whatever is kind of doled out to me.''

 

Question: Why were you pulled over in the first place

 

ALLMENDINGER: It was late at night. One in the morning. I was driving down the road. They felt the need to pull me over. You're coming from a bar, it's late at night. It's a part of it.

 

Question: How will this impact your career?

 

ALLMENDINGER: Hopefully, it doesn't. Hopefully, I can show people that I can learn from it. People do get second chances and I can just go. LIke I said, the biggest thing for me is trying to educate other people on that and build from my mistakes. It's not the first mistake I've ever made. It's the biggest mistake I've made to this magnitude. A lot of people make mistakes and they get a second opportunity and I feel like if I can go out and just learn from it and make myself a better person and make other people better for it, then it's OK.

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McGrew to remain Dale Jr.'s crew chief; Changes coming

It's official: Lance McGrew will remain Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief after this season, removing the interim tag. It's now on Lance's shoulders.

 

McGrew said there will be changes. The team shares a shop with Mark Martin's team. McGrew said that he and Martin's crew chief, Alan Gustafson, will restructure the shop.

 

"We're going to change the dynamics of that shop,'' McGrew said. "That's something I'm looking forward to. That's something he's looking forward to. That's something that the both us are going to benefit from 100 percent.''

 

Sounds fine but Junior fans want to know about the team. What kind of changes will be made there?

 

"If we see a weak link, if we see that we could be better in this one particular area, obviously we're going to have to address that on a case-by-case basis,'' McGrew said.

 

Earlier, McGrew said of possible changes: "I don't have all the answers just yet. I think as far as personnel, that's something that we analyze, we grade our guys weekly. It's not seasonally. It's weekly. Until you feel completley confident that you have the best car chief you can have, the best shock you can have, the best engineers that you can have, on down the line, you're constantly wanting to improve that becuase that's what makes it all tick. I'm not 100 percent sure what's going to change, who's going to change, how it's going to change.''

 

One can make all the changes with the car, but a key area is going to be Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s attitude. His frustration level was evident at Charlotte a couple of weeks ago when he noted he as at the end of his rope with things and quite frustrated. He admits his attitude can get better.

 

"My confidence was pretty down earlier,'' Earnhardt said. "It's gotten better. Still not nowhere near where I want it to be but every week we seem to improve on that. I'm really impatient about it. It's just a matter of time. If we can string one or two solid, serious runs together before the end of the season, I think it would do a world of good for us. One top five for this team, no telling what that could do for us, confidence-wise.''

 

 Dale Jr said at Charlotte he needed a dictator as crew chief. So is McGrew that type of guy?

 

"Yeah, he can,'' Earnhardt said. "I think that might have been a little bit of a gut shot to him. He's very serious about his job and very demanding of the individuals that make up the team. I think especially now that we all know it's his job, he'll demand a lot more out of each one of us. I think everybody on the team wants to carry their end of the load and then some. It's a really good group of guys. They have a lot of want-to. They've just got to figure out how to make into results. I think Lance can be the tough leader, he's not going to be very hard on the guys, it's not his personality, but I think he means business, especially now that we have everything lined up as far as everybody knows it's his job. I think we'll all take a little more care in what our particular responsibiliteis throughtout the week with him leading the team.''

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How McDonald's, a Lear jet and Darlington saved lives of drivers

I talked to Gary Nelson today for a future story. You might recall the name. He's a former crew chief who was known for his creative ways of making cars go fast before NASCAR hired him to be its Cup series director, a position he held from 1991-2001 before moving to and R&D type role.

 

Nelson holds the U.S. patent as the inventor of the roof flaps when he was working at NASCAR. Certainly those devices have played a key role in limiting the number of cars that have gotten airborne at such places as Talladega, where the series races this weekend. Anyway, Nelson told me the story from the early 1990s on how the roof flaps were developed. It involved a Lear jet, a runway surrounded by farmland near Darlington and McDonald's. 

 

We'll start the story with NASCAR, after meeting with aerospace experts, auto manufacturers and other experts on flight, coming up with the idea of if they left the pins out of the trunk lid, it would pop up and that would help keep the cars on the ground. But how to test it?

 

I'll let Gary continue the story. Enjoy.

 

"None of the wind tunnel folks would let us having anything moving in the wind tunnel, so Bill France Jr. came up with this one. He said we've got a Lear jet, take it to the Darlington County airport where nobody is there, it's out the middle of a peanut field. I think it was acually peas or beans or something. We spent a day there with these decklids.

