Rowdy People

Some Perspective on Rookie of the Year

With Kevin Conway signing a deal with Robby Gordon Motorsports for the rest of 2010, the Rookie of the Year prize seems firmly in his grasp. Not that there was much doubt previously. Conway has been the highest finishing rookie in 22 of 24 Cup races. In the other two events, there was no rookie entered.

Yes, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year award is a dinosaur. Its relevance has waned inversely with the participation of Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series. The second series is simply not the developmental series it once was. Never again will a Martin Truex, Brian Vickers or Dale Earnhardt Jr. win that series’ championship as a Nationwide only driver. (Unless, of course, the sanctioning body changes the way Cup drivers accrue points in the Nationwide Series.)

There is something else at work, though. Drivers who could have brought some credibility to the award chose not to pursue it. Brad Keselowski didn’t preserve his rookie eligibility, nor did Marcos Ambrose. These drivers were more interested in preparing for their full-time Cup campaigns than limiting themselves to seven races in their run-up to Cup. It’s tough to argue with those priorities. Seat time. Experience. These things trump such an ancillary honor.

There are also financial considerations. If a car owner can put together a ten-race sponsorship deal for a young up-and-comer to run some Cup races, is he going to turn three of those races away to preserve his hotshot’s rookie status?

Historically, the glory years of the Rookie of the Year program were relatively short-lived. I’d call them 1999 – 2006. During that span your winners were Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. All acknowledged superstars. (Interesting side-note: Jamie McMurray actually won a race the year prior to his rookie season, but not in the rookie season itself.)

Prior to 1999 you had the occasional winner who would become a household name, a’ la Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton & Rusty Wallace. For every one of them, however, you had a Jimmy Hensley and a Ken Bouchard, or a Lennie Pond beating out Darrell Waltrip for the award. When Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine and Sterling Marlin wore the ROTY crown they were the only ones competing for it.

From 1957 – 1998, there were a grand total of seven victories by Rookie of the Year winners. In the eleven years since then there have been thirteen wins by the circuit’s top rookie.

From 1957 – 1985, there were only five seasons in which more than one driver competed for the honor. There were two rookies in 1973, ’81 and ’84. There were three in ’85 and four in the remarkable class of 1979. (Dale Earnhardt, Joe Millikan, Terry Labonte and Harry Gant.)

I offer these historical nuggets as a salve for those of you mourning the demise of a meaningful rookie battle. While we’ve had some great ones -- Newman v. Johnson, McMurray v. Biffle -- they have been the exception, not the rule.

~Cutler

Too Many Kasey Questions

I’ve been silently musing about Kasey Kahne’s prospects in 2011 and there are just so many questions. Too many questions…

Seeing as how he is already under contract with Hendrick Motorsports for 2012, Kahne will be a lame duck in his Red Bull Toyota from the first day of Speed Weeks until the checkered flag falls in Miami. How much can he really be expected to accomplish?

We talk and talk about how important the Driver/Crew Chief relationship is… about how much their communication and chemistry directly affects performance… about how that relationship takes time to develop. It almost feels like Kasey will start looking to his future at Hendrick by the time he has a groove going at Red Bull. That’s not a knock on the guy; it’s just an acknowledgement of human nature.

And who will his Crew Chief be next season? The King said that Richard Petty Motorsports has offered a contract to Kenny Francis, Kasey’s current Crew Chief, and the team is just waiting for Francis to make up his mind. Will Kenny Francis stay at RPM? Why would he follow Kahne to Red Bull for one year when one assumes that Alan Gustafson is waiting for Kasey to climb behind the wheel of Hendrick’s No. 5? Furthermore, why would Red Bull want to bring Francis over for one year unless they were moving to three teams or hoping he might stay on past his driver’s tenure? So many questions without very good answers...

I also can’t help but wonder about Alan Gustafson’s future assignment at Hendrick Motorsports. My assumption all along is that he would stay with the No. 5 and work with Kasey. Some people are suggesting that it might make more sense to shift Alan Gustafson over to the No. 88 in 2012 -- assuming that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still underperforming so drastically. Personally, I wouldn’t burn another Crew Chief on Junior. Kasey may never exceed Junior’s marketing muscle, but he might stand a better chance of carrying HMS beyond the Jeff & Jimmie era in terms of competition.

