Racin' With Russ

Racin’ with Russ

By Russell Schmidt

With this year’s Super Bowl in the record books, it’s only fitting to start talking about NASCAR’s upcoming Super Bowl of sorts, the Daytona 500. This is the only sport I know of that has their biggest and certainly most grand show on the first day of the season.

This year’s big show has a number of new rules changes in place to create what is hopefully a better, more competitive, more entertaining event. I know, last year’s race saw four cars come to the line side by side, neck and neck, but much of the race was a snoozer.

Starting with the restrictor plate, it is now slightly smaller. The vertical blade on the car that runs down the roof and over the rear deck is taller for more vertical stabilization.

The rear spoiler is lower and has a slight curve to it, something I can never remember being in place since the start of NASCAR. I’ve seen wings and blades all different sizes, but never one that is curved, all in the interest of better aerodynamics.

The radiator is now smaller by some three gallons and the catch tank is also smaller. Both of these changes are to try and reduce the time the drivers can stay behind each other while zipping around the 2.5 high speed banked oval without overheating.

In line with these changes is the opening for the radiator at the front of the car, very high in relationship to previous years, also in an effort to keep the cars from running nose-to-tail for very long.

In car communications between drivers has also met the NASCAR chopping block, making it more difficult for fancy moves as the previous two car combos whipped through the field. This part I don’t necessarily agree with as the driver behind has little or no view of what’s in front of him. In this vein I would favor a clear lexan rear spoiler, something seen on the local short tracks.

All of these rules changes have come from race fans complaining about the tandem drafting taking place at all of last years plate races at Daytona and Talladega. NASCAR is trying to accommodate their wishes without giving up any safety issues.

I still see tandem drafting occurring, but more in a late race dash to the finish with large packs being the general view of racing and yes, we’ll unfortunately still witness some form of the ‘big one’ in each event. The multi-car wrecks are just inevitable taking only the slightest of errors to take place to kick them off.

From Rumorville

It appears that David Ragan has finally landed a Sprint Cup ride…between two teams. He’ll start the season with Team Go Canada in the Daytona 500, then move on to Front Row Motorsports Fords for the remainder of the season. Strange arrangement, but this season is shaping up with unusual setups.

Speaking of unusual setups and creative finagling, Danica Patrick will start this year’s Daytona 500 via rules manipulation between Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing. The diminutive racing princess has yet to start on Sprint Cup race, yet will be guaranteed a starting spot worth at least $200,000 according to the new record breaking purse.

SHR and TBR were able to combine forces by using (see if you can follow all of this) the points from the No. 35 TBR car from last year (top 35 car), but will use the No. 10 on the doors for the entire season.

Patrick is slated to drive only 10 races this year, so in order to keep her somewhat afloat of the top 35 (and not have to qualify for future races this season) as she flip flops back and forth between Nationwide and Cup rides, David Reutimann will drive the No. 10 for the other 26 races.

Of all the NASCAR races on the schedule, the Daytona 500 is the most complex and lengthy process, not to mention the most nerve racking for those new to the sport.

Patrick will skirt (pun intended) all of these issues with this complex arrangement where everybody, meaning both teams and big buck sponsor GoDaddy.com wins, but the fans are cheated out of seeing how the 29-year-old rookie would fare on her own merits. More on this as it develops.

Racing legend A.J. Foyt was just released from the hospital after a recent knee operation developed a rather serious infection, sidelining the tough ole 77 year old Texan from being the Grand Marshall at the Rolex 24. A full recovery is expected for him to be back at the track with his Indy car team with driver Mike Conway.

That’s it for this week. Next week, RWR will take a look at this year’s opening rounds of competition for NASCAR, starting with the 2012 Budweiser Shootout along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Each year at this time, I dive into the many driver, crew, sponsor and paint scheme changes for next year. I’ll also throw in my predictions as to how well the various combos will fare. Either take some notes or save these articles to keep up with the many changes.

Car No. 21 - Trevor Bayne

One of the most recent announcements coming out of the Wood Brothers shops is the return of last year’s Daytona 500 winner, 20-year-old Trevor Bayne. With extensive help from various Ford outlets, this talented group will be back for about a dozen race and possibly more with additional backing.

Many of the rules have changed at the big tracks, so the way Bayne was helped and the way he helped others has changed radically.

Can he win the race again? Perhaps, but scoring consistent top 10’s will be more important in gaining more races and a full-time position.

