has nascar hit the snooze?

NASCARRundown
SPRINT CUP
HAS NASCAR HIT THE
SNOOZE?
BY CHAD ROBB | BLEACHERREPORT.COM
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M's Ms.
Brown Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series Capital City 400 at Richmond
International Raceway on April 28 in Richmond, Va. GETTY IMAGES FOR NASCAR
reasons why Sprint
Cup is boring
4
he end to NASCAR’s 2011 season was one of the most dramatic
in sports history. After 36 races, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards
were tied in the point standings, and Stewart’s six wins gave him
the championship on a tiebreaker.
But NASCAR got off to a horrible start in 2012. The Daytona
500 (the biggest race of the year) was delayed by rain. Once the race
started, it was once again delayed when Juan Pablo Montoya ran into a
jet dryer truck while under caution. The television ratings were down,
most likely because of the delays to the race.
Many fans have stated that the racing is boring this year. Fans love to
see wrecks and drivers beating on each other’s fenders. The opposite
has happened this year: Most of the races have had limited caution flags
and even fewer passes.
So why has the racing been so boring in 2012?
T
1 CARS TOO TECHNOLOGICAL
Carl Edwards may have the best advice for changing NASCAR into a
more competitive sport.
“NASCAR hates it when I say this, but I firmly believe that we should
not be racing with downforce, sideforce and all these aerodynamic devices. We do not need splitters on the race cars and giant spoilers,” he told
Jeff Gluck of sbnation.com at Richmond.
“What has happened, in my humble opinion ... (is) it is pretty common
sense that if all the cars are very similar and all the drivers are really good
— which we all think we are — and we are all within a tenth of a second
of each other but are relying on this clean air and downforce to make the
cars go that speed, then by definition, if the guy in front of you is disturbing the air, then your car is not going to be able to go as fast as it could in
clean air.
“So why don't we get rid of these aerodynamic devices and race cars on
racetracks with tires that are softer? ... That is my opinion on how to make
the cars and the drivers able to do more and put it in the drivers' and crew
chiefs' hands. I think that is important.”
Next season, the Sprint Cup series will feature cars that resemble the
manufacturers' cars in the showrooms. The cars will still have many of
the downforce items that Edwards referred to.
NEXT RACE
2 TRACKS NEED CHANGES
Another solution to the boring races this year has been to reconfigure
the racetracks. Bristol and Kansas have decided to make changes to improve the quality of racing for the fans.
Kansas Speedway was due for a change. The seams in the racetrack
made it hard for NASCAR teams to find a setup for their cars. The added
banking and a fresh new surface should bring the racetrack to life, much
the way Las Vegas Motor Speedway did when it was resurfaced.
3 BRISTOL IS ANOTHER STORY
The reason for the lack of fans at the racetrack for the spring race was
not because of the boring racing. The Bristol race is simply too expensive
for most fans to attend. It was reported on espn.com that many fans who
won free tickets for the race at Bristol could not attend because the cheapest lodging was more than $300 a night. If the fans wanted lodging
cheaper they would have to stay in Knoxville, Tenn., a three-hour drive to
the racetrack.
After the race at Bristol, racetrack owner Bruton Smith decided that if
the racetrack was changed, the fans would come back. The changes to
Bristol should add some excitement to the race, but cheaper ticket prices
and lodging would go a long way toward filling the stands for one of the
best tracks to watch a race.
4 FOCUS ON POINTS RACING
The loudest voice in NASCAR belongs to the most popular driver,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. In an interview with Gluck, Earnhardt commented
on the lack of recent cautions and rivalries: “That is just the way the
racing is right now," in which it's more important for drivers to pointsrace than to go run into a competitor out of anger.
"I still feel like it's pretty early in the season," he said. "Everybody is
just trying to get as many points as they can get, trying to make the
Chase. If you go out there running over each other and damaging your
car, you could cost yourself 10 points here and 10 points there, and you
could lose the opportunity to make the Chase pretty quickly.
"So you have to pretty smart when you're driving your car."
Earnhardt is following the old philosophy made famous by legendary
racer Dick Trickle, “In order to finish first, you must first finish.”
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is more competitive than it has been
in the past. If drivers are not competing for a spot in the Chase on a
regular basis, the car owners will find another driver who will. That is
why points are more important than revenge on other drivers.
AARON’S 499, TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
PAST WINNERS
« 2011 Jimmie Johnson
2010 Kevin Harvick
2009 Brad Keselowski
2008 Kyle Busch
2007 Jeff Gordon
THE LOWDOWN Denny Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, will join Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 43
team and driver Aric Almirola for Talladega, so look for some changes in the No. 11 team. Also to watch:
the rising Jimmie Johnson, who had perhaps the fastest car at Richmond but suffered from a pit
penalty, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was second at Richmond and is now second in the points.
FEB 18 Budweiser Shootout
1st Kyle Busch
2nd Tony Stewart
FEB 26 Daytona 500
1st Matt Kenseth
2nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3rd Greg Biffle
3rd Marcos Ambrose
JUL 7
Coke Zero 400
MAR 4 Subway 500
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Kevin Harvick
3rd Greg Biffle
JUL 29 Crown Royal Brickyard 400
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Ind.
MAR 11 Kobalt Tools 400
1st Tony Stewart
2nd Jimmie Johnson
3rd Greg Biffle
AUG 5 Pennsylvania 400
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pa.
Watkins Glen, N.Y.
