Sofa Sideline – The Bell Rings – End of Round Two
During Thursday afternoon’s test session
when drivers employed the draft, Mike Wallace came up the winner in the Andy
Petree #33 Chevy (yet unsponsored), with a top speed of 184.302. Rounding out
the top five were; Bill Elliott, Dodge, 184.298; Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 184.222;
Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 184.207; and Matt Kenseth, Ford, (yes, I said Ford) with
a speed of 184.185. Michael Waltrip led the way for the day in single car
testing with a speed of 183.255.
After all is said and done, one is left
with "their head spinning" as to what actually took place in Daytona.
Comments such as "testing here sucks" by Jeff Burton and "we just
spur around doing this garbage we’re doing here?" laughingly spoken by
Tony Stewart, every Ford in the place purportedly "sandbagging" with
the Chevys’ just taking off, how the heck is the average person supposed to
figure this out. Or maybe that’s part of the allure? We have to tune into the
race to see what happens.
So are the rules going to change again,
before the 500? That’s seems to be the general consensus. In the words of
Kenny Wallace, "You couldn’t bump draft. You couldn’t get to people.
They will change the rules again, I’m pretty positive. But what they do is up
to them."
In his first year as Winston Cup Director,
it is up to John Darby to sort through the rhetoric and do what needs to be done
to get the manufacturers on a level playing field. Parity is one of the
expressed objectives he’d like to accomplish as a result of the Daytona
testing. Darby is also concerned about the speed and handling and solicited
opinions from the drivers as to how they felt the aerodynamics rules package was
working or not-working.
One opinion on what needs to be done was
aptly put by Bobby Labonte when asked about possible rule changes for the
Pontiac in a down force configuration: "We don’t want anything more than
just what everybody else has. We don’t want less and we don’t want more. We
just want the same, at least," said Labonte. "When they take the cars
to the wind tunnel that is the measuring device that we have to go with. If that’s
as accurate as we’re going to get, then let’s go by that. If our car doesn’t
have the down force in the front or the back, and you are going to have common
templates and you’re supposed to have common cars and you want to have a level
playing field, then just do it. Do anything. Do whatever it takes. If that is
what you’re going to use for comparing them, then just compare them. Don’t
use anything else. Don’t use the race team aspect or the driver aspect or the
engine aspect or whatever."
Mr. Darby’s role is to evaluate all the
data, and make a qualified decision as to what needs to be done, if anything,
prior to the upcoming race. All we fans can do is wait and see.
It was also good to hear that once Daytona
is settled, John Darby is looking to see that there will be minimal rule changes
during the upcoming season. "I think 2002 is where we will be looking at an
all-time low number of changes," said Darby. "My philosophies are very
basic and common; if the rule says don’t stick your hand on the stove, then
don’t stick your hand on the stove."
This is very refreshing, pretty much cut
and dry, and the way to go about running the "business" of the NASCAR
Winston Cup Series. Mr. Darby has three basic philosophies when it comes to
developing Winston Cup relationships; you can always talk to him, you can trust
him and they can have confidence that he will make proper and correct decisions.
It has always been my belief that you have to play by one set of rules, in both
business and life. As far as I’m concerned, these are the rules governing life
as well, and if that is the way Mr. Darby conducts himself both on and off the
track, then its certain he will be successful in his new role. Good luck to you
sir.
Other stuff:
Tony Stewart was asked the question: "During
some down time while testing you mentioned that going into 2002 you’re only
going to worry about the things you can control and for the things you can’t
control, you’re just not going to deal with them. Is that pretty much your
motto for 2002?" Tony’s response: "As much as I can, but I’m
also realistic. I’m sure there are going to be some things that will come up
during the season that’ll force my emotions to get in the way more than once
– it always does. But we’ll just deal with those situations as they come up
and just try to do a better job of handling them this year than we did last
year."
Tony, Tony, Tony, you are who you are! As
long as you don’t make any mistakes on the track, that cause you valuable
points and track position, we want you to keep the fire burning! It’s like a
breath of fresh air when someone speaks what’s on their mind (whether right or
wrong) and it helps to keep everybody on their toes. Good luck on your race for
the championship, but look out, as I’m feeling more and more, like there are
going to be several drivers right on your rear, including the number 18. I have
a sneaky feeling, like the one experienced in 2000, your racing partner is
"going for the gold" as well.
Johnny Benson turned some fairly decent
laps in Daytona and I wouldn’t be surprised if he produces a top five finish
in the 500 – we might even see that elusive win happen! We are all hoping you
have a great year, and gain that top ten finish in points in 2002.
Gotta say it – what’s with the
Evernham team and Bill Elliott’s car having the wrong restrictor plate on it?
Huh? On the first day of testing this week, Elliott turned a lap of 187.052, but
it was found that they were using last year’s restrictor plate with a 15/16th
inch opening. With the new rules, the size is supposed to be 7/8. Reportedly,
Mr. Evernham was pretty upset by this mistake, and commenting that there would
be one less person in his organization. The car was made "legal" and
Elliott seem to fair reasonable well during the rest of the testing. Never did
hear if anyone was actually let go, or it was chalked up to an honest mistake.
Let’s hope so.
Greg Biffle is set to may his Winston Cup
debut in the Daytona 500. Biffle is expected to attempt to participate in up to
seven Winston Cup races in 2002 and gain some experience in the series. Good
luck to Greg in the Cup series as well as in the run for the Championship in the
Busch Series.
Commentary:
I’m temporarily back at the "old
homestead" in Upstate New York, and much could be said for the state of my
mental condition, as I’m "wintering" in New York, but I have to make
a statement to the longstanding proponents of eliminating races at certain
tracks in an attempt to shorten the season a bit. One that often comes up in
conversation is New Hampshire. For the life of me, I can’t understand this.
That track is always filled to capacity and the waiting list for tickets –
well forget it. Where I am located, is somewhere in the neighborhood of about
160 miles from that track, but there are fans everywhere, and a good number of
people with season tickets at NHIS. On a little jaunt to the market, about a
mile from where I’m staying, I saw two driver license plates (tacked above
their NYS plate), four window stickers (primarily the 3 and the 8), and just
down the street is a sign in a driveway that says "only 20 fans allowed to
park here." Oh, there’s also the "stuff" on my truck, and my
sister’s Rusty Wallace plate holder and her "quiet space" decorated
in basic #2 décor (with a little 88 thrown in). So NASCAR, if you are going to
take a look at the schedule and somewhere down the road, attempt to shorten the
season, take a look at the tracks that don’t ever sell out, where the fan base
is less than desirable, and the racing "sucks" — even if it means you
have to look in your own backyard. Just a thought…
That’s it for now.