The ex-open wheeler has signed up for more fun with Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet products. Last year’s performance was nothing to brag about with eight top 10 runs, netting a 21st place in the points

Target will be back to sign the big checks and hopefully new crew chief Chris Heroy will improve their overall performance.

Results? I don’t see much of a change from 2011.

Another very recent change, this one on King Richard Petty’s primary car, the legendary No. 43. Allmendinger’s out and last year’s fourth place finisher among the Nationwide ranks, Almirola has been tapped to pilot the Smithfield Foods/U.S. Air Force Ford Fusions.

This would not have been my best pick. I still maintain David Ragan was the man for the job. Greg Erwin will call the shots from atop the box and Almirola predicts top 15’s and s hot at the Chase….I do not. I’d see top 20’s, and an occasional top 10.

Ex-Champion Bobby Labonte returns behind the wheel of this JTG Dougherty Toyota with Todd Berrier selected as their new crew chief. Last year’s 29th in points with only two top 10’s is not exactly setting the world on fire. They are surely the leader of the ‘also ran’ pack.

Creative marketing finds a myriad of sponsors to keep the doors open including, Bush’s Baked Beans, Clorox, Kingsford, Little Debbie among others.

This year’s results? Labonte is in the twilight of his career with the handwriting on the wall to start looking for a comfortable rocker for the front porch sessions of bench racing.

This Hendrick Motorsports driver was finally beaten out of yet another consecutive title, ending at a remarkable five.

Lowe’s will certainly be back, yet with much more blue in their newest paint scheme and Chad Knaus will still make the game plan.

Johnson finished sixth in the points with two wins and 21 top 10 runs, not exactly shabby by any means.

Somewhere along the lines late in the go, the team appeared to lose focus. Combined with some bad luck, the team still walked away with good results and can win on any given race day.

This year? More top 10’s, more wins, a Chase contender for sure, but not another title.

You can only bad mouth your crew and team for so long before a team owner like Roger Penske says he’s had enough. Busch parted ways with Penske after a tumultuous ending to a decent season, yet had no initial plans where he’d wind up.

It didn’t take very long for the ex-champ to hook up with James Finch and their one horse operation. They’ll have a competent Nick Harrison as crew chief, but other ingredients such as backing is a big question mark at this point.

Results? Having Hendrick engines and chassis surely has to help any kind of results for this questionable combo.

Biggest news from this department is Rusty Wallace announcing the closing of his two Nationwide teams, one where his son Steven was driving, I mean wrecking cars and the other for Michael Annett.

It had to be a tough decision to do so, but when Five Hour Energy left the building and other large dollar sponsors are not just not readily available, it was time to do so.

Add in the equation Steven’s constant flow of wrecked cars and pricey repair bills, it was time to regroup.

That’s it for this week. Next week, RWR will continue with Part 6 of Who’s Where for 2012 NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series, along with racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Racin’ with Russ

By RUSSELL SCHMIDT

Last week’s NASCAR’s top three finales saw a number of winners and losers emerge from the 2012 racing season. Here are a few observations from all three starting with the Sprint Cup series.

Yes, Tony Stewart certainly rose to the occasion to win his third overall title, especially when you consider the team hadn’t won a single event heading into the final 10 weeks.

Five wins over the final 10 races has never been done before and it will probably be a long time before it ever happens again.

And to think back in August during a post-race interview, Stewart told reporters the way they were running they may make the Chase, but would probably take up the space of a team that could win the whole thing. Wow…talk about irony!

And Carl Edwards was the picture of consistency despite only winning one race all season! No one had a better 4.9 average finishing position, yet the personable Roush-Fenway driver came up just one little point shy of a first Cup title. They say you have to lose a title before you can win one. Well, he’s now lost two over the past four years, so by all rights, he should be on a tear for next year and beyond.

Kevin Harvick won four races during the year, but would once again have to settle for third overall, something not sitting well with owner Richard Childress as he prepares to rearrange crew chiefs on the No. 29 and 31 cars for next season.

Jeff Gordon won a few races and for a while appeared to be on track to take that fifth title, but the wheels came off that train early in the Chase as did Jimmie Johnson’s attempt at a sixth title.

And as for the Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, they would up last among the top 12 and will be left out of the Las Vegas proceedings. Perhaps they can get together and compare notes on how they ticked off their respective big dollar sponsors and were each fined by NASCAR $50,000 for their childish actions both on and off the track. It’s a shame for those two as they both can drive the wheels off anything, but their volatile personalities and anger issues are nearly beyond reproach.

