UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400: Qualifying Results and Tire Controversy
Written by George Katinger · March 10, 2007
Kasey Kahne and his UAW sponsored Dodge took the pole with a shattering track record lap speed of 184.855 mph. And he did it all with bricks for tires.
ESPN.com: Kahne wins Cup pole; Stewart blasts new hard tire
NASCAR.com: Drivers look for balance on slick Las Vegas racetrack
This at the newly rebanked and paved Las Vegas Motor Speedway. New track configuration, new paving, what’s not to like for this weekend’s race? Ask the drivers.
Kasey Kahne:
“The cars have so much downforce it’s going to be hard to run side-by-side on a tire as stiff as a rock,” said Kahne, who shattered his qualifying record by 10 mph with a lap of 184.856. “I mean, it’s just solid.”
Tony Stewart:
“It [stinks],” he said. “You think a company like Goodyear can do a lot better job than what they’re doing. Especially for a company that’s been in this business for so long.
“They don’t care about the competition. They don’t care about the drivers. They don’t care about the teams. All they care about is not having bad publicity and not blowing tires and getting bad publicity because of that.”
David Stremme:
“It’s hard to drive,” said David Stremme, who will start second. “It’s so hard and so unpredictable.”
And Tony Stewart’s final eruption:
Stewart said he’d give half of his $5 million-plus salary to have the Hoosier Tire Company make tires “instead of the crap we’re running on now.”
I guess this means we can look forward to yet another NASCAR wreck fest tomorrow. Only the running will tell for sure.
On another topic, Juan Montoya managed a fourth place starting spot. Who says a Busch win has no carry over to Cup races? With Juan’s experience driving on hard compound tires I’ll make him my dark horse candidate for the win.
And how about those Toyota’s? One qualified on speed (Dave Blaney starting in 11th) and Dale Jarrett on a champion’s provisional in 43rd. Both Waltrip’s cars, A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers and Jeremy Mayfield all went home early. And there are many wags in F1 who think the NASCAR Toyota’s will win a race before the F1 team does. With all the wrecking I expect in tomorrow’s race, if Blaney can avoid the mayhem he just might luck into that first Toyota NASCAR trophy. At a race sponsored by the UAW. By a company that is single handedly kicking the Big 3’s sales butts. You have to appreciate the irony there!
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 11, 2007 | Race 3 of 36
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR SPEED TIME BEHIND
1 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge McDonald’s / Dodge Dealers / UAW 184.855 29.212 Leader
2 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light 184.193 29.317 -0.105
3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 183.874 29.368 -0.156
4 42 Juan Montoya* Dodge Texaco / Havoline 183.188 29.478 -0.266
5 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 182.976 29.512 -0.300
6 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper - Valvoline 182.865 29.530 -0.318
7 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 182.822 29.537 -0.325
8 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 182.525 29.585 -0.373
9 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet CertainTeed 182.266 29.627 -0.415
10 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 182.020 29.667 -0.455
11 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 181.775 29.707 -0.495
12 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg’s / CARQUEST 181.763 29.709 -0.497
13 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 181.568 29.741 -0.529
14 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 181.494 29.753 -0.541
15 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 181.378 29.772 -0.560
16 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 181.293 29.786 -0.574
17 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Kinko’s 181.074 29.822 -0.610
18 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M / Ameriquest 181.032 29.829 -0.617
19 15 Paul Menard* Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 180.953 29.842 -0.630
20 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 180.904 29.850 -0.638
21 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 180.892 29.852 -0.640
22 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 180.886 29.853 -0.641
23 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 180.820 29.864 -0.652
24 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 180.802 29.867 -0.655
25 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 180.596 29.901 -0.689
26 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 180.542 29.910 -0.698
27 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 180.487 29.919 -0.707
28 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 180.409 29.932 -0.720
29 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Samsung Four Seasons of Hope 180.307 29.949 -0.737
30 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet State Water Heaters 180.258 29.957 -0.745
31 180 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Driven 180.174 29.971 -0.759
32 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 180.156 29.974 -0.762
33 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 180.090 29.985 -0.773
34 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 180.060 29.990 -0.778
35 6 David Ragan* Ford AAA 179.826 30.029 -0.817
36 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont / Nicorette 179.635 30.061 -0.849
37 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 179.462 30.090 -0.878
38 7 Robby Gordon Ford Robby Gordon Motorsports 179.342 30.110 -0.898
39 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 179.217 30.131 -0.919
40 88 Ricky Rudd+ Ford Snickers 179.051 30.159 -0.947
41 21 Jon Wood+ Ford U.S. Air Force 175.873 30.704 -1.492
42 43 Bobby Labonte+ Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker - - -
43 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS Champion’s Provisional
Did Not Qualify
44 84 A.J. Allmendinger* Toyota Red Bull 179.964 30.006 -0.794
45 49 Mike Bliss Dodge ZoneLoans.com 179.778 30.037 -0.825
46 37 John Andretti Dodge Camping World
/ RVs.com 179.223 30.130 -0.918
47 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 179.003 30.167 -0.955
48 00 David Reutimann* Toyota Domino’s Pizza 178.571 30.240 -1.028
49 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota Wrestlemania / 360 OTC 177.258 30.464 -1.252
50 172 Brandon Whitt* Chevrolet Dutch Quality Stone 176.523 30.591 -1.379
51 34 Kevin Lepage Dodge PTGstudios.com 175.393 30.788 -1.576
52 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 173.421 31.138 -1.926
53 147 Ken Schrader Ford Ore-Ida / Kingsford / Clorox - - -
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6 Responses to “UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400: Qualifying Results and Tire Controversy”
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I think Tony is right to feel that way. They run Hoosier tires in ARCA and I don’t think they have as many problems as if they ran Badyear.
“Badyear” tires, nice! How about “Not-so-Goodyear” as an alternative?
Tony has the protection of two Cup titles and his well known temper to protect him. But I will make a major wager that there will be an apology from TS to “Badyear” sometime before the next race.
He can complain about the tires (justifiably) but you don’t call for another company to replace Badyear, it’s just bad business. And NASCAR knows about business, the good the bad and the ugly!
Why should TS apologize for what he said, are drivers supposed to be cautious about what they say for fear of retribution? Would Nascar debris caution them out of the race, take them to the woodshed for a talk or what. I have always wondered why there wasn’t a choice in Nascar…There used to be. Face it the tire was as hard as a Wedding D_ _K and it wouldn’t soften. I for one would love to see more choices in the Nascar Series. It seems like it is getting closer and closer to either run what Nascar gives you or go home. Yes I know that is not truly the way it is, but it sure seems like it is going that way.
I agree that there are problems, I agree there needs to be dialogue about the problems, but you flat out can’t embarrass the owner, even tho they routinely embarrass themselves.
It IS their game, they can take your toys away and someone else will gladly play. As you say Buck, it’s not right, it’s the way it is.
i can see feeling that way
Ill be back:
CNN [url=http://www.cnn.com] CNN [/url] [link http://www.cnn.com CNN [/link]
Arnold