 

"We'd run the jet engine. We'd back the car up to the jet airplane and run the engines at full speed while the pilot held the brakes  and when we got a 190 mph wind going, we'd pull the pins out of the decklid with a long rope and the trunklid would pop up. Man, the first one went a couple of hundred yards. It just was not working. I was sick. They say necessity is the mother of invention. I felt like I was going to be looking for a job the next day because all of this effort that we had done just was not working.

 

"Bill Jr., it was getting lunchtime, he sent some guys out to McDonald's to bring us all hamburgers while we surveyed all the damage we had done. Somebody had to tell the farmer we were sorry for tearing up his crops and all the other things. They come back with these cheeseburgers and fries and stuff in this little kind of gray cardboard carrying box. Just small ... like a cutoff shoebox that they would send food out to go in from McDonald's.

 

"I looked at that when the guy was carrying it and I got some scissors and I grabbed a couple of the guys, the aerodynamic guys and I stuck that flat on the roof of the car and put a piece of tape on it like a hinge and said, "What if we had a door right here instead of this trunklid thing?' All of a sudden all these guys, yeah, you could do this or that or whatever. And that's how it happened. It was that simple. I was thinking what I was going to do for a career.''

 

So explain the airplane and car setup again?

 

Nelson: "The Lear jet was sitting on an unused runway. They flew it in and landed it there. We actually had I think four race cars, A Ford, a Chevy, Pontiac ... maybe Oldsmobile. Might have just been three cars. So if you can picutre two jet engines on the back of an airplane, turn them on and you get a lot of wind behind it when you rev them up (essentially creating a man-made wind tunnel). Bill France did. He came up with that idea. We backed the car up to the back of the airplane, maybe 50 feet back and turned on those engines. We (secured) the wheels and held the brakes and the airplane didn't move. Just revved it up and more and more wind came out of the back of those engines until we got to the speed we wanted. We had a little air speed indicator. Everybody had to stand back.

 

"We did the same thing later on the hoods. We came up with hood teethers. Same thing. Bill France Jr. again. We would pull the car up to the back of the plane so that air was coming out of the back of the jet engines and hitting the nose of the car. When we got to the speed we wanted, we would pull the hood pins and the hood was supposed to stay with the car and not fly off. Same thing. Those things would break off and go flying. Bill says, we want the parts to stay with our cars when they crash, you understand me Gary? Yes sir.

 

"I told Bill, it broke the cables. Hardware store cables we were clamping into the car, they would break and we were getting bigger and bigger cables and they kept breaking. I told Bill, I said, Bill we can't get cables big enough that it won't break when the hood flies off. The hoods keep coming off these cars. We haven't found anything that keeps the hood on the car when it crashes. I said I don't know if we're going to be able to do this. Bill said to me, I'll always remember, "I've got some cable down there at Talladega in the fence that goes through the fence, I'll bring you some of that, maybe that won't break.' That's like 2 inches around. He and I both knew that  would not work. The message he gave me was keep working on it.

 

"This guy came with this rope-looking stuff. It's called Vectran, it looks like a piece of rope. He said try this and I laughed. We're breaking steel cables, that rope isn't going to do anything. He said try it. I laughed some more and we broke some more cables. Steve Peterson (former safety expert for NASCAR who has since passed away) was actually the guy that found this guy. Steve kept pulling me aside and saying, "Gary, that cable keeps breaking, this guy says that rope is stronger than that cable.' I said, "Steve that's ski rope. That's what they use to pull skiers behind boats.' The guy was in the marine business. Finally, toward the end of the day, after everything else had failed, I said, all right, put your rope on there, let's do it. And it worked. It was the first thinig that didn't break. Now that is on every car. It's on the decklid, on the hood, on the front spindles, on the wings, it's on all the cars, that rope.''

 

 

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Behind closed doors at NASCAR ...

Tuesday morning, I got the chance to watch NASCAR inspect Denny Hamln's winning car from Martinsivlle at NASCAR's R&D Center in Concord, N.C.

 

After a race, NASCAR does an inspection at the track but saves a more thorough inspection for its R&D Center on Tuesday mornings.

 

The engines from the first-place and second-place cars are automatically taken to the R&D Center along with a radnom selection. And, the first-place car and at least one random are selected to be inspected at the R&D Center.

 

So, I'm hearing you already. NASCAR selects the random based on someone they want to pick on. I was told that's not the case. Now, there are often three randoms selected after the race. Two are picked by NASCAR and go through post-race stuff but don't go to the R&D Center. The random for the R&D Center is selected a different way.

