Location:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
Member since:
08/03/2007
Favorite Driver:
Greg Biffle
Who Am I:
I get to come in here every day and read, write, think, and talk about racing, so yeah, I'm pretty damn lucky. I get to talk to Rick Mast, Barry Dodson, Mark Garrow, Jeff Gluck, and a lot of cool people about racing every week--that makes me even luckier. I've got a lot of cool people watching who watch the Rowdy videos, listen to the Rowdy podcast, and read our Rowdy blog. That makes me incredibly lucky!
Why I'm a race fan:
Along with the power and passion of racing, NASCAR is the one sport that doesn't involve regional loyalty--you pick a guy that represents you.
Favorite Track:
Richmond International Raceway
Favorite Racing Moment:
My first green flag at Bristol! I'll never forget it.
How I discovered Rowdy, and why I Listen:
Founded Rowdy with Buck.
What car/truck I drive now:
Car
My dream car:
Number 16 Ford!
Favorite Music:
They Might Be Giants, Green Day, Elvis Costello, and Jazz
Favorite TV Shows:
Racing shows (duh), Washington Capitals hockey, Top Chef with the family, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Favorite Books:
Biographies (just finished one on Einstein), history, and sports books (just reading a the autiobiography of cricketer Marcus Trescothick given to me by Rowdy listeners Sal and Mike!
Interests:
All kinds of sports, physics (!), history, old radio shows.
Dislikes:
People who think they have nothing left to learn
Hobbies:
Hockey: playing and watching my Washington Capitals.
Vices:
I stay up too late watching sports on TV
Virtues:
I'll leave that to others . . . !
Number of hits:
15035
Latest Twitter updates:
I'm gonna rock and roll all night . . . and probably every day.
No Rules, Just Right
There were a lot of rules on display yesterday at Talladega, but one of them was the most maddening of all: the rule of unintended consequences. After giving drivers a major rule change mere the hours before the race (no bump drafting in the corners, or else) NASCAR, and millions of fans, watched as the cars rode single file around the track for over half of the scheduled laps—essentially shortening the competitive portion of the race—and we still got a couple of big, dangerous wrecks before the end.
This morning I was talking to ESPN’s Andy Petree for this week’s Rowdy podcast and he said something that struck a chord: I just don’t think we need all these rules. Drivers can’t go below the yellow line and now they can’t bump draft to get to the front either. After his engine blew up, Denny Hamlin predicted that a big wreck on the straightaway would happen because the drivers were essentially doubling up by banging on each other harder on the straights. And sure enough, both Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch were turned on the straight leading to the two major wrecks of the day.
Petree didn’t agree that the in-race parade laps were an act of defiance on the part of the drivers, but that sure was how it felt from where I was sitting. Several mentioned feeling that NASCAR didn’t trust them and was essentially taking the steering wheel out of their hands. Kyle Busch apparently even referred to a de facto “drivers union.” And although we didn’t have any wrecks caused by bump-drafting in the corner, we still had Newman’s scary flip and the time he spent sitting in a car that felt like a “tomb”—not exactly the analogy we like to hear from race car drivers.
No matter what rules NASCAR imposes, drivers and teams will push them to the limits. With this racecar on a recently repaved Talladega—and with plates on the cars of course—drivers have so much grip they actually can bump draft in the corners. They’ve figured out how to do it. Hamlin even argued that bumping in the corner made the racing safer: “Pushing each other in the corners and all the way around, that is the safest drivers can do because you are linked together.” But no matter what rule or tactic you’re talking about, if you push it to the limit, sometimes you are going to go over the edge.
Going up to and sometimes over the edge is actually what racing is all about. And at Talladega, no matter what the rules are, when someone screws up, the consequences are going to be severe. I applaud NASCAR for trying to make the racing safer, but I think the late edict on bump-drafting was a misstep. It simply took a useful tool out of the hands of the drivers. In the end, NASCAR is putting the blame in the wrong spot. The drivers will race to the best of their ability with the plate on their cars. They will find out where the edge is and try to exploit it ruthlessly with their own best interests (winning and safety) at heart. Sometimes they will make mistakes, but if we can’t trust them to do that, we might as well go watch Jai-alai.
Average Rating:
I like that NASCAR is trying to increase safety but rolling out a new rule hours before a race was a really bad move. It would be like telling football players at 10:00 AM on Sunday that they'll be penalized if they tackle too hard!
NASCAR should have made this rule before 'Dega practices so drivers could have learned during practice what was acceptable, what would result in a black flag, and how they could incorporate it into their strategies.
- Throttleneck Racing
- 13:31:39 11-02-2009
It was interesting that no one tested NASCAR by bump drafting in the corners. I fully expected that someone would get a pass-through for violating the "new" rule.
If Talladega is going to end up being a parade lap for 70% of the race, let's shorten the race so that there is no reason to run nose-to-tail for 100+ laps...