Nationwide - Ricky Stenhouse Jr recovered nicely from nearly being tossed out of racing from Jack Roush when his finishes and wrecked cars were becoming just a bit much. Roush decided to sit him down a week, while someone else drove his car. That ‘tough love’ by Roush was probably the best thing he could have ever done to ground the young man and set his mind straight to getting on the winning track.

Two victories, three poles, 26 top 10’s and a championship later, what a difference a year makes. The 24-year-old driver will return to action this year with a balancing act between Nationwide and Cup action.

Had Elliott Sadler not been wrecked during the penultimate round, Stenhouse may have had a much tougher finale in Homestead. The Virginia driver settled for second yet the win column was conspicuously empty, something he’ll have to turn around to land that first title.

Truckin’ - A very young Austin Dillon took this series by storm after only one year of full-time truckin’ experience. Along the lines of the Nationwide situation, had four-time champion Ron Hornaday not been taken out the previous week by Kyle Busch, the finale at Homestead would have seen a three-way battle between Dillon, Johnny Sauter and Hornaday right down to the wire.

As it was, Sauter was strong and lucky (early rain ending) to win the race with Dillon surviving to 10th, six points to the good to earn that first title.

Next year, the older Dillon brother will move up to the Nationwide ranks while 19-year-old brother Ty will pilot the No. 3 truck after winning the 2011 ARCA title with multiple wins to his credit.

Across the Pond - The Formula One finale saw Mark Webber finally win a race, his first of the season while in the shadows of his two-time champion teammate Sebastien Vettel. The Brazilian GP saw Vettel take off at first only to be slowed by a faulty transmission, still notching second at the stripe. Jenson Button capped the top three.

From Rumorville - The biggest news here is that three-full-time Cupsters of 2011 have nothing on their driving agenda for 2012 as of this date. Those drivers include David Ragan, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers. Each driver is quite capable of doing the job, yet each has some issues with one part or another of the overall job. Ragan needs consistency, Reutimann needs a personality (yet won the only two races while with MWR) and Vickers, well Vickers needs a referee on and off the racetrack to settle squabbles.

That’s it for this week. Next week, RWR will review the NASCAR banquets for the top three divisions in Florida and Las Vegas along with more racing news from around the globe. Check out all three banquets on Friday night. We’ll compare notes next week.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Racin’ with Russ

By RUSSELL SCHMIDT

The odds makers in Las Vegas probably wouldn’t have given very good odds for winless third year driver Regan Smith to win at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. But, when the NASCAR Sprint Cup checkers fell at Darlington on Saturday night, that’s exactly what occurred after the one car team gambled on not pitting and was able to hold off the likes of a very strong Carl Edwards over the final few circuits.

While Smith was fighting back tears of joy in victory lane, tempers and cars were flailing around at the other end of pit road. With a handful to go, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were playing bumper tag. The end result found teammates Harvick and Clint Bowyer in the fence, much to do with Busch’s wild and reckless actions. More on that later.

The overall race was good with numerous lead changes starting with Busch leading until a flat tire forced an unscheduled pit stop, sending him deep into the field.

Edwards had a strong car and was among the top five for most of the race. The final few yellows saw different strategies comes into play where Smith, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart stayed out while the rest of the field pitted.

A green-white-checker set up Smith on the pole with Keselowski giving a good push into the first turn with Edwards trying to sweep by on the outside. As Smith and Edwards made the charge for the final lap, Smith bounced off the wall, yet was able to maintain control and stay there to capture his very first win in front of a disappointed Edwards, Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman.

Back to the Busch-Harvick incident; the three bounced off each other coming off turn 4, but Busch deliberately right-turned Harvick on the main straight, sending the Bud Chevy hard into the fence while Busch motored on to finish 11th.

As the two pulled off the track, there was going to be some kind of discussion…good, bad or indifferent.

Harvick stops in front of Busch, gets out to discuss the matter whereupon Busch floors his car into Harvick’s unmanned car, sending it in a hard left turn into the pit lane wall, luckily with no personnel in harm’s way.

The scuffle spilled into the pits where the two happened to be pitted next to each other. Tempers flared, crewmen from both sides pushed and shoved each other while NASCAR officials tried to maintain order.

The two were sent to the big truck for a ‘discussion’. Upon leaving the truck, neither had much to say, but this incident should have long lasting implications as both are hard headed and “do not forget”.