 

The crew chief of the first car out of the race is asked by a NASCAR official to pick a finishing position. That becomes the random. Sunday, the selection was 17th place. Kurt Busch finished there, so his car was in the R&D Center on Tuesday.

 

So, you had Denny Hamlin there for winning the race and Kurt Busch as the random for the cars. Also there was Jimmie Johnson for being the second-place car (thus engine inspection) and Mark Martin. Since Dover, both Johnson and Martin have had their cars taken to the R&D Center where it was discovered they were close to the tolerances -- unlike the race track where a typical tolerance is 1/8 of an inch, the tolderances at the R&D Center are measured in thousandths of an inch because there's more sophiscated equipment there. Anyway, I think you can pretty much count on the cars of Johnson and Martin being regular visitors to the R&D Center through the end of the year.

 

Anyway, I arrived at the R&D Center at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday -- just as the folks from Joe Gibbs Racing were. First-place car gets inspected first and back to the shop first. So there is a benefit to winning.

 

The first process is removing the engine to begin the engine inspection. Here's a photo of that taking place this morning.

 

The engine is then taken apart and inspected. That used to be done at the track. Now it's done at the shop so everyone can get out of the track sooner after a race and because the R&D shop offers a controlled environoment (no weather issues and such). Also, the engine hasn't just finished a 500-mile or 500-lap race and is hot and you have to wait for it to cool.

 

Once the engine is removed, the car is wheeled into another garage bay where it is inspected. Think of the at-track post-race inspection as like going to your doctor. A doctor can only check what they can see with you. Think of the R&D center as like going to get an MRI or X-Ray so where a doctor can see inside you. The R&D Center has the equipment that can't be taken on the road to check the chassis underneath the body. Another reason why this process is done at the shop then at the track is time. It took about 2-and-a-half hours for Hamlin's car to go through inspection (and that's about normal time). Imagine trying to do that for 43 or more cars. Inspection woudl take days. So, it's not practical to do all at the R&D center at the track.

 

Once in place a NASCAR technician then uses a device called a Romer Arm to measure various points in and throughout the car. Here's a photo of a NASCAR technician doing that to Hamlin's car this morning. The technician goes throughout the car. Here's a photo of her measuring various points on the splitter of Hamlin's car (the damage I was told was mainly from contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car on pit road during the first pit stop).

 

At one point in the process the claw is dropped over the car -- it's a series of templates all together to make one big template and is nicknamed the claw for what it looks like. It measure various points on the body. This is just like what goes on in pre-race inspection. Here's a photo of a NASCAR official examining Hamlin's car with the claw on it. 

 

And here's another view of the claw, a tighter shot. Notice all the points where it touches the car.

 

After that, the technician takes another device and measures the width of the tubing and the sheet metal thickness. To get under the car, it is raised about 6 feet or so above the ground so the technician could get underneath it.

 

Once that is complete and there are no problems, the inspection is complete. Hamlin's car passed inspection. I left as Kurt Busch's car was being inspected and the cars of Johnson and Martin were in line to be inspected.

 

Again, I'll have more this weekend but wanted to give you a brief overview and some pictuers of what happens at the NASCAR R&D Center during this inspection. As you can tell in at least one of the pictures, each team has crew members there. Hamlin's team had its car chief, an engineer and a couple of fab shop employees. Crew chief Pat Tryson was there for Kurt Busch's car along with some others.

 

One other tidbit is that the teams generally bring in food. Gibbs' crew brought in bagels. Tryson brought doughnuts for everyone. No, it's not going to bribe someone to turn an eye away from a violation but it is part of the easy-going athmosphere that resides there during this process (at least until there is a problem, one can imagine).

 

Anyway, hope this helps explain a bit how a car can past post-race inspection at the track but still later be found in violation of a rule after going through inspection at the R&D Center.

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Kyle Busch gets new crew chief

Joe Gibbs Racing announced today that Dave Rogers will replace Steve Addington as crew chief for Kyle Busch on the Cup circuit after this weekend's race at Talladega.

 

The move comes as Busch and his team have fallen on hard times. He once seemed set to make the Chase only to suffer a midseason collapse that dropped him out of it. Even in the Chase, Busch has not been a factor.

 

In the 22 races since his Richmond win in May, Busch has 1 win, 5 top fives and eight top 10s. His average finish during that stretch is 16.3. Busch led four laps Sunday at Martinsville _ the first time he's led any laps in the Chase and this is a guy who has led 916 laps this season. He has led laps in only 7 of the last 20 races. Those numbers are unacceptable based on what Busch has shown he can do.