All these questions serve to reaffirm my belief that this mess took Rick Hendrick and Kasey Kahne by surprise. I can’t imagine any of this has worked out the way either of them originally envisioned. Kasey’s year at Red Bull is nothing more than a placeholder… something to get him over the hump. Whereas he has a pretty good destination lying in wait on the other side, all Red Bull buys themselves is one more year to attract a real stable-mate for Brian Vickers.

~Cutler

What's Wrong with a Winless Champ?

There has been a lot of speculation lately that 2010 could be the year of the winless Sprint Cup champion. Along with that speculation I have observed the gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands and pulling out of hair. According to some, if NASCAR crowns a winless champion we should just dismiss the whole damn sport as a sham.

Why?

It’s not the like the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl. In stick and ball sports, 50% of the teams win each time out. In NASCAR, just 2.33% of the teams win each time out. Apart from Golf and Tennis is there another professional sport at which it is so difficult to win?

If you rank the drivers by 2010 average finish thus far, then Kevin Harvick and his three wins are in the first position. In positions two through five, however, are four drivers without a win amongst them: Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton.

The drivers with the most wins this season – Jimmie Johnson & Denny Hamlin with five apiece – are actually way down the average finish rankings. Hamlin is tenth and Johnson is twelfth. In fact, there are six winless drivers with better averages than Jimmie Johnson.

Jamie McMurray who has won two of the season’s biggest events has an average of 17.5. That ranks him 18th. Only one driver with a victory has a worse average than McMurrray, his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya’s 18.6 average places him 21st on the list.

If wins were a primary criterion in determining Championship mettle, then David Reutimann would be more deserving of the 2010 Championship than Carl Edwards. Does anybody really want to make that case?

I’m not suggesting that there is no imbalance between consistency and victory in NASCAR’s scoring system. I think that wins should, in fact, count for more than they do presently. I do not, however, believe that wins should outweigh consistency.

A championship is a culmination. Strong, consistent performances throughout the season, on a variety of track types should count for more than a couple of random victories.

~Cutler

Don't Give Kyle Too Much Credit

While Kyle Busch’s Bristol sweep -- winning in all three national touring series at a single track in a single weekend -- is a notable accomplishment, I’m not sure if it’s an iconic one. One could even make the argument that Jamie McMurray winning the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard in the same season is a bigger deal.

I don’t think NASCAR fans will talk about Kyle’s weekend performance for years to come. I don’t think there will be lasting awe and reverence amongst the NASCAR faithful.

First of all Bristol is a track where Kyle is expected to contend for victories every time out.

Second of all, the competition in the Camping World Truck Series is hit-and-miss.

Third of all, and, perhaps, the most significant point, few other drivers will attempt to match his accomplishment.

Clearly, Kyle Busch has immense talent. It is not his talent alone that is responsible for this achievement, however. Without opportunity, talent will never be seen and few other top-tier drivers pursue this same kind of opportunity. It is not because they lack the talent, or drive, or versatility. It is because most of the drivers whose skill level might put them in the running for a “Kyle Sweep” choose to focus primarily on Cup.

Nobody else in NASCAR devotes himself so fully to running in the sport’s second and third series. Therefore, this accomplishment has no universality. If few others have attempted, or will attempt to achieve it, then we have no real way of understanding its singularity.

Without a doubt, Kyle Busch’s talent is immense and his accomplishment’s are laudable. Until he makes a serious run at a Cup championship, however, those accomplishments are just preamble. If he’s not careful that preamble might end up being the entirety of his career.

~Cutler

Ambrose's Issue

“I believe that I’m as good as anybody out there and can win four championships just like Jimmie Johnson has done.” ~Marcos Ambrose

At first blush that seems like an outlandish statement, but it could be argued that Marcos’ resume upon entering Cup is stronger than Jimmie’s was initially.

Everything that led Jimmie to a ride with Hendrick Motorsports could be categorized as moderate success: a single Nationwide victory, some ASA and off-road victories, motorcycle championships as a kid. There wasn’t much to foreshadow the juggernaut he would become.

Marcos Ambrose, on the other hand, was a champion in the Formula Ford Euro Cup, an F1 feeder series. He was a two-time champion in Australia’s V8 Supercar Series, a highly competitive top-tier series whose cars are similar to Cup cars. Granted, it is a road racing series and NASCAR is predominantly an oval series, which leads us to both Ambrose’s conundrum and recent decision to leave JTG Daugherty Racing in favor of Richard Petty Motorsports.

