Jimmie Johnson won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Sunday but his victory was overshadowed by nice competition cautions meaning NASCAR threw a yellow flag to allow the teams to come to pit road and change tires before that failed. Basically, the fans saw a series of short heat races and at a reduced speed. It seemed the only time fans got an opportunity to see what the cars and drivers could do was the final seven laps(after another restart) when Carl Edward made a move and actually challenged JJ on the final few laps. Twelve circuits were the most consecutive green-flag laps in what turned out to be a “160-lap debacle” "No one wants to race like that," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of racing. "We will look at all the data and try to figure it out. We will work with NASCAR and the teams. It's the entire package together that we have to consider." With attendance already down from last year this is the last thing NASCAR needed and it appears some heads will roll before this is all said and done. Don’t take anything away from JJ though, he dealt with the same conditions as everyone else and managed to stay out of harms way and fast enough to win. One of the few Pole to Winner’s Circle trip the Brick Yard has seen.
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12 comments:
How can anyone defend "Badyear" in this situation? Nascar and putting the blame on the track is not much better. Firestone has no problems with this track and they run those cars 230plus in the straights and 210-220 in the corners. Nascars POS or car of whenever was dropping down to 150 or less in the corners and the tires could not stay together. Why not just put a muzzle on the drivers and not let them say what they really think of the tires. You could see the politics involved in that from them. They are afraid of what will happen to them if they speak out. I liked the comment on how the F1 drivers at least had the stones to pull off of the track and defy their sanctioning body.
I attended, in person. Sat in turn three, actually, overlooking a brilliant view down the backstretch and around to turn four, everything. And want to know the most enraging aspect of all?
"Well, the track's so abrasive..."
WTF? As in, compared to the junk surface of a Daytona or Talladega? Try running those without the crutch of towering banking, and they'd last two laps at best. It's one thing if I have to sit in blazing sun and watch a festival of #### like I saw; it's even worse to hear ANYONE put the onus on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when compared to the patchwork surface of the early 1930s, this is like running on friggin' CARPET (drivers' direct quotes, that), so as NOT to put it where it lies: with NASCAR's idiotic "Car of Tomorrow" (still with carburetors, 55 years after the 500 introduced fuel-injection) and Goodyear's apparently new "Powder Line series" of tire.
Thr track's abrasive? Yeah, like the street in front of my house is abrasive. The track's not toweringly banked? Indeed; that actually provides a challenge, especially to obese cars on obsolete chassis and engine technology that now compete in a propaganda-filled, ironically money-grubbing communistic motor racing system.
The blame is plain and simple, as Blount makes surprisingly clear. And just like 2005, it's NOT with the Grand Ole' Track.
They should give the trophy to the pace car-didn't it lead the most laps! What a joke! pro-wrestling was less predictable. The cars from the back of the pack had no chance. Way to go ESPN, and sucking up to NASCAR, you guys should have been all over them for bad television.
I'm simply amazed at how NASCAR seems so clueless as to why this mess happened. The biggest variable between last year and this year is the car. Plain and simple, the lumbering dump truck that is the COT is the reason why tires were being shredded at such an alarming rate. They knew the make-up of the IMS track surface and still they and Goodyear only gathered data from three cars back in a time of the year when it was quite a bit cooler here in Indiana. That is poor preparation in spades. This is not the fault of Tony George or IMS. The onus lies on the shoulders of the companies that were so ill-prepared to successfully present the event. Now is the time for Goodyear and NASCAR to fall on their swords, pull a Michelin out of their hat and offer up refunds to paying ticket holders. That will at least start some feelings of goodwill towards the fans.
Indeed there needs to be an open invitation for other tire companies to throw their hats into the ring. Goodyear's glad-handed arrangement with NASCAR is now completely out into the open for public speculation. The sad thing is that I don't think there will be too many takers if this would ever happen. It's just becoming too much of a PITA to deal with the way NASCAR does business.