JUL 15 Lenox 301
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Fla.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, N.H.
MAR 18 Food City 500
1st Brad Keselowski 2nd Matt Kenseth
3rd Martin Truex Jr.
AUG 12 Heluva Good! at the Glen
Watkins Glen International
MAR 25 Auto Club 500
1st Tony Stewart
2nd Kyle Busch
3rd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
AUG 19 Pure Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Mich.
APR 1
1st Ryan Newman
2nd AJ Allmendinger
3rd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
AUG 25 Irwin Tools Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tenn.
Hampton, Ga.
Goody’s 500
APR 14 Samsung 500
1st Greg Biffle
2nd Jimmie Johnson
3rd Mark Martin
SEP 2
AdvoCare 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
APR 22 STP 400
1st Denny Hamlin
2nd Martin Truex Jr.
3rd Jimmie Johnson
SEP 8
Wonderful Pistachios 400
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond, Va.
APR 28 Richmond 400
1st. Kyle Busch
2nd Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3rd Tony Stewart
Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, Ill.
Loudon, N.H.
SEP 16 Geico400
MAY 6 Aaron’s 499
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Ala.
SEP 23 Sylvania 300
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
MAY 12 Showtime So. 500
Darlington Raceway
Darlington, S.C.
SEP 30 AAA 400
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Del.
MAY 19 Sprint All-Star Race
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
OCT 7
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Ala.
MAY 27 Coca-Cola 600
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
OCT 13 Bank of America 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
JUN 3
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Del.
OCT 21 Hollywood Casino 400
Kansas Speedway
Kansas City, Kan.
JUN 10 Pocono 400
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pa.
OCT 28 Tums 500
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville, Va.
JUN 17 Heluva Good! 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Mich.
NOV 4 AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas
JUN 24 Toyota/Save Mart 350
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
NOV 11 Kobalt Tools 500
Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale, Ariz.
JUN 30 Quaker State 400
Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Ky.
NOV 18 Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Fla.
FedEx 400
Good Sam Club 500
ABOUT TALLADEGA
TRACK 2.66-mile tri-oval
RACE LENGTH 188 laps
FIRST RACE 1969
SERIES NASCAR Sprint Cup
WHERE TO WATCH Pre-race show
starts at noon EDT Sunday, followed
by the race at 12:30 p.m.
UP TO SPEED
Reviews of and opinions on last
week’s races from Bleacher Report
NASCAR writers.
Busch brothers get
first Nationwide win
The Friday night action at RIR
found Kurt Busch in the lead after
methodically working his way to the
front of the field. Busch was driving
his brother Kyle’s Nationwide No. 54
Toyota — Kyle has been struggling to
just finish with a top 10, let alone a
win.
Kevin Harvick started on the pole
and led a bunch of laps, yet Kurt
Busch was able to pass the full-time
Cupster on the outside, exhibiting a
very strong race car.
Kurt Busch pulled away from the
pack in the closing stages before
noticing Denny Hamlin large in his
mirrors over the final dozen laps. The
two went side-by-side for the final
two laps, trading paint and a little
more as they approached the finish
line with Kurt Busch edging the local
favorite by less than a fender.
The Busch brothers celebrated in
the winner’s circle their first Nationwide team victory, Kurt’s fourth in 15
starts. Finishing right behind Hamlin
at the stripe were Harvick, Ricky
Stenhouse Jr. and Sam Hornish Jr.
The latest results find Elliott
Sadler just two points ahead of Stenhouse in the big points picture.
— Russell Schmidt
Rumor roundup
Bristol Motor Speedway officials
announced their plans for the highspeed banked track of which they’ve
already started construction. They
are going to grind away the upper
lane next to the wall at both ends of
the half-mile track and eliminate the
progressive banking in those areas in
hopes of better side-by-side racing
come this fall.
I say they should have dug up
most of the track and returned to exactly the way it was before the introduction of the progressive banking.
They would also be better served to
lower the price of admission and
have the track put some kind of
pressure on the local hotels and motels from overcharging the race fans
on race weekends.
— Russell Schmidt
Officiating ends Edwards'
hopes of victory
Those looking for a controversial
officiating story need look no further
than Saturday night's Capital City
400 at the Richmond International
Raceway.
Carl Edwards established himself
as the dominant driver in the race,
leading 206 laps and looking like a
sure bet to take his first victory in
more than a year. But after NASCAR
decided that he jumped a Lap 320
restart, Edwards was black-flagged,
sending him to the end of the lead
lap. He would eventually recover for
a 10th-place finish.
For the restart in question, Edwards would start on the outside of
leader Tony Stewart. Replays
showed that Stewart spun his tires
on the restart, but that Edwards also
appeared to accelerate a full car
length before NASCAR's designated
"restart box," which consists of two
lines painted on both walls of the
track coming out of Turn 4.
According to a frustrated Edwards, spotter Jason Hedlesky had
been told that Edwards was the
leader of the race by a NASCAR official, and the track's scoring pylon
confirmed that. However, because
Edwards was restarting on the
slower, wider, outside line, he would
be at a disadvantage.
After the race, Robin Pemberton,
NASCAR's vice president of competition, admitted that Edwards should
have never been scored in the lead
at all. While scrubbing his tires the
lap before the restart, Edwards
crossed the start-finish line before
Stewart, leading the electronic timing and scoring to incorrectly bump
him to first place.
Information from The Associated
Press' Jenna Fryer was used to complete this article.
— Christopher Leone