 

Certainly one issue with Busch has been his attitude at times. It's something JGR officials have talked about and even Busch has addressed. There are those in the garage that note Busch sometimes shuts down and stops giving good information when the car is not handling the way he wants. Even as he's worked doing a better job of that, the 18 car just is not as strong as it once was. It's decline coincides with the rise of teammate Denny Hamlin, who is strong at most tracks. Had he not wrecked himself at California and had a problem at Charlotte, Hamlin likely would be challenging Johnson for the points lead.

 

So, in that sense, JGR officials could look at their shop and see Hamlin improving -- thus it wasn't a sign that their equipment was way off -- and Busch falling backward. Addressing Busch's attitude likely has helped so then the next quesiton for JGR was if the cars aren't all bad and Busch's attitude is improving what next could be done? That's where the crew chief came in.

 

Even with the 8 wins together last year, this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport. So, Addington will get a new job within Joe Gibbs Racing. 

 

Rogers is in his fourth season as crew chief for JGR's No. 20 Nationwide team that won the owner's title in 2008 with nine wins, six poles, 16 top fives and 26 top-10s using four different drivers. When the No. 11 Cup team was introduced with Jason Leffler as the driver in 2005, Rogers was the crew chief. Mike Ford took Rogers' spot halfway through the year and Rogers moved back to the engineering department before moving into the Nationwide crew chief role before the 2006 season.

 

"We evaluate all of our teams on an ongoing basis and believe this is a change that will make the 18 team stronger as we prepare for next season,'' team president J.D. Gibbs said in a statement. "We think highly of Steve and the job he has done and we look forward to him remaining a part of the JGR family.'' 

 

"Dave has proven himself a talented crew chief and we think he will work well with Kyle. We hope that by making the move following this weekend's race at Talladega they can use the final three weeks of this season to begin working on communication and setups for the 2010 season.'' 

 

 

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ESPN suspends announcer for comment about Montoya

ESPN confirmed Monday that it has suspended college football analyst Bob Griese for one week for  his comments about Juan Pablo Montoya during a broadcast last Saturday. Griese was to have worked a game for the network this weekend.

 

As ESPN promoted the broadcast of the Martinsville race and showed the top five in points, one announcer asked where Montoya was (he had fallen to sixth in the standings after Charlotte). Griese, laughing, said: “He’s out having a taco.’’

 

Griese apologized twice on air Saturday on ESPN.

 

On Saturday night, Griese issued this apology on ESPN: "Earlier today on our game, I made an offensive comment regarding Juan Pablo Montoya as part of a NASCAR promo. It was regrettable and I should not have said it. I really enjoy NASCAR and I follow it closely and would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Juan, NASCAR and everyone else who heard my comment.''

 

Said Montoya about it after Sunday's race: "I don't know who it is. Somebody mentioned it to me. I don't really care to tell you the truth. I don't. I could say I spent the last three hours eating tacos, but I was actually driving a car. That's OK, I don't care.''

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Did Martinsville pass your test as a good race?

 

So, what makes a good race for you? It's a question that seems to have many answers depending on if you're a fan, competitor or associated with the sport. (NOTE: 2nd section UPDATED)

 

I'll admit watching Sunday's race from the press box at Martinsville was intriguing. It was fun to watch Juan Pablo Montoya play the bull in the China shop as he worked his way up the field, did a body-slam dance with Jeff Gordon at one point, nudged others out of the way and challenged Jimmie Johnson at times. Montoya's car was as marked up as a street stock at the local short track. He certainly infused this race with some personalty and his beating and banging got to Jeff Gordon, who radioed his crew: "“What the … is wrong with him? He’s got the best car out here and doesn’t know what to do with it.’’

 

It was as fun to watch him go through the field as it was to see how Johnson deflty drove through and worked his way to the front. And then you had Denny Hamlin come on strong as the race progressed and had three guys who could race for the win. Could someone dethrone Johnson, who had won five of the last six? What about a Hamlin-Johnson duel at the finish just like in the spring when contact knocked Hamlin out of the lead and Johnson won? Would Montoya spoil it all?

 

While the end result wasn't as dramatic as the spring -- Hamlin pulled away on the final restart -- it still seemed as if there was something going on to keep your attention. Yes, there was a one long green-flag run -- in 11 years covering this beat, I can't recall green-flag pit stops at this track so late in the race, which added another layer of drama for me -- but there was still action happening.

 

Did you see it the same way?

 

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While one can applaud elements of the race, there is a concern with how some are finishing.

