NASCAR Chase On

[Ron61]

He has to a certain extent. Just look back at the wrecks he managed to get through without a scratch on his car. When you get through one of those big wrecks and you are right in the center of it an have no damage to your car, it is luck more than driving.

Ron

[Ralphy]

By running up front you avoid many of the wrecks. The double file restarts has helped with this.

[Ron61]

That is one of the few new rules that NASCAR has made lately that I think has really helped. Getting those lap down cars back in the rear where they should have been is great as that lets the ones on the lead lap fight it out on a restart instead of having to try to pass 15 lap down cars to get back to the leaders.

Ron

[Ralphy]

Yeah, at Daytona you could be running sixth being back six rows. Then you pick the wrong groove behind the slow train. Bam! your running 23rd.

[Ron61]

Well next weekend it will all be over for a while. I saw on the NASCAR site that they acknowledged the crowds are down and that some sponsors are going to be leaving. But they stopped short of saying they may have to have drive and park cars to fill out some of the fields next year.

Ron

[Don]

" Start & Park " Teams have appeared a number of times in the Nationwide series, it's the choice of the Team, not NASCAR. These underfunded and non-major/primary sponsored Teams need the start money to either support another car or allow full participation at other races. Realistically, the practice has been allowed when it is quite evident there would not be a full complement of cars.

More & more Teams in the Cup series have multiple major/primary sponsors during the year to share the costs, even Gordon's DuPont #24 has used this approach with Pepsi

During 2009 I cannot recall any race where there was just 43 cars so all automatically qualify. Some races have had upwards of 48/50 + cars attempting to qualify.

Is it luck or driving/Team skill when the top drivers are able to come from far back and be a top 5 or 10 finisher, even navigating the traffic when lapping other cars, a skill JJ has to plan his moves.

[Ron61]

Don,

I think there was one race this year where they had to have 1 more car. As for coming from the back, it is not only JJ that has done that, but it takes not only skill but luck if you don't get caught up in someone else's mess. Lapping traffic is a hard thing to do as they don't want to go a lap down and will fight until they cause a wreck or whoever is trying to lap them finally gets by. As the economy improves I believe there will be more sponsors willing to go part way on a team. But I do believe the day of the major sponsor is over where one company sponsors a whole team.

Ron

[rustyBob]

I think i will skip next weekends NASCAR fiasco....
Ron Hornagay already won the truck championship.......
Kyle Busch will win the nationwide championship.......
Jimmy Johnson will win the sprint cup championship.....
thats the way the script reads..........

[Don]

Source: BostonGlobe.com

" HOMESTEAD, Fla. - So what’s the big secret? What is the reason behind Jimmie Johnson’s unparalled run at a fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship? "

" They represent an extension of the 530-employee powerhouse operation at Hendrick Motorsports back in Charlotte, N.C., where visitors to the race shop housing Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team and Johnson’s No. 48 team are greeted by a sign that reads, “Teamwork is what allows common people to react. Now it can be told. It’s his team, all 23 people who travel weekly to the 36 races and provide Johnson with support at the track. From the seven-member pit crew to the tire and shock specialists, the front and rear-end mechanics, engine tuner, the race engineers, scorer, spotter, and yes, even, the truck driver. "

Complete Article:


http://www.boston.com/sports/other_s...ess/?page=full

[tcrist]

It's never one person that wins these races. It is the whole team. The crew chief and the driver have a bunch to do with it though. It is also the owner that has to bring the right people together at the right time.

Look at Hendrick, three of his four teams are right at the top. I think that Dale Jr. is a good driver and at times he shows that he can be a great driver but he is to inconsistant.
It could be that Tony JR and Magroo(sp) just cant get ahold of what the new car needs. It could be that Dale Jr lost it a little when he wrecked and got burned at Infinon (Sears Point) at that test a few years back. It seems (to me anyway) that he has not been the same since then.

Terry

[Ron61]

Terry, I think with Dale Jr. it is a combination of things. He over rules his crew chief a lot and then complains the car is worse. Also I don't think he has the right type of chemistry with his team. Listen to JJ or Jeff Gordon when they are telling their crew chiefs what the car is doing. They do it where the car is and the crew chief can see where they are. Jr. really doesn't do a great job of describing just what is going on. It is to loose to drive or this car is junk is not a good description for the crew to work off of. He starts off great in a lot of races but as they progress he gets worse and worse.

Ron

[tcrist]

Ron,
Could be. Sometines I think Dale Jr. just flat out overdrives the car trying to make up too much at one time. He is doing that right now. We will have to see how the rest of the day goes. Probably another 30TH or worse again.

Terry

[Ralphy]

I, agree, Junior seems to break often.

[Ron61]

Well as usual Dale Jr. ran great for much of the first half of the race and then faded away and finished 28th I think it was. They just don't seem to be able to adjust the car to the changing track conditions at all. Nearly every race he has had one segment that he ran with the best and then he would just fade.

Ron

[Bill Bess]

Jr. is not that great of a driver, can't communicate well, and is always being judged and must liveup to his fathers greatness. Tough for anybody to do well in his situation, but maybe he'll get with it one of these days.

[Ron61]

Bill,

I believe Jr. is a good driver but no where close to what his Father was. But any stars son in any sport has a huge burden if they take up that sport. I really think the communication between Jr. and his team and his lack of really describing what is going on has hurt them as much as anything. He isn't like Ryan Newman and an engineer who really knows what he is talking about when he talks to his crew chief about what they need to do. Several times Jr. has over ruled the crew chief and then got back on the track and the car was really bad.

Ron

[PatBuckley]

Well, I guess the chase is over and the right team won.

I suspect it was over before it began - the 48 team is probably going to win 5 straight, IMO.

Kyle needs to give F1 a try before he gets too old, Gordon needs to realize that he is nothing more than a blocker for his protege, Martin needs to come to grips with the fact that 2nd is just fine and all he can ever hope for.

As a matter of fact ALL the other teams should get together and agree that the championship for them will be who can finish second because the 48 team is unbeatable and will stay that way for a few more years.

IMO of course.

[Ron61]

Pat,

Glad to see that you support JJ so well. I have to agree though that I think between he and the team they have, they have the best chance next year and well into the future if something doesn't happen. The main reason I dont like JJ is not anything to do with his driving or the team. I just don't like his interviews when he sounds so syrupy voiced and is trying to act humble so hard he destroys what he is striving for. If he would just talk naturally and show that he isn't a machine, then I would like him a lot more.

I don't agree that any team is unbeatable as any other team could have a great season and the 48 team could run into a stretch of bad luck at the wrong time and that would be it.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by PatBuckley

As a matter of fact ALL the other teams should get together and agree that the championship for them will be who can finish second because the 48 team is unbeatable and will stay that way for a few more years.

IMO of course.

I bet that Montoya will not agree to that.

Wayne

[Don]

" NASCAR boss Brian France talks drug policy, sponsorship, Danica Patrick "

Read more: ( might be duplicate links )

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0XhSX3Ehf

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2009...#ixzz0XevY7SKX