“Slideways” in
Atlanta,
Jr., Busch, Tires and More
March 12, 2008
T. Jay Maddox - SCR
Darrell Waltrip coins
and uses terms and phrases. One such word is slideways, which describes the sliding of a car, usually in a turn. Slideways
is a very good description of most, if not all, of the cars at Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The most over-covered
topic of the race is the driver’s dislike of the hard tire. The tire made the Cup cars nearly impossible to drive. The
tires did not allow the cars to adequately grip the race track, and turns were treacherous. This reduced the amount of
side-by-side racing, especially in the turns and for most, created a boring race.
What was not boring was
watching a car and its driver, travel lap after lap, with the car virtually at the brink of out of control, in nearly every
turn. I viewed the race on Direct TV’s Hotpass and if you really like to focus on one driver this is a very good way
to do it. I spent the bulk of the race watching Dale Earnhardt, Jr. On the first set of tires, Earnhardt’s
team hit a magical setup and he was able to pull out to a 6 second plus lead. After just 38 laps he had put more than half
the field a lap down. For Earnhardt fans this had to be fun to watch.
Over the course of the
next 2 stops though, the Number 88 was reduced to not much more than a top 10 car, and at times much worse than that. Earnhardt
described the needed adjustments to the car as fixing a car that was running 40th or worse, even though he was still running
in the top 10 at the time. Watching the car slide up to the wall at nearly every turn became painful. It seemed inevitable
that the car would spin out in the next turn, but that didn’t happen.
The NASCAR drivers from top
to bottom are the most skilled drivers in the world, and this talent was on display at Atlanta. It is remarkable that there were not more accidents that were
much more serious in nature. Post race interviews were with tired and frustrated drivers who spent most of their last
four hours just trying to hang on.
What about Vickers:
What about the remarkable start
to the season for Brian Vickers. He spent most of the 2007 season just trying to make races, and now through four races, he
is ninth in the Sprint Cup points. As it stands today, he is in the Chase for Championship and he has done it the hard way
with less than favorable starting positions. He finished ninth at Atlanta, his
only top 10 of the year. His average finish this year is 14th, and his best starting position was 23rd at Daytona. His
other three starts this year were 35th, 39th, and shotgun on the field at Las Vegas.
Johnson Floundering?
Going the other direction is
Jimmie Johnson. Johnson is 13th in the points and only one position out of the Chase. But when you are the two-time defending
Cup champ, expectations are high. His average finish this year is 17.8 with only one top 5 finish in four races. He
has two poles to his credit, but two finishes of 27th and 29th. You have to believe he will pick up the performance.
Atlanta was a bit better and more consistent with an 11th place start and a 13th
place finish. As good as the combination of Chad Knaus, his crew chief, and Johnson have been, you can’t help but
wonder. Are they really so far behind or are they working on something that is about to bear fruit? If this is true, their
resurgence just might be explosive.
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Bump Stops:
The need to change the
tire was the big subject at Atlanta,
but while we are on the subject of potential changes, how about eliminating the bump stops? The only other bump stop technology
I know is on dump trucks. While we all are struggling to like the new Cup car, and NASCAR has held pretty firm to their
original design, it may be time to consider getting rid of the bump rubbers. NASCAR can be applauded for trying to make a
safer car and one that can be raced at all kinds of tracks. This significantly aids those single teams with small budgets. What
hasn’t been factored into the cost equation is the need for high priced technology, like multi-post shaker machines. For
some race teams, this is a huge advantage that the smaller teams can’t afford. Darrell Waltrip recently commented
that NASCAR should remove the bump stops and replace them with standard springs and shocks to even the playing field. It’s
expensive to make changes, but this one should be considered.
Dale Jr. and Kyle Busch Moves:
Finally, is it possible
that Earnhardt’s move to Hendricks Motorsports and Kyle Busch’s move from Hendricks to Joe Gibbs Racing has benefited
both drivers? If personalities both on and off the track is any indicator, the moves seem to better fit the demeanors of both
drivers. Busch teamed with the fiery competitors of Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin seemed, by many, to be a recipe for disaster.
How in the world could they all get along? The drivers all claimed just the opposite, and so far they seem to be right. This
bears watching as this team moves on, and one has to wonder what will happen when the drivers get together on the track, which
is inevitable. But here is no denying his outstanding performance as he leads two of the NASCAR top three series in points
and is third in the other.
As far as for Earnhardt
at Hendricks, he seems to be doing just fine also, he is sixth in the Cup points and his car has been competitive each week.
Except for the early race mishap at California two weeks ago where he finished
40th, he has started no worse than 15th and has 3 top 10 finishes. Now it’s on to Bristol
where he has not finished worse than 11th in the last 8 races, with four top 5’s, and a victory in the spring race of
2004.
2006 StockCar Review.