 

For the second time in this Chase, NASCAR called a caution at the last second as the leaders came barreling down on a car that had wrecked near the start/finish line. It happened at New Hampshire and created some confusion among the leaders and nearly led to an incident. Sunday, John Andretti crashed on the frontstretch. NASCAR, hoping Andretti would get restarted and move out of the way, held out until calling the caution until it appeared the cars were coming out of turn 4. Fortunatley, Andretti stopped his car and kept it at the bottom of the track at that point instead of trying to move out of the way.

 

While NASCAR is trying to give fans a finish to the checkered flag at what point should safety overrule?

 

Here's what Jimmie Johnson said about the situation: "The caution at the end, I dind't know until I came off of (turn) 4 and my spotter had mentioned there was a car sitting on the inside and when I looked up I could see the caution and the checkered at the same time. From that standpoint, I see that they are consistent and waited until the last possible second to throw the caution out so that the finish could be as exciting as possible.

 

"It makes me a little nervous as I'm charging into the start/finish line there's a car sitting there. I wish it would be thrown a little bit earlier for safety reasons. Might as well be on the safe side.''

 

Here's what winner Denny Hamlin said: "I think the car was right at the start/finish line and somewhat out of danger's way, and I think he was trying to get going. But I think they're at least doing a good job of not letting it affect the top five finishing positions or anything like that. They're doing all they can. They don't know what's going on inside that race car, if that guy has given up on starting it or is he continuing to try to get it going. I think as long as they let it play out, it's fine.''

 

Here's what John Andretti said in a statement issued Monday:

 

 

So, what do you think on this issue? Agree with Johnson, Hamlin or have a different opinion?

 

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SHORT TAKES

 

# Race winner Denny Hamlin on being out of the championship hunt even in a season where he has a career-high three victories: "It  sucks to not have an opportunity to win the championship this year. Hopefully, we're setting ourselves up to be one of the favorites next year. It's kind of a fun power position to be racing around guys that are racing for a championship and you have nothing to lose and all you're doing is going for a race win. That part of it is kind of fun because you can push a little harder and maybe take a few more risks That part of it is fun.''

 

# Mark Martin, who remains second but fell from 90 to 118 points behind Jimmie Johnson, on how he'll change how he races in the next four races: "Are you kidding me? How could it change? If you're trying to win, you sure as heck start out trying to win. And we're trying to win now. It's all the same. We would have led the most laps and won the race today if we could have, but it's tough out here.''

 

# Kasey Kahne had one bad day in finishing 32nd. Consider: He was involved in three incidents and was penalized three times (speeding, commitment line violation and pitting too soon). Sunday marked the third time in six Chase races he's finished 30th or worse. The other three times, he finished in the top 10.

 

"It definitely wasn't our day,'' Kahne said. "This has been a great track for us, so we need to work on that. It was a pretty frustrating day.''

 

# Kyle Busch finished fourth for his best result since winning at Bristol in August.

 

"Tires were the name of the game,'' he said. "We just seemed to be on the right strategy when we could come get tires and drive back through some guys.''

 

Also, J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, was asked if Steve Addington's position as Busch's crew chief was being evaluated and if a change might occur.

 

Said Gibbs: "We just want to make sure we have the right tools, the right people in the right place at JGR. We think we do. We think we have a great group of crew chiefs to engineers to guys on the shop floor across the whole board.  So, I think for us our goal is to make sure wehave those right pieces in the right parts in the right places. That's kind of what we're looking at as far as in the future, but we do that every year with every team. So I think for us (the fourth-place finish) was encouraging, and we're looking forward to hopefully keeping the momentum going in the future.''

 

 

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QUICK HITS

 

# Jamie McMurray's sixth-place finish was his best of the season.

 

# Robby Gordon's 37th-place finish marked the ninth consecutive Martinsville race he's finished 30th or worse.

 

# Pole-sitter Ryan Newman finished seventh,  marking the 11th time in the last 12 Martinsville races that the pole-sitter has not gone on to win the race. The exception was Jimmie Johnon last year.

 

# Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew two tires, fell two laps down, got both laps back  and then blew another tire and ended up finsihing 29th, two laps behind the leaders.

 

# Kevin Harvick on finishing 10th: "This is the closest we have been in a long time.''

 

# Jimmie Johnson leads Mark Martin by 118 points. Jeff Gordon is third, 150 points behind Johnson. Tony Stewart is fourth, 192 points behind Johnson. Juan Pablo Montoya is fifth, 200 points behind Johnson.

 

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THE LAST WORD

 

Here's what Denny Hamlin said on the radio to his crew after winning and doing burnouts: "Find me a Porta John, I've got to pee like you wouldn't believe.''

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.