Oil lids, tires, and the burning Busch

So much has happened since my last entry and I'm not sure where to start. First things first, I've got to say how happy I am that Robby Gordon's Daytona penalty has been rescinded. Sure, he's out another $50k, but if teams could buy 100 points for $150k then you'd see points races in the 10's of thousands.

Speaking of penalties, the oil lid just "came off" did it Jack? Sure it did. And the passenger window clips came loose just enough to let some of that extra heat and possible fumes get out. When you're caught, you're caught boys. The thing that has blown my mind on this whole situation is that the garage has turned into the media's dream. Every single place you can turn there is someone ready to call out the Roush Fenway team. I've never seen anything like it. Last year when the 48 and 24 had their little incident with the body I never heard anything from other teams. Even the team members with their own tv/radio shows skirted the topic. Things are changing in the garage and I'm anxious to see where this is all headed. Obviously the Toyota official that made the initial comments about Jack had his own agenda. He'd previously worked for Rousch as well as currently working for Toyota, a company that Jack Roush likened to the Japanese Kamikaze bombers from Pearl Harbor just over a year ago. However, Elliot Sadler didn't have a real subversive agenda in calling out the Cat in the Hat, nor did Dale Jr. That didn't stop them though.

Speaking of Toyota, Kyle Busch is doing work right now. I think people are making a little too much of the truck, Nationwide, & Cup trifecta. I could name about 10 drivers right now that could do something close to the same. If you can be a solid contender in Cup, you can do the same in all 3 I believe. However, regardless of the type of car Shrub is wheeling his car like nearly no one else. He's the definition of checkers or wreckers. He's so close to the edge that I think he'll go ever several times this year and catch some dnf's, but the risk/reward will pay off in points. The #18 is a contender and there's no other way to put it.

Finally, the big topic of the race was TIRES and the reactions to them. In a tactful way Jr., Gordon, and several other drivers crushed Goodyear with their comments. If that wasn't bad enough Tony Stewart did the equivelent of smacking Goodyear's mother in the mouth and kicking their dog. NASCAR said they wanted the personalities back in the sport and they've got it. We'll have to see how they react to one of their top tier drivers dog cussing one of their top sponsors.

As for the tire itself, I can see the drivers point. No one, and I mean no one, had a handle on their cars. All I've ever heard is how tight the COT is and Sunday it looked like they were driving on snow. Teams saw minimal tire wear at best and nearly everyone tapped the wall once. I understand Goodyear didn't want drivers hauling off into turn 1 at 200mph and popping a right front, but I'm gueesing teams didn't want to be sides ways at 170mph exiting 4 either. Goodyear missed it and they'll fix it, but it'll take more than a week. I heard Jeff Hammond say that Goodyear should start up a full Cup test team that runs year round. When he said it I thought, "That's a great idea." Then after a while I couldn't figure why this hadn't been something already in the works. If they're a non-competitive team they could tire test every track with all 4 makes if they like.

Now for the good news...Here comes Bristol!

All Wet

Far be it from me to complain about NASCAR making decisions that are way above my pay grade, but yesterday was painful. Delay after delay after delay sucked every drop of momentum out of what was a wonderful Speed Weeks. Think about it. Coming out of Daytona fans had already seen 2 Jr. wins, Toyota become a solid contender, and a very exciting finish to the 50th Daytona 500.

What now?

That's easy to answer...frustration and a lack of caring. NASCAR can control everything from the camber on your tire to where you park your motorcoach, but they can't control the weather. Mother Nature decided to quite effectively rain on everyones parade. It's her right, it has to be frustrating doling out the weather to the entire world...however, it's no more frustrating than watching Fox fill time by trying to get drivers to name that gopher.

Sunday seemed to drag on forever and ever. This is coming from someone who gave up at 11:30pm and refused to set around until 2am to get the official word. It seemed like the track officials weren't ready for this and that is unacceptable. It's your track and it's your job to make the experience everything it can be. However, that's not what I'm wanting to focus on right now. My concern is with the total dissipation of momentum we've now seen.

Everything was wonderful. Ratings were up and the build was on. It was only a couple of days before the 500 that I had realized the annual (and ridiculous) week off after the 500 had vanished. I've always hated it because of the halt it puts on the excitement. Right now a week off seems like a highschool kegger compared to what California has been. Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, and Dale Jr. were eliminated quickly due to water "weeping" into the track. Couple that with the lifetime of gopher coverage and it's a bad day. Finally throw in the fact that we cut completely away from the race for several hours while they tried to decide what to do and you've got the air let out of the casual fans collective balloon. I'm watching next week. I'm recording the race this afternoon and I'll watch the Nationwide race tonight, but I'm not the fan they're trying to attract...they had me at hello. They're trying to keep the casual fan interested and I believe this weekend was a sucker punch that may have ko'd some people.