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Pressure Cooker Of NASCAR Racing Creating Raw Nerves
By-Don Hamm
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Pressure Cooker Of NASCAR Creating Raw Nerves
Pressure Cooker Of NASCAR Creating Raw Nerves!!
By now you know all about the breakup between the Parrots and Yates Racing.
As I mentioned before, I've never seen DJ display anger in anything
not directly related to a racing incident. The pressure cooker of competition,
team performance and stability and the ever present pressure from sponsors
has, I believe, several top teams on edge. As I pointed out in my previous
article, the teams are spending huge amounts of money at the plate tracks
which may well reduce the funding available for the normal racing. I
can well see a sponsors spokes person telling an owner, "You ask me to up
our sponsorship from twelve to fifteen million and you're not showing me
a return on our investment."
Even though Ray Everham developed the Dodge/Tarus clone for CUP racing, his
teams aren't performing. We know Bill Elliott is a quite capable driver.
It's strange to sit through a whole race and not hear his name mentioned
once because he's mired back in the pack. Germy seems to be skating
on some very thin ice and rumors of his release float just below the surface.
Everham is, as we know, quite capable as a crew chief. Could
it be that the management of two teams, his shop and other attendant duties
are more than he's equipped to handle? After Martinsville, Elliott
was twenty ninth and Germy was thirty second in the standings. They finished
thirteenth and fortieth respectively. Max Papis tested in the Everham
R & D Dodge at Kentucky. Can you say, "Bye, Bye" Germy?
As my buddy Sideways pointed out on Thursday, Steve Park is also in jeopardy
of loosing his ride. Some say he's got to perform at Charlotte or fugidabout
it. I'm not stating this as truth because we all know how the rumor
mill grinds. If true, where is the pressure coming from? My guess
would be Penzoil. They are a major sponsor and a major player in racing.
They expect their yellow and black scheme to be seen at the front of
the pack. It's not happening and I can see that DEI is caught between
a rock and a hard place. I like Steve and know he was a good driver.
The question remain, to my mind, is he truly healed?
Robby Gordon and Jeff Green have been rumored to be on notice. Jeff
was the best performing RCR driver last year but he hasn't burned up any
tracks this season. I believe Robby has been unfairly blamed for his
performance but he isn't doing much to right the record. AOL is in
trouble and if that sponsorship goes away Green needs to perform in order
to attract a new sponsorship. I've heard unconfirmed rumors that there
are some pretty raw nerves in the Childress confines. The demand to
perform is incessant from sponsors, owners, fans and some in the media. Let's
hope the pressure cooker has a functioning pop off valve.
While Jeff Burton finished fourth at Martinsville, his performance hasn't
been stellar and he's mired back in twenty fifth in points. Mark Martin,
a strong contender last year is fifteenth in points. Mark, ever the
polite gentleman, doesn't seem to have that spark in his eyes. In pre
race interviews he openly admits he's not running well. We know Roush
has good equipment. Two of his drivers are in the top five in points
so the equipment is there. I've heard rumors that Burton is being used
as an R & D car. I find that hard to believe but his overall performance
isn't what one would expect. One respondent wrote to ask if I thought
Jeff lost some of his desire after Dale's demise. I don't know and
the only one to answer that question is Jeff himself.
As I've so often mentioned, there is a root cause. Drivers and crew
chiefs are no longer running the show. Computer whiz engineers are
now in control. Some are powerful enough that they overrule the crew
chief and their word appears to be law. This isn't how all but the new breed
grew up in racing. It used to be that a caved fender only required
it be pulled out enough not to cut a tire. Cave a fender now and, at
most tracks, you go backwards. Back in bias ply tire days someone discovered
stagger so now the Good Year radials come with built in stagger. Someone
discovered that the standard racing shocks didn't seem to work on their cars
so they played around with building their own. Now every team, large
or small, must have an engineer, an aero specialist, a shock specialist,
a tire specialist and some we don't even know about. Even with all
those specialized personnel, some teams aren't making the grade. They
used to go to the track with ten crew members and now they take twenty plus
to the track. That's a huge outlay for salaries, travel expenses and
accommodations.
The pressure to perform for the sponsor is huge and this leaves all but the
most cohesive teams operating in a pressure cooker with frayed nerves and
tentative employment. Every owner and crew chief is looking for that
extra little advantage and they spend tons of money to achieve it, more often
than not, with little return on their investment. Things keep escalating
with no relief in sight. The major owners collectively share the major
blame for all this nonsensical behavior with NA$CAR making rules that only
add to the problems. There are too many teams with good equipment,
good drivers and good sponsors who simply aren't performing as they should
be. In far too many cases, teams and drivers aren't given time to become
cohesive. The success of Jimmy Johnson, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Matt
Kenseth, etc. has everyone believing in instant success. For a few
it happens while, for most, it doesn't. Remember the early days of
Jeff Gordon where he crashed a lot? Rick Hendrick knew he had talent
and stuck with him. We've all seen the results. Too many sponsors
want instant Jeff Gordon and become disillusioned when it doesn't happen.
That pressure cooker is running at full steam and patience with developing
a driver has worn exceedingly thin. Where's Buckshot Jones?
The funny thing is, we don't hear all the carping and wholesale crew, crew
chief and driver changes in the Busch and Truck series. The biggest
complaint in the Busch Series seems to be the invasion of the BuschWhackers.
I've heard some complaints from the Truck Series about aero issues.
Whoda thunk it? Maybe we don't hear all the complaing there because
the main focus is on the CUP cars and drivers. The Brian Vickers ruling
sure got enough attention so it would appear that it's more a matter of the
constant rules tweaking in CUP that creates all the problems.
Sad Note: Long time, independent,
Winston Cup competitor H. B. Bailey died Friday morning of heart failure.
While he wasn't a perennial front runner he had many good runs over
a thirty year career and was well respected in the garage area. King Richard
stated, "Our sport was built by people like H. B. Bailey." Amen to
that and the end of a great era.
A funny thing happens when I mention certain words.
The mention of owners or drivers boycotting the plate races brings
out the people who own stock in I$C. Last year I had one threaten to
take me to court if I didn't stop writing about the financial shenanigans
of the France family, the Penskes and so on. Some have written to tell
me it would be a contractual violation to boycott any given race. Wrong,
money breaths. It is only a breach of contract if they did so after
submitting entry blanks. It would be a breach of contract if a driver
refused while the owner didn't since the drivers are, for the most part,
under contract for one or more seasons. The only obligation the owners
have is to participate in all scheduled races in order to remain on the Winner
Circle plan and other contingency plans. The entry blank is the contract
and, if not submitted, no contract, no obligation.
That's it for now my friends. As always, you have the right to disagree
but not the right to become disagreeable. The foregoing is my opinion
based on my observations. As always, may we never forget the tragic
events of 911. Those who choose to ignore history are bound to repeat
it. May you and yours be safe and secure in your homes and work
places. God's Blessings Upon You and Yours, This Great Nation, Our
Liberators and Our Leadership.
Don@insidethepitbox.com
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