While Ambrose seems content with the progress his current team has been making on short tracks, road courses and super speedways, he remains frustrated by the more prevalent downforce tracks saying, “I’m not sure why we haven’t contended better on the intermediate ovals…”

I think he answered his own question in the days leading up to the Watkins Glen race weekend.

“I've got a good base setup that I carry to all the road course races. And I really know what I'm looking for. We don't have to muck around with trial and error, and I pretty much engineer it from the seat because I have such a clear vision of what I need to do to get around these places well. And I guess I lacked that at some ovals and other places we go to.”

While I believe that jumping from JTG to RPM is an upgrade, it’s not going to change his fundamental challenge: developing a level of comfort on ovals that parallels his level of comfort on road courses. He pretty much admitted that he lacks a clear vision of what he wants out of a race car on an oval track. Why will that be any different at RPM?

Perhaps, it is as simple as having a stable mate off of whom he can bounce ideas. While JTG Daugherty Racing has a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing, they are essentially a one-car program. A.J. Allmendinger, Marcos’ running buddy in 2011, might not be the most experienced Cup driver on the circuit, but his background as a road racer is similar to Ambrose’s. A.J. earned three consecutive "Most Promising Road Racer" Awards from RACER Magazine. Two drivers having to deal with a similar transitional issue creates a unique support system.

Richard Petty Motorsports also places some guys at Marcos’ disposal that know a thing or two about winning on ovals. There’s the dude in the cowboy hat. He might be able to offer up a helpful suggestion now and again. There’s also a championship winning crew chief at the head of RPM’s competition department: Robbie Loomis, the team’s Vice President of Racing Operations. (Loomis was atop Jeff Gordon’s pitbox during the No. 24’s 2001 championship season.)

So, while Marcos Ambrose will still face the same basic issue in 2011 that he did in 2010, there are some cats at his new home that can help him navigate it. That alone is worth the jump.

Kasey's Contract is Bull

So, exactly how is this Kasey Kahne to Red Bull thing supposed to work?

Kasey Kahne goes to Red Bull for one year and regardless of his relative success shuffles over to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012?

If Red Bull is interested in a one-year stopgap, then that suggests…

they don’t have much faith in Brian Vickers ability to return from his medical leave of absence, or

they don’t plan on resigning Scott Speed, or

they want to launch a third team.

Truth be told, at this point I don’t think Red Bull knows which of those options is most likely, nor will until November when Vickers gets a medical once-over. Red Bull has basically bought a one-year backup plan that allows them to deal with any eventuality.

Don’t miscontrue this as an opportunity for Rick Hendrick to expand his racing empire. It is highly doubtful that RBR is entering into any sort of technical alliance with Hendrick. The Bull signed a new contract with Toyota just last year and trying to dissolve it now doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

No, I believe this is a result of an unforeseen scramble required of Mr. Hendrick. For one of the few times in his NACAR career things didn’t quite work out quite the way he had envisioned them. You have to figure he was counting on…

Mark Martin going gently into that good night, or

Stewart-Haas Racing providing Kasey a temporary home, or

JR Motorsports coming to Cup, or

James Finch’s Phoenix Racing as a last resort.

As far-fetched as those last two scenarios seem, they would have kept Kasey within Rick’s sphere of influence. Cute little Kasey going to Red Bull next year begs the question, ‘Who exactly will Kasey be working for in 2011?’ Rick Hendrick or Dietrich Mateschitz?

Kasey Kahne cannot remain under contract for Hendrick Motorsports while driving for Red Bull Racing. Joe Gibbs has made sure of that. I’m sure that some lawyer, well-versed in Latin double-speak, will be able to figure all of that out, but it’s just one more example of the impotence of NASCAR’s four-car limit. That’s right, I said “impotence”!

~Cutler

2011 Schedule Swaps Uninspiring

Tom Jensen of SpeedTV.com has confirmed reports that Auto Club Speedway will lose its Chase date and Chicagoland will become the playoffs’ first stop. Jensen also reports that Phoenix International Raceway will host the second race of the 2011 season bumping Auto Club’s one race later in the season. Add this information to yesterday’s revelation that Atlanta Motor Speedway would lose one of its two dates and the puzzle begins to take shape.

I can’t say that Chicagoland is a very exciting place to kick off the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but it’s hard to complain too much about trading one downforce track for another. Breaking up similar tracks like Richmond, the last race before the Chase, and New Hampshire makes a certain amount of sense. Still, it would have been nice to see Atlanta take over that opening slot instead of Chicagoland. That would have cushioned the blow for all the peach eaters and made the first Chase race a little more inspiring. I can understand not wanting to give up Labor Day weekend, but wouldn’t trading it for a Chase date be worth it?

