Double Clutchin’-The Ugly From The Brickyard
Written by Rocky Kitts · July 28, 2008
Sorry that this article was late. I blew two tires out while trying to get to a computer.
I’ll be at the Comedy Barn all week. This race gave me a million jokes, every one of them as bad as that one, and none of which are as bad as the Brickyard 400 turned out to be on Sunday. Good God, that was an abomination of a race yesterday. Probably the best quote that I’ve heard about the race was from Dr. Jerry Punch. Dr. Punch is on 990 am in Knoxville every week and he is always a good guest on the John and Jimmy show, and today he shared a couple of thoughts about how hard it was to do commentary for that race, and just how terrible the race was to watch. I had to laugh with this quote:
“If Bill France, Sr. were still alive he would have marched into a meeting today and told everyone involved that the best thing to do with the COT is take it out in the yard and let flowers grow in it, while these boys build them some racing cars, and while you’re at it get Goodyear on the phone and tell them if they can’t get us a tire that will work to get on the horn to Firestone and they will”.
Good stuff, there.
Let me go ahead and say that I don’t want to come off as a know-it-all, even though I am one. I don’t know what could have been done to prevent what happened on Sunday, but what did happen was unacceptable. If I had paid to watch that race, I would have left (probably early) with a really bad taste in my mouth. That race would have been just as entertaining if they had just pretended to start it with twelve laps left and told everybody to race for the win. At least that would have gotten everyone home quicker and they wouldn’t have had to sit through the racing equivalent of having to give blood.
Also, for as much as NASCAR likes to talk about emphasizing safety, that race was anything but safe. Matt Kenseth’s car looked like the Joker shot it with a freaking bazooka after it blew out a tire. Drivers were driving like they were waiting for Mount Saint Helens to erupt underneath their tushes. Dr. Punch also said that there were many drivers who did not want to race. He credited one of the Labontes with saying that if they were the owner of the 43 car that they would drive one lap and then park it in protest. According to Dr. Punch the drivers chose to go on and drive because of the fans that paid to see the race, and let’s be honest, no one can really afford to lose points at this time in the season.
That race was everything that NASCAR is trying to convince the mainstream sports media that it is not. It was disorganized, uncompetitive, dangerous, boring, drawn-out, and just generally a cluster. Jimmie Johnson will be credited with a victory, but I’m not sure exactly who he beat. His team did a good job of fighting Goodyear to a draw, but that’s about it. No pun intended, but NASCAR looked really bush league on Sunday.
I love NASCAR. I like to talk about how good a race was, I like to nit-pick about the little things that can be improved, I like to cheer for my drivers, and I love to needle drivers that for whatever reason, I just don’t like. That’s not just me, I’m sure that’s how most of us fans and writers feel. I really don’t get joy out of having to rip the sport, in fact, I would rather be talking about another Kyle Busch victory instead of tires, but what happened yesterday, with competition cautions every twelve laps and no real racing was bad for the sport. If that was the first race that I had ever watched I would never have watched another one. This was not just a throwaway cookie-cutter race. This was the Brickyard, and while it has never been a great track for racing, it is a very popular track every time NASCAR rolls out there, and there were many people tuning in to see some decent-good-very good racing.
What they got wasn’t racing. It was stock car COT survival at its worst. ESPN chose not to show the fights that were breaking out between pit crews who were trying to get the tires from teams that were out of the race, although they did mention it briefly. I don’t know what could have been done to make things better, but NASCAR brass needs to do whatever is necessary to insure that Sunday’s debacle is not repeated. Maybe that means letting another tire company take control, maybe it means holding Goodyear to a higher standard, maybe it means keeping Goodyear, but allowing competition from other tire makers. Maybe the solution has nothing to do with tires and has to do with making the COT heavier. Maybe it means postponing a race that doesn’t need to run. I’m not sure that postponing the Brickyard wouldn’t have been a better move than having it. That act probably wasn’t feasible, or maybe NASCAR just felt that it wouldn’t do any good, that they were in a lose-lose either way. Maybe they just wanted to get it over and behind them. I don’t know. I only know the difference between a good race and a bad race.
And I also know what’s not a race. Jimmie Johnson won that race event because he was on the poll, had a solid car, and was lucky that none of his tires incinerated.
On to Pocono. Hopefully, there will be a lot of good, and a little bad, because I think I used up my supply of ugly.
Rocky Kitts can be reached at wwwthreestrikesandout@yahoo.com.
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4 Responses to “Double Clutchin’-The Ugly From The Brickyard”
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holtzma on July 29th, 2008 3:15 am Well, first of all, it is not like they didnt know the track was grated, it was that way last year. I am dumbfounded at the way this race was screwed up! The big “they” kept saying it would get better as rubber got laid down during practice, but I am betting Robby Gordon disagreed with that one. And if the track getting rubbered-in is a concern, why dont they run the Nationwide race there too and get more rubber down. And God forbid -what if it had rained and washed Saturday’s rubber off? Born and raised in Indiana, I certainly know that is always a possiblity.
My great-great-great grandfathers help build IMS, and I have loved it since a little girl and this weekend was just very sad. Your idea is not a bad scenario. But the fact that some of the best drivers in the world were only able to race at 80% at best at the most famous track in the world is - well I dont even have words. No wonder Smoke and Zippy left without even a comment to anyone. I am sure glad I didnt pay to see it (unless maybe I had seats next to pit road). Smoke Fan, Chandler AZ
“Maybe that means letting another tire company take control, maybe it means holding Goodyear to a higher standard, maybe it means keeping Goodyear, but allowing competition from other tire makers. Maybe the solution has nothing to do with tires and has to do with making the COT heavier.”
There was much mention of this after the race, but the *real* blame shouldn’t be put on Goodyear, it should be put on NASCAR R&D. They built so much adjustability OUT of that car that the only things the teams have to adjust is the tires & camber. This, in turn, makes the tires susceptible to failure week in and week out, while Goodyear takes all the blame. They bring a hard tire to prevent blowouts, they get lambasted by the Tony Stewarts of the world. They bring a race-y softer tire and they get lambasted for not taking driver safety into consideration. While I agree that Sunday’s debacle probably could have been avoided, the underlying problem is that the car they are running is using the tire for something in which it was not made - a suspension piece. Dr. Punch’s quote was dead-on, and thank jeebus we have a broadcaster willing to speak up against the NASCAR brass.
Angle the rear end in your car and see how long your RR tire would last.
Tire wear is the number 1 reason for wheel alignment in any car so it stands to reason if its out, tire wear results. Not Goodyears fault.