This writer and most race fans feel Busch handled the whole thing very badly and once again has stepped over the line endangering himself and this time, many others.

When he swerved into Harvick to “right turn him“, he used his car as a lethal weapon. To add insult to injury, when he pushed Harvick’s car out of the way, he had no regard for anyone’s safety on pit lane. Had their been crewmen, NASCAR officials etc in the way, there easily could have been serious injuries if not a death involved where we’d be discussing Busch’s vehicular homicide charges

NASCAR needs to take a serious look at this latest Busch incident and take appropriate action, I.e. suspensions and fines. Enough is enough. What do you think? Drop me a line.

Nationwide - After Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne took turns out front leading the Nationwide race on Friday night at Darlington, Kyle Busch swept into the top spot in the closing stages, staying there to capture his fifth series win of the year and first at the tricky South Carolina facility.

Numerous wrecks dotted the event with the worst being on lap 95 when Brian Scott had a hard meeting with wall, scooping up Kahne, Edwards and Brad Keselowski in the process.

Series regular Elliott Sadler led for 23 laps but settled for third behind Denny Hamlin, yet in front of points leader Justin Allgaier and Steven Wallace.

Busch’s latest win marks his 48th career series trophy, just one shy of Mark Martin.

Open Wheel News - The Formula One circus traveled to Turkey this past weekend where points leader Sebastian Vettel once again took game, set and match. The talented German driver swept the pole and easily won the race in front of his teammate Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso.

Vettel is way ahead in points after nailing down his third win and fourth pole of the season.

From Rumorville - Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne has been released from the Mayo Clinic with a few remaining aliments as an exact diagnosis of his health problems have not been divulged. He will return to racing, but no official date has been set.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the results from the Monster Mile at Dover with Cup, Truck and Nationwide action along with racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Racin’ with Russ

By Russell Schmidt

Call him good, call him lucky, but the main thing you have to do is call Jimmie Johnson the winner of Sunday’s wild ending NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega with some strong help from teammate and “pusher” Dale Earnhardt Jr.

You would have to call an eight-car charge at the stripe wild as it appeared Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were the strong cars at the end, but Clint Bowyer hooked up with Kevin Harvick along with Carl Edwards and teammate Greg Biffle pushing him to the checkers still wasn’t enough. Enter Hendrick teammates Johnson and Earnhardt Jr in the mix with a wild move to the bottom to capture the closest win (ties Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch at Darlington - .002) by a few ticks of the watch.

The race began with four Hendrick drivers occupying the front two rows as Gordon picked up yet another fast time of day. From the first lap to the last, this race has become a high-speed chess match with lots of patience and planning to put the driver in the best spot at just the right time. Each driver had to find a dancing partner to get to the front. Get the right combo and you could be a winner. Get the wrong combo and you could find yourself in the fence, just ask Ryan Newman or Brian Vickers among others that had short days end with shortened race cars,

The drivers learned from Daytona, it would take two car drafting to get to the front. Throughout the day and throughout the field, the cars were spread out in pairs of two. Some were teammates, some were friends and yet others weren’t even the same manufacturer. Whatever combo would power two cars to the front was the accepted combo.

Lost a partner due to a wreck, find another. The day started with mostly teammates hooking up, but by the end, any working combo would do. Partners such as Martin and Gordon led at the beginning, then dropped back deep in the pack, just biding time and trying to avoid “the big wreck”.

Late in the 88 lead change show, the pairing of Johnson/Earnhardt, Gordon/Martin and Edwards/Biffle rose to the occasion and zipped forward within a handful of laps remaining.

Two fairly big wrecks were kicked off by Kurt Busch, not really intentional, but part of the nature of the beast of two-car drafting. Trevor Bayne, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Marcos Ambrose, David Ragan and Kyle Busch were just some of the cars finished for the day as a result of the incidents.

Wrapping up the super close battle at the line included the cars of Bowyer, Gordon, Earnhardt and Harvick.

The latest results finds Edwards just five points ahead of Johnson and 19 over Earnhardt.

Nationwide Series - Another wild race took place with pairings needed to be successful and Kyle Busch narrowly edged the field for his 47th Nationwide win and fourth this year, this one under caution flags under green-white-checker conditions.

Joey Logano, Joe Nemechek, Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler wrapped up the top five finishers.

Nationwide regulars Jason Leffler and Justin Allgaier top the points charts.