So, now we’re waiting to hear about Kansas and Kentucky. The assumption is that International Speedway Corporations’s Kansas Speedway will get a second date via Auto Club Speedway and Speedway Motorsports Incorporated’s Kentucky Speedway will inherit Atlanta’s cast-off. From a racing standpoint not terribly exciting… Auto Club to Kansas seems like a wash and the jury’s still out on Kentucky, though Atlanta will be a hard act to follow. Of course, none of these decisions were made for reasons of competitiveness or quality of racing. They were business decisions pure and simple.

At a Watkins Glen press conference this morning Kevin Harvick suggested that many drivers would support a Cup date at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. While that track is not “owned” by either of NASCAR’s two major track operators, ISC has the rights to promote events at the facility. If NASCAR were interested in shaking things up a bit, heading above parallel 49 would kill both birds – competition and business – by opening up a new Cup market at a highly entertaining track.

Alack and alas, it seems unlikely. I think we’re probably done for this year. While Bruton Smith certainly wants to find another date for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, word on the street is that Homestead-Miami will retain its season-ending status in 2011. Why give LVMS a second date if it’s not to roll it right into banquet week? That means that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will remain a two-show track for at least one more year, which is a good thing. All good things, however, eventually come to an end. This one probably sooner than later...

~Cutler

Was Brian Pattie Wrong?

Let me be perfectly clear about three things:

1. Since a two-tire call won the Pocono race on Sunday, you can’t really make a compelling argument that four tires was the right call.

2. The Juan Montoya/Brian Pattie relationship seems headed for an imminent demise.

3. You can’t fault Brian for going with four at the end of the Pocono race.

To recap: during the final pit stop of the day Brian Pattie called for a four-tire stop for the No. 42 at Pocono Raceway. Steve Letarte made the same call for the No. 24, as did Darian Grubb for the No. 14.

I have read many comments suggesting that Brian should have learned his lesson from the Brickyard and called for two tires. Similar circumstance? Yes. Similar call? Yes. Similar result? Yes. Similar situation? Absolutely not.

For all of the characteristics shared by Pocono Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there is a fundamental difference. Indy is one of the “pushiest” tracks on the circuit. The phenomenon of aero push makes it extremely hard to pass there. As a result, a high premium must be placed on track position. With its long wide front-stretch and rough track surface, Pocono presents no such problem.

The final caution flag flew at lap 166 out of 200. That seemed to present thirty, or so, laps with which Juan Montoya could work his four tires back to the front of the pack. Plenty of time… The Target team had a strong car. With that many laps left there was no reason to compromise their advantage by going with reduced rubber. Especially when up to that point two tires had been unable to hold position. However, there were some variables that Brian Pattie just couldn’t anticipate.

He couldn’t anticipate all the extra caution laps because of rain, nor could he anticipate the plethora of pit strategies – two tires, no tires, staying out – that others would embrace; pit strategies that shuffled his car farther from the front then expected. He also couldn’t anticipate that Greg Erwin had gotten the No. 16 so dialed in at that point, that two tires were suddenly good enough.

Now, I have heard the argument made that when the racing went green at lap 179, there was still enough time for the No. 42 to take advantage of fresh rubber. Case in point, Tony Stewart who drove from 9th back up to 2nd. I concede the point. Montoya took the final restart in 14th, and finished the race two positions worse in 16th.

Perhaps, then, the most valid criticism of Brian Pattie is that he set up a car that couldn’t perform in traffic. The four-tire pit stop, on the other hand, was logical and defensible if not successful.

~Cutler

Transcript of Owner's Meeting

Earlier this week, the owner’s of NASCAR’s major teams, or their representatives, gathered at Hendrick Motorsports to brainstorm cost-cutting measures, as well as ways to improve the show.

Through intrepid reporting and great personal danger, I have obtained a transcript of the gathering.

Rick Hendrick: Welcome to Hendrick Motorsports everyone; I hope you all enjoy the milk and cookies.

Joe Gibbs: When can we take the blindfolds off, Rick?

Richard Childress: And the earplugs?

Rick Hendrick: Did I mention there was milk and cookies?

Michael Waltrip: You have any white zinfandel, Rick?

Richard Childress: I’ll have a few bottles sent over, Mikey.

Jack Roush: If you ask me we just need to get rid of Toyota and everything will be back to normal.