- JeffInRoswell
- 13:34:39 11-02-2009
yeah, they effectively shortened the race--it just took a long time to do it :-)
- Bass Masters
- 14:53:45 11-02-2009
my first post and i'm going whine...NASCAR effectively turned the race into a 150 lap high speed parade of shiny race cars. these are supposedly the best racecar drivers in the world, let them drive. bump drafting is not the problem.
a smaller restrictor plate is not the fix, until someone figures out that when the new car turns around and air gets under the the WING and lifts the car like its made of cardboard, these things are going airborne. the roof flaps may have worked for the old spoiler, but this new WING works like the one on an airplane.
i'm sorry, but after wasting 2 1/2 hours listening to ABC telling me how Jimmie Johnson was doing riding in the back while 'who cares' was leading the race is starting to wear thin.
lucky only 3 races left, then i can recharge for next year.
- hawkeye56
- 15:22:19 11-02-2009
Whether or not NASCAR had imposed its final hour bump-drafting dictum, the outcome of the race would not have been any different. Sure, there may or may not have been a different winner, but the finish would have been equally as arbitrary. But, the "racing" during all but the final laps would have been virtually inconsequential to the finish of the race. Why "race" for the majority of a Talladega event when doing so achieves nothing?
- archidude
- 20:39:21 11-02-2009
I think NASCAR made a mistake jumping to the "nobody touch nobody" call just a few hours prior to the race. Sure there was a wreck in practice but come on, there have been wrecks in practice plenty of times without the need to make that kind of call.
I kind of have to question the statement that neither of the wrecks were caused by bump drafting. One guy hitting another guy in the back is bump drafting and that sure seemed like what caused those wrecks. Especially the second one. I wonder if Newman's wreck may have may have been partly been a result of cars braking to make sure they got off the car in front of them before turn 3?
Whether the drivers did what they did to prove a point to NASCAR or to avoid penalties, they sure stunk up the show. Fans complain about not seeing any passing, not having side by side racing, and at the one track where we're always assured to see both, NASCAR decided to screw it up.
- Jeff
- 21:14:39 11-02-2009
What really sucks is all of NASCAR's methods of keeping speeds low are to do with taking power away and negating any driving skill advantage. I wish they'd work in other areas like reducing aero downforce instead like taking off the spoiler so they'd have less grip in the corners and have to slow down for the turns more. This'd also allow opening up the plate holes a bit to where they'd have some more power and be able to make more difference by way of actual driving skill. It'd of course spread the field a bit because talent would come into play and lead to less wrecks as well, not something that that 'safety conscious' NASCAR want..
- SandeepBanerjee
- 00:25:42 11-03-2009
Can you say "chicane"?
Or on a less ludicrous note, why not get rid of restrictor plates and just change the gearbox?
Sure, it'd be hard on the engines, but maybe we'd finally get to see JJ blow up.
Guess I wasn't out in left field after all! Just listened to the show and heard Rick Mast say he suggested the very thing to Bill France years ago!
- suppobill
- 07:19:55 11-03-2009
NASCAR has been getting ripped for their bump drafting rule that produced not so exciting racing, but their goal was driver safety so how can you fault them for that. It's easy to sit in the back seat and criticize the driver (NASCAR), there's pro's and con's to any change, may it be a rule or car change and there is no perfect fix. But one thing I've heard a lot is visibility being a problem, drivers can't see through the car their following, so it's hard to see hand gestures and what's going on in front of the car their following. If they can't see either of these they have no reaction time therefore a higher chance of getting caught up in a wreck. But if you increase the driver's visibility they have more time to react and hopefully avoid a wreck.
Now on another note, if you want to have more exciting racing you need to get rid of the Chase and in doing so you get rid of points racing. NASCAR will never get grid of it and it does give a fans driver at another chance at the Championship but what do you want another chance or more exciting racing.
- jgrey
- 10:48:02 11-03-2009
Good catch, Jeff, I added "in the corner" to clarify my statement on no wrecks being caused by bump drafting. I tried to address this issue in my vblog because at some point you can't take the racing (cars on the edge, drivers going as fast as they can and making "mistakes" in the process) out of racing. It's more dangerous at Talladega because of the plate, pure and simple.
- Bass Masters
- 13:43:01 11-03-2009
They have already proven that the cars are safe now Nascar needs to back off and let the boys race like they use to. this is the first Dega race we have missed in the past several years and am getting a refund on my tickets thank God
- sweetdreams
- 16:35:20 11-03-2009
Just a quick note to ARCHIDUDE...re:"But, the "racing" during all but the final laps would have been virtually inconsequential to the finish of the race. Why "race" for the majority of a Talladega event when doing so achieves nothing?"...I disagree, the racing would have meant that I wouldn't have sat there for 3 hours watching a parade instead of a race. I know that the leader of lap 100 isn't necessarily going to win the race, but dang, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace to all who spend both time and money watching and buying NASCAR product.
- hawkeye56
- 02:48:07 11-04-2009
You could certainly make the argument that the parade laps have always been the most logical choice given the fact that you don't need to try to get to the front until the last 10 laps really, but clearly there was enough uncertainty caused by the late rule change that drivers decided to do that when most of the time most of the drivers have not. When the COT was first introduced, there was enough uncertainty to cause some of the same behavior, if I recall correctly.
- Bass Masters
- 16:19:17 11-04-2009