Open Wheel News - Across the pond in China, the Formula One teams competed with Lewis Hamilton driving the wheels off his McClaren to beat points leader Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Vettel still sits comfortably out front in points.

Closer to home on the streets of Long Beach, CA, Mike Conway stunned the field by taking over the lead from Indy Car drivers Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti and went on to claim his very first career win. Being sidelined at last year’s Indy 500 from injuries suffered on a last lap crash made this win that much sweeter for the English Andretti Motorsports driver.

From Rumorville – Team owner and part-time wrecker, I mean driver Michael Waltrip is slated to compete in a Ferrari sports car in this year’s Lemans 24 hour endurance race. Can they bring that many body men with them?

--- NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Greg Biffle has re-upped with Roush-Fenway Motorsports and sponsor 3M will remain aboard in a three-year deal. This is a good deal all the way around.

--- After a long time absence from the sport, STP has decided to jump back in to Motorsports, that being mainly race sponsorships in NASCAR, sponsor money for Richard Petty’s No 43 car in addition to track and drag racing backing. Welcome back!

Next week’s RWR will review the action from Nashville where the Nationwide and Camping World Truck teams will compete along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

Racin’ with Russ

By Russell Schmidt

By the time all of the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were packing up to leave Texas Motor Speedway late Saturday night, team founder/owner Jack Roush was smacking his lips in approval after both of his cars swept the Cup and Nationwide shows.

Friday night action saw Carl Edwards storm away to his 30th checkers in Nationwide competition and scored Ford’s very first NASCAR win in a Mustang. Matt Kenseth followed up with a very strong No. 17 Ford Fusion from beginning to end to score his first win in 76 races on Saturday night Cup action.

Obviously the new Ford F9 racing engines are finally coming into their own with these latest triumphs and noting five of the top ten finishers were piloting Ford products.

The Sprint Cup race started with Ford driver David Ragan out front and teammate Edwards alongside. It didn’t take long for Kenseth to get out front and lead most of the laps while others such as Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer among 13 drivers to take turns out front, but Kenseth surely had the strong horse on the day.

Most of the race found the field well spread out with the Fords out front and the fans trying to stay awake. The only significant wreck saw Kevin Harvick tap Martin Truex Jr who bounced off the outside wall right into the path of hapless drivers Mark Martin and Ragan Smith, all of whom left the race with destroyed race cars.

Once again the race at Texas came down to a matter of fuel strategies, which defeated the likes of Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon.

At the stripe, it was Kenseth several seconds ahead of Bowyer, Edwards, Biffle and Paul Menard.

The latest results finds Edwards on top, but just by nine over Kyle Busch and 13 over Kenseth.

Nationwide Series - Carl Edwards was a man on a mission with a fast Ford Mustang taking the pole position and a convincing win on Friday night in Texas. The only driver close in performance was Kyle Busch, but Tim Shendel’s right front flat tire ended Busch’s day in the fence while closely pursuing Edwards.

Wrapping up the top five in this one included a late hard-charging Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard, Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler.

Series regulars Ricky Stenhouse Jr leads Jason Leffler by 14 points in the big picture.

Open Wheel News - Across the pond in Malaysia, Sebastien Vettel stomped away from the field to win his second consecutive Formula One race in his Red Bull racer. Jenson Button was second with Nick Heidfeld holding off Mark Webber for third.

Closer to home in Alabama, the Indy cars competed at Barber Motorsports Park where Will Power dominated the entire weekend of practice, qualifying and race stats, including his first win this year.

The drivers performed much better with the controversial double-wide starts with only minor incidents involved. Scott Dixon wound up runner-up with Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti and Oriol Servia capping the top five.

Danica Patrick started and finished deep in the pack, adding a 17th place finish while ‘Miss Swiss’ Simona de Silvestro earned a ninth despite an early race problem that nearly took her out of the race. Patrick now sits 16th in points while de Silvestro is tied with Scott Dixon in fourth.

From Rumorville – Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was admitted to a NC hospital after finishing 17th at the Texas Motor Speedway with an unknown bug bite, that being a spider or tick. We’ll keep an eye on this situation.

--- Ex-F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen tested at two NASCAR tracks last week in order to prepare for his upcoming debut at Charlotte in a Camping World truck owned by Kyle Busch. Kimi’s times were reportedly right next to veteran racer Busch. Can’t wait to see how this situation will flourish….or not. I feel sure no matter what, it will be entertaining.

Next week’s RWR will review the action from Texas where the Sprint Cups and Nationwide teams will compete along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net