At least there were a lot of cars "running" at the end of the race. That's such a rarity in the crash-'em-up-derby that is synonymous with NASCAR's brands of racing. I'd much rather watch jello cool than take in another NASCAR race.
Does NASCAR see the same thing we are seeing? Empty seats on the home stretch. r u kidding me? i mean the end of the race is what most people tune into. it's like the 9th inning or the 4th quarter. the time when most people tune in. in this case most people were outside mowng their lawns, talking with their neighbor, barbecuing late, playin with their car, sending a disgruntled e-mail to NASCAR, or *^&%&* their ole lady. NASCAR is in serious, and I mean baseball steroid serious, trouble.
I've never seen anything like this. What bothers me most is how pompous NASCAR and GOODYEAR seem to be. It's like they're saying, "Yeah, we screwed up, but get over it, because we run things how we want to run them." I really hope the sport tumbles further, to be honest. It's the only way NASCAR will change its "high-horse" attitude.
Btw, did everyone see the amount of empty seats on the front stretch? They never had that at Indy before, and after this travesty, I don't think they are going to sell more tickets to the same race next year than they did this year, for sure.
People didn't show up not because of "hard economic times", they didn't show up because Tony George can't promote a race properly anymore. Look at the 500, look at the Brickyard 400, and look at F1's now departure from the raceway. This guy is single handedly running that track into the ground after doing the same to open wheel racing in the US.
Like I said early on, I wouldn't have had a problem with yesterday's race, except that they had a tire test there three months ago and exactly the same thing happened. The tires deteriorated after five to ten laps. So what did Goodyear and NASCAR do for the next three months? Did they act decisively? No, they did nothing and hoped for the best.
1. The HP rule change affects the NW series, not sprint Cup, so all comments posted here relating the HP decrease and Hendrick winning is not only illogical, but plain stupid. Make sure you understand your facts before you start spewing garbage.
2. If NASCAR was fixing races for the "golden boys," then why have they not been winning?
3. Watch out calling NASCAR "racist hicks." This country has enough problems with out you waging a stereotype war. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean you are any better. I guarantee you that not all NASCAR employees are from the South either.
4. Yes, NASCAR and Goodyear made an EXTREMELY unwise decision to run these tires at this track. Both should share the blame. Intellegent individuals are paid large salaries b/c they apparently understand the engineering behind running these cars on certain tires at specific tracks. NASCAR made the decision to change to the COT and they should have been very thorough on all aspects of its handling before bringing it to each track. From what I understand, the Goodyear test only foretold what happened Sunday. Why would you just say, "Let's HOPE it gets better after a few laps of racing?" Both should be embarassed.
5. You can be a fan without being a hater. I may not pull for your driver, but I still respect them. It is unfortunate not all posters can be as respectful. Who cares who your favorite driver is? They all drive by the same rules, whether your conspiracy theory says so or not.
The Goodyear Testing Session at the Brickyard is what the event should have been called yesterday. That was not even close to being called racing. Tony Stewart was right and alot of people owe him an apology for what Goodyear has not done this year. There is a reason that Goodyear was run out of Formula 1, IRL, and Cart. There product is a joke and was on display yesterday.
Carl Edwards said an interview during the rain delay that when he saw Jimmie heading to the pits behind him he changed his plan and went toopitting. Osburn was wanting to stay out but Carl said Jimmy and those guys usually have the strategy of the races exactly right so he followed him. (yes Carl was in front so he technically didn't "follow him" but as Tony and Jimmie headed toward the pits Carl turned real fast to get back in line with them)
Obviously Carl has more faith in Chad Knaus' strategy then his own crew chief, but who could blame him.
It doesn't matter--all I know is the Dale Jr has been less than inspiring this season after all the hype. Same story at Pocono as all the other tracks--good practices, " I like my car" comments and then........well.... ..the race and he and Eury Jr CANNOT make adjustments.
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