NASCAR intends to soften up front ends of cars before Talladega
By DAVID POOLE and JIM UTTER
The Charlotte Observer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
Nobody's sure how NASCAR's "no zone" rule designed to limit bump drafting in the turns at Daytona International Speedway will be enforced Thursday in the Gatorade Duel, two 150-mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500. "How are you going to judge what was too hard when the cars are running 190 mph?" asked Dale Jarrett, who'll start on the front row alongside Jeff Burton in Thursday's first qualifier. "They (NASCAR) could definitely determine who makes the Daytona 500 and then on Sunday who has the chance to win it."
It is likely, however, that after this week drivers won't have to worry about the rule.
NASCAR is working toward a new bumper configuration that, by the next restrictor-plate race at Talladega in April, would prevent teams from beefing up their bumpers with to allow cars to slam into the ones ahead of them and receive blows from the ones behind them without damaging the cars' aerodynamics.
"We're on it back at the research and development center now," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition. "Hopefully we can get through Daytona, make some corrections to the cars and get on with it at Talladega.
"Right now, we're going to take it a day at a time through Sunday. We understand there is going to be some incidental contact out there and we'll do everything we can to not make the wrong the call."
Good luck with that, some drivers said Wednesday.
Ryan Newman, who start 15th in Thursday's second race, doesn't think any kind of judgment call is good for racing.
"It's a joke," Newman said. "NASCAR's job is to control the races, not control the drivers. ...Some people have ruined it for everybody else, and that's not the way to run the rules of this sport. It's just not very bright. You have to have experience and knowledge and whoever does that (bump drafts in the turns) doesn't. ...It's not 20 percent of the drivers.
"It's 2 percent (and) there's no reason to make a rule off that. Those drivers should be quarantined." (me- quarantined? Newman, have you been spending too much time with dogs again? However, it would be fun to see Kyle Busch locked in a cage. hmmm...)
NASCAR announced the "no zones" Tuesday after Tony Stewart, who starts 10th in Thursday's first race, warned "we are going to kill somebody" if the kind of bump drafting he saw in Sunday's Budweiser Shootout wasn't brought under control.
"I think it's a good decision," Stewart said Wednesday. "We don't need to be hitting each other in the corners, for sure. There's probably nothing we can do to the cars this week, but at least they're doing something about it before it gets out of control."
Stewart, the 2005 Nextel Cup champion, spoke out publicly and went to the NASCAR hauler after the Shootout to express his concerns.
"It was a big enough deal where I felt like I had to say something," Stewart said. "The lowest guy in points in this series, if he doesn't like something, he should feel like he's responsible to go in there and tell them about it, too. Your feelings aren't ranked by points standings and your common sense shouldn't be dictated by that."
But Felix Sabates, part owner of the Chip Ganassi Racing team, was critical of Stewart's actions.
"That was pretty dumb," Sabates said. "He's one of the guys who bumped the hell out of everybody. ...He's a good champion and I think he just went brain dead when he said that. ...If NASCAR thinks somebody intentionally wrecked somebody they can call a penalty now, so why change anything?"
But Elliott Sadler, who starts third in Thursday's first race, disagrees. He's already looking ahead to Talladega and hopes the reinforced bumpers will be banned by then.
"It's crazy," Sadler said. "We have more stuff done on the front of our car than you would have on a bulldozer.
"If they make us take out some bars and all this metal plating that everybody is running behind the noses - just put a normal nose on these cars and get to Talladega - it will make it a lot safer for everybody involved."
The Charlotte Observer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
Nobody's sure how NASCAR's "no zone" rule designed to limit bump drafting in the turns at Daytona International Speedway will be enforced Thursday in the Gatorade Duel, two 150-mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500. "How are you going to judge what was too hard when the cars are running 190 mph?" asked Dale Jarrett, who'll start on the front row alongside Jeff Burton in Thursday's first qualifier. "They (NASCAR) could definitely determine who makes the Daytona 500 and then on Sunday who has the chance to win it."
It is likely, however, that after this week drivers won't have to worry about the rule.
NASCAR is working toward a new bumper configuration that, by the next restrictor-plate race at Talladega in April, would prevent teams from beefing up their bumpers with to allow cars to slam into the ones ahead of them and receive blows from the ones behind them without damaging the cars' aerodynamics.
"We're on it back at the research and development center now," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition. "Hopefully we can get through Daytona, make some corrections to the cars and get on with it at Talladega.
"Right now, we're going to take it a day at a time through Sunday. We understand there is going to be some incidental contact out there and we'll do everything we can to not make the wrong the call."
Good luck with that, some drivers said Wednesday.
Ryan Newman, who start 15th in Thursday's second race, doesn't think any kind of judgment call is good for racing.
"It's a joke," Newman said. "NASCAR's job is to control the races, not control the drivers. ...Some people have ruined it for everybody else, and that's not the way to run the rules of this sport. It's just not very bright. You have to have experience and knowledge and whoever does that (bump drafts in the turns) doesn't. ...It's not 20 percent of the drivers.
"It's 2 percent (and) there's no reason to make a rule off that. Those drivers should be quarantined." (me- quarantined? Newman, have you been spending too much time with dogs again? However, it would be fun to see Kyle Busch locked in a cage. hmmm...)
NASCAR announced the "no zones" Tuesday after Tony Stewart, who starts 10th in Thursday's first race, warned "we are going to kill somebody" if the kind of bump drafting he saw in Sunday's Budweiser Shootout wasn't brought under control.
"I think it's a good decision," Stewart said Wednesday. "We don't need to be hitting each other in the corners, for sure. There's probably nothing we can do to the cars this week, but at least they're doing something about it before it gets out of control."
Stewart, the 2005 Nextel Cup champion, spoke out publicly and went to the NASCAR hauler after the Shootout to express his concerns.
"It was a big enough deal where I felt like I had to say something," Stewart said. "The lowest guy in points in this series, if he doesn't like something, he should feel like he's responsible to go in there and tell them about it, too. Your feelings aren't ranked by points standings and your common sense shouldn't be dictated by that."
But Felix Sabates, part owner of the Chip Ganassi Racing team, was critical of Stewart's actions.
"That was pretty dumb," Sabates said. "He's one of the guys who bumped the hell out of everybody. ...He's a good champion and I think he just went brain dead when he said that. ...If NASCAR thinks somebody intentionally wrecked somebody they can call a penalty now, so why change anything?"
But Elliott Sadler, who starts third in Thursday's first race, disagrees. He's already looking ahead to Talladega and hopes the reinforced bumpers will be banned by then.
"It's crazy," Sadler said. "We have more stuff done on the front of our car than you would have on a bulldozer.
"If they make us take out some bars and all this metal plating that everybody is running behind the noses - just put a normal nose on these cars and get to Talladega - it will make it a lot safer for everybody involved."
posted by at 2/15/2006 10:47:00 PM
2 Comments:
Then NASCAR will bitch that it has taken fans out of the seats. Removing the supports is a good idea, but who will be the first one to forget about them not being there? Jimmie Johnson nof course.
I agree with the comment you left on my blog, Babs. I'm sure there will be fireworks as soon as (like you say) someone is nabbed multiple times as opposed to someone else once or twice (or not at all), or someone feels they were called "unfairly".
As for new bumper configurations, for once in my life I have to (albeit hesitantly) agree with Junior, when he said that if they re-do the bumpers, drivers will just figure out another way to bump.
Regardless, it should be interesting! ;-)
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