Joe Gibbs: Might be the only way you find victory lane again, Jack.

Richard Childress: I propose that Chad Knaus works on a rotating schedule crew chiefing a different car for each race.

Rick Hendrick: They’re oreos!

Roger Penske: Maybe some sort of profit-sharing deal from the sale of driver merchandise.

Rick Hendrick: The milk is organic!

Jay Frye: Sorry, I’m late, guys. I ran all the way here. Sometimes, it kind of feels like I have wings, or something.

Jack Roush: Great another Toyota, guy.

Tony Stewart: Could you pass the cookies down here?

Roger Penske: What if we used actual moving trucks in the Camping World Truck Series? I know where we can get a whole fleet of them.

Foster Gillette: My Dad said to tell you all that he says, “Hi.”

Michael Waltrip: Ya’ll need to slow down. I’m trying to fit this whole conversation into 140 characters.

Felix Sabates: How about if we give a free Teddy Ruxpin to everyone who buys a ticket?

Tony Stewart: Is this all the cookies?

Chip Ganassi: We could replace all the Cup drivers with open-wheel guys. I mean except for Jamie McMurray…

Richard Petty: I’d like to present each one of you with a special belt buckle I had made to commemorate this event. I’ll sign ‘em if you like.

James Finch: I think we should run every race at Talladega?

Rick Hendrick: Well, friends, we’ve got a lot of good ideas on the table, but before we go play with the simulators I have just one more question. Any of you interested in Mark Martin?

NASCAR's Secret Fines

In a story first reported by the Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, we learned that NASCAR has been secretly fining drivers who make public comments critical of the sport. While the drivers’ names have not been made public, Fryer describes them as “stars” and states that one such fine was $50,000.

As a big fan of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, my initial reaction was to climb on my First Amendment soapbox and lambaste NASCAR for muzzling their drivers. As my reactive ire gave way to clearer reasoning, however, I realized that David Stern of the NBA and Roger Goodell of the NFL are as fine happy as they come.

There is a noteworthy difference between those leagues and NASCAR, however. The stick-and-ball sports operate under the auspices of a collective bargaining agreement. Their competitors are members of labor unions and have a process whereby they can appeal fines levied against them. NASCAR… not so much.

Another major difference between NASCAR and its professional sports brethren is that, to my knowledge, Stern and Goodell have not proclaimed a desire to have their players’ personalities and emotion come through. If anything, they probably wish that their players displayed a little less “personality”.

From NASCAR’s preseason media tour in January of this year:

Mike Helton – “What we are encouraging the competitors to do… is for their character and their personality, within reason, to be unfolded.” (Way to leave yourself some wiggle-room with the whole “within reason” thing, Mike.)

Brian France – “We want to see the emotion of the world’s best drivers just as much as everybody else does, and that’s the goal for 2010 and beyond.”

Let the cries of hypocrisy begin. Cries that NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston is quick to repudiate in Fryer’s article. “It is the sanctioning body’s obligation on behalf of the industry and our fans to protect the sport’s brand,” Poston said. “Any action taken by NASCAR has nothing to do with the drivers expressing an opinion—it’s focused on actions or comments that materially damage the sport.

Poston must have spent many years at cosmetology school to be able to split hairs that finely. Let’s just say that describing the fines as having “nothing to do with the drivers expressing an opinion...” seems a little disingenuous on his part.

Is NASCAR so weak that they can’t weather a little criticism? Ironically, they actually weaken their position by trying to quash it. Yet, if a driver publicly questions the sanctioning body’s integrity, I can see a valid argument that such statements could “materially damage the sport.” Even if we are willing to concede his point, there remains something troubling about this revelation.

NASCAR’s ongoing lack of transparency fuels the talk of “Big Brother” and provides fodder to the conspiracy theorists. Why wouldn’t they issue a statement that a fine has been levied for the following specific reasons? The secrecy is troubling and, gives the impression that something more heavy-handed is at work. A press release would have the added benefit of clarifying where the ‘line thou shalt not cross’ actually sits.

Inconsistency doesn’t help matters. @CopaCavanna said to me via Twitter, “it's just odd that NASCAR is silent on these fines, but open about drug tests and cheating penalties. What's the difference?” I can only assume the difference is that NASCAR doesn’t want a public announcement to give the offending statements greater shelf life.

While that sort of bad P.R. may be unwelcome, it’s got to be better than the black eye they’re nursing this morning